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Meghan Vogel
Robin Kramer
CAS 137 H
25 October 2013
Women and Film Noir
Although lead female roles in films are seen as commonplace today, that was not
always the case. Before the Lana Turners and Lauren Bacalls of this world, American
cinema, depicted females as annoying, vulnerable, and dependent on men. Katherine
Hepburn's character in Howard Hawk's Bringing Up Baby is whimsical and irritating to
the male counterpart of the film, Cary Grant. Vivien Leigh in the blockbuster hit, Gone
With the Wind plays the lead female role of Scarlett O'Hara, an attention-seeking
narcissist who manipulates the men in her life to get what she wants. Prior to the film noir
movement of the early 1940s to the late 1950s, these women were the typical lead roles
in American films. Dependent, irritating, manipulative, vein, and downright foolish at
times, this generalization depicted women in a way that made them seem immature and
silly compared to their male peers. It wasn't until the 1940s with films like The Big
Sleep and The Postman Always Rings Twice that women would shed this inferior image
and make names for themselves by being viewed as femme fatales in films. Although a
femme fatale often goes hand in hand with temptress, these films helped women
characters reject the impression of being a devoted housewife to become savvy
independent women that would not only destroy the men around them, but maybe even
themselves in the process to gain independence, money and, or power.
One of the best examples of the pre-film noir movements depiction of women is
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Bringing Up Baby. Katharine Hepburn plays Susan Vance, a capricious heiress who is a
potential million-dollar donor to a museum where Dr. David Huxley (Cary Grant), a
paleontologist works. Vance is given a panther as a gift from her brother and Huxley
must help her deliver the creature to her aunts house in Connecticut before his wedding
that night. Although Hepburn paved the way for many females in the film industry, in
this film her character does not provide the progressive depiction of women that movies
in the film noir era did. Hepburns character lacks sophistication in the numbskull acts
that she partakes in. It can be argued that her characterization of Susan Vance was to add
a comedic effect to the movie, but it was characters like this that hindered the portrayal of
women in the American film industry during the 1930s, almost immediately before the
film noir movement began. Vance was silly and was not a strong female character,
instead she was made out to be irritating to her counterpart, Dr. Huxley. She hindered his
research and deterred him from his job, all while eventually causing him to miss his own
wedding and be rejected by his fianc. Hepburns character is not the strong willed,
independent female you see illustrated in film noir, she is prior to the movement,
therefore she lacks the strength and individuality that women would later depict in film.
Similar to Susan Vance, there is Vivien Leighs Scarlett OHara in Victor
Flemings Gone With The Wind. OHara is devastated after the love of her life declares
that he has fallen in love with her cousin and then spends the rest of her life trying to win
him back. She is married three times, her first two husbands die and her third, Rhett
Butler (Clark Gable), leaves her because he can no longer tolerate what OHara has put
him through with her shenanigans, just to better herself. OHara is dependent on others to
get what she wants. Instead of trying to do things on her own and make her own money
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after she almost loses her most prized possession, Tara, the plantation where she grew up,
she depends on men for money. She steals her sisters love away from her so that she can
get her plantation back and has a complete disregard for others feelings. OHara is
completely blinded by who truly loves her and makes her happy because she is too
caught up in the idea that someday she and the true love of her life, Ashley will end up
together. Although this Civil War era romance does restrict what a woman can and
cannot do in society, especially in OHaras case being an aristocrat in Atlanta, she does
not provide a cinematic depiction that is empowering to women. She uses people and
only marries to better her financial situation, rather than be devoted to the man she is
with. Leighs manipulation and narcissism combine to create a very poor depiction of
women, something that was commonly seen before the film noir era in American cinema.
On the other hand, in 1946 Lauren Bacalls role as Vivian Rutledge in Howard
Hawkss The Big Sleep, one of the most well known pictures under the film noir genre,
provided a slightly more positive illustration of women in the film industry in a very
indistinct way. After detective Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart), arrives at Rutledges
house to visit her father concerning a piece of blackmail he received, Marlowe becomes
concerned with Rutledges wellbeing after she essentially draws him in with her sultry
and seductive attitude. After becoming enthralled by Rutledge, Marlowe genuinely wants
not only her, but her family as well. In the beginning, Rutledge essentially wants to use
Marlowe to protect her familys namesake and reputation. Her scheming can make her
seem like a female film depiction prior to film noir, but what makes her different is that
she does certain things on her own without Marlowes help to protect her sister. After the
blackmailers call her wanting $5,000 dollars for a promiscuous picture of her younger,
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more wild sister, she does not rely on Marlowe to get the money for her. Instead of being
dependent on men like her predecessor, Scarlett OHara, Rutledge gets the money the
fastest way she know she canby gambling (Big). In the realm of film noir, the entire
world[is viewed as] dangerous, corrupt and irrational, (Blaser). There are no rules to
the world in which these characters live, therefore women arent bound by the confines of
taking care of the house and their families. Like most women illustrated in the film noir
genre, Rutledge takes matters into her own hands when she wants something done. She
does not feel like she has to rely on a man to get the job done, although she does use
Marlowes help throughout the film, despite oftentimes not wanting it. It is because of
characters like Viviane Rutledge that women in film noir were able to evolve the
interpretations of women in the film industry.
However, not all female characters were as good as Viviane Rutledge, some
would rather kill to get what they wanted than be bound by the chains that restricted
them. After drifter Frank Chambers stops at the sleepy Twin Oaks Diner, (Postman).
Cora Smith [Lana Turner] will never be the same. This surprise visit from a younger,
more attractive man immediately has Smith head over heels, causing her to want to leave
her husband, Nick for Frank. After one unsuccessful attempt to leave Nick, Smith decides
it would be best just to kill him so that she and Chambers can live happily ever after,
supporting each other to the end. Eventually, Chambers and Smith accomplish killing
Nick, while, unbeknownst to them, being followed by the district attorney. Although
killing is not the way to get what you want, Smith realizes that she is unhappy with her
life and decides to do something about it. There is no family image to these films because
that would mean the man is the familys head and rulerlegitimizing [the] model of a
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hierarchal and authoritarian society, (Women). In this case, Smith is unhappy with the
family model that she is a part of, with her older husband and childless, mundane life.
Smith refuses to grow old in her unhappiness because she wants to live her own life
without being tied down and she interprets that as killing Nick to be with Chambers.
Since there are no rules in the world of film noir and there is a generally bleak outlook on
life, Smith is able to get away with the murder of her own husband, although, like most
film noir characters this ultimately leads to her death. Smith refuses to accept that she
could be unhappy for her entire life, so she decides to do something about it and relies
solely on herself to get rid of the baggage that is currently dragging her down. Smith is
not like those that came before her because she rejects the fact that she could be doomed
to live in a loveless, unhappy marriage for the rest of her life. She is not a delicate woman
who accepts societal norms of the time period like her predecessors.
Along with a heavy influence from World War II, film noir was able to transform
the way American cinema viewed women as characters in films. They were no longer
seen as these lackadaisical, vapid people who were just living life to find someone to start
a family with and depend on for financial support. Film noir paved the way for women to
start a quiet revolution within the American film industry that would forever change the
way women were viewed in movies, For the first time, Hollywood assembled an array
of films depicting the lives, challenges and emotions of women, (Women.) These films
were just the beginning of the focus on women in movies. After film noir slowly fell out
of style, films that depicted strong confident women grew into popularity, from Bette
Daviss fierce role as an aging actress Margo Channing in the 1950 film, All About Eve,
to Elizabeth Taylor fighting her husbands family for what is rightfully theirs as Maggie
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Pollitt in the 1958 film version of Tennessee Williamss play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, film
noir paved the way for these films to grow into popularity. Film noir was able to
captivate female roles in American cinema in a more self-reliant and savvy light. No
longer did women have to rely on men to get what they wanted, they could do it
themselves and do it better than any man could.