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Stuff you practically never saw/heard in Classic Noir


I haven't by any means seen every film produced during what is usually considered Hollywood's Classic Noir Era but I've probably seen out of Shelby's "Dark City The Film Noir" list about 330-5 noirs. But here is stuff you practically never saw or heard in Classic Hollywood film noir (usually defined as the period from 1941-1958).

Diegetic Popular Music, Popular music whose source is visible on the screen especially in Noirs after say 1952, you never saw a character, turn on a car radio, punch in a jukebox, or put a record on a turntable and heard Dean Martin, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Patti Page, Ames Brothers, Hank Williams, Dinah Shore, Bill Haley and His Comets, Platters, Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, Harry Belafonte, Chuck Berry, Ricky Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis,The Kingston Trio, Little Anthony and the Imperials, etc., etc. All popular artists who would have been live in a band, on the air, or on records.

I have seen Louis Armstrong in The Beat Generation, and Nat King Cole in The Blue Gardenia and some Jazz bands, notably the one in D.O.A., and others that I can't recall at the moment but, contrary to popular belief, most Film Noir had studio orchestra "string" scores.

Pizza Parlors/Joints Never seen a Noir with a Pizza Parlor, have you? I've seen Italian restaurants sure. Pizza places were there because the first printed reference to "pizza" served in the US is a 1904 article in The Boston Journal, and Gennaro Lombardi opened a grocery store in 1897 which was later established as the "said" first pizzeria in America in 1905 with New York's issuance of the mercantile license. So WTF? It was around and a relatively cheap food. Any body see a character eat a slice, or pick up a pie for the gang? The same goes for...

Chinese Restaurants the only one I can think of is in Pickup on South Street, there's always a diner or a burger joint in noirs, but on a side note you ever notice the character always orders a burger and a coffee, and never a Coke, and what about fries they too are usually MIA in Noirs. What about Hot Dogs, Tacos or a bowl of Chili?

Levis jeans or just jeans in general, the only noir that I've seen where a character noticeably wears jeans is Steve Cochran in Tomorrow Is Another Day (1951)

got any thing to add?

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There is a Chinese restaurant in Woman on the Run I believe.

You are right about Jazz scores for Noir. In general Noir had a more traditional sound track. You can add one jazzy sound track to the list, The Strip with Mickey Rooney which is in the September/October thread on the board. It also features Louis Armstrong.
Another kind-of Noir with a Jazz score is The Wild Party with Anthony Quinn. Unfortunately not a good movie, but a great score.

Jessica Rabbit
"I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way."

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Hi Mgt,the first thing that comes to mind is I believe that the guys in Classic Noir always wear trousers,with no jeans in sight!

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It's rare agree, like I mentioned the only Noir where it's noticeable was Steve Cochran in
Tomorrow Is Another Day (1951)

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I think jeans became more noticeable in late 50s noirs that had a bigger focus on rebellious teens/adolescents, like 'Edge Of The City', 'Stakeout On Dope Street' and 'Crime In The Streets'. And even then half of them still wore regular trousers, heh.

Louis Armstrong & his orchestra also make an appearance in the Mickey Rooney noir 'The Strip'.

Seeing an actual singer at a nightclub did happen on occasion, like Hadda Brooks in 'In A Lonely Place', and someone named Dean Sheldon in 1961's 'Blast Of Silence' (past your cutoff year but too memorable a movie/performance to not mention).

But like you said, they're exceptions to the rule.

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Where/how did you see The Strip?

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archive.org

Jessica Rabbit
"I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way."

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Couldn't find it at archive.org Any other source for The Strip? Thanks.

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