On Sat, 20 Jan 1996, Rolf W Brandis wrote:
 
> In one person's opinion "Film Noir" is not and never will be a genuine film
> genre.
> Rather it is an artificial classification dubbed so by a group of French film
> critics who became frustrated by American exports during the immediate post
> World War II time period.
> Contract players reported back to their studios for work and since they were
> on the payroll again they were quickly assigned to mostly inexpensive films
> which were easy to write and produce.
> Their common style, mood and tone (and frequent omniscient voice-over
> narration, as well as the consistent use of flashbacks) attest to the fact
> that they were hastily made and distributed as the "B" films of
 double-features.
> I believe too many of us have been seduced by the nostalgia of these films
> instead of their genuine aesthetics.
> I'd be interested in any rebuttals.
> Rolf W. Brandis
>
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I would be curious about films that attempt to be copies or *homages* in
terms of so-called *film noir.*  For example, Body Heat.  If the original
films of the forties and early fifties were not a legitimate genre, then
are the later copy films creating a *new* genre, which we could call,
say, *film noir*?  If we concede that these newer films have created a
new genre, then what are we to call the films they have copied?
 
Ron Hoffman
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