The overwhelming majority of film fans consider The Maltese Falcon (1941) to be the first true classic Film Noir. – Finding the First Classic Film Noir
Finding the First Classic Film Noir. Maybe??
The overwhelming majority of film fans consider The Maltese Falcon (1941) to be the first true classic Film Noir. I personally feel that it is the greatest classic Film Noir. However, I tend to look at Film Noir as a series of elements included in films, most likely beginning with the German Expressionist movement of the 1920s. However, where I depart from the collective is that I believe that no single film could be identified as being the first Film Noir, in that some have more elements and some have less, continuing to this day in modern film.
A second group of Film Noir aficionados believes that one of these three films is the first true Film Noir. These films are Stranger on the Third Floor (1940), I Wake Up Screaming (1941), and The Maltese Falcon (1941). All of these movies are great, and I want to look at the creators of these films and the actors involved.
The first of these films, Stranger on the Third Floor (1940), was released the year before the other two. Stranger was directed by Boris Ingster. Ingster was more of a writer and producer. This film was only one of three he directed, including Southside 1-1000 (1950), a moderateFilm Noir. RKO studio produced Stranger on the Third Floor (1940). Nicholas Musuraca was responsible for the cinematography. Musuraca is responsible for filming all of that cigarette smoke in Out of the Past (1947) and the horror of Cat People (1942), as well as 236 other films. Frank Partos (1901-1956) wrote Snake Pit and was the screenwriter for Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) and The House on Telegraph Hill (1951). Among the actors in this movie are the greats Peter Lorre and Elisha Cook Jr.
The second film is The Maltese Falcon (1941), a remake of The Maltese Falcon (1931), and it has the same source material as Satan Met a Lady (1936). This film was directed by the great John Huston. Just the tip of Huston’s directing includes The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), and Chinatown (1974). This film was produced by Warner Bros. studio. The cinematography was by Arthur Edeson. Edeson is known for All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), Frankenstein (1931), and Casablanca (1942). Director John Huston (1906-1987) was the writer for Dark Waters (1944) and The Killers (1946). He was also the screenwriter for The Maltese Falcon (1941), based on Dashiell Hammett’s (1894-1961) 1931 book of the same name. Huston also wrote the screenplay for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), and The Asphalt Jungle (1950). Among the actors in this movie are the greats Peter Lorre and Elisha Cook Jr.
The third film, I Wake Up Screaming (1941), was directed by H. Bruce Humberstone. Known for directing films such as Silk Hat Kid (1935), Wonder Man (1945) a possible Film Noir spoof, and Within These Walls (1945). I Wake Up Screaming (1941) was Humberstone’s only foray intoFilm Noir. This film was produced by Twentieth Century Fox. The cinematography was by Edward Cronjager. Cronjager is known for films such as Sun Valley Serenade (1941), Heaven Can Wait (1943), Home in Indiana (1944), and Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953). Writer Dwight Taylor (1903-1986) was the writer of a pretty solid Film Noir Pickup on South Street (1953) and a lesser Film Noir Conflict (1945). The novel for this film was written by Steve Fisher (1912-1980). He also wrote the original story for Destination Tokyo (1943) and the screenplays for Song of the Thin Man (1947), Dead Reckoning (1947), and the amazing Lady in the Lake (1946). Among the actors in this movie is the great Elisha Cook Jr.
From this quick review of these three films, it is easy to see why The Maltese Falcon (1941) is considered the greatest. John Huston was a masterful writer and director of Film Noir. It is also helpful to begin with Dashiell Hammett’s writing. Arthur Edeson had a proven record of filming great movies of all genres. It is very hard to go wrong with Humphrey Bogart, who is supported by Peter Lorre, Elisha Cook Jr., Mary Astor, and Sydney Greenstreet. I still feel confident saying it is the best classic Film Noir, just not the first.
The first Film Noir cannot be determined. Films containing Film Noir elements are distributed in a tri-modal distribution that began in the 1920s and continues through today. The best conclusion that I can arrive at from this quick review is that if Peter Lorre had been cast instead of Laird Cregar as the bad guy in I Wake Up Screaming (1941), these films would be virtually of the same quality. Lorre was in two of the three, and Cook Jr. was in all three. Is Elisha Cook Jr. the key to a great Film Noir? I think, maybe.
