The "self-styled siren" Farran Smith Nehme compiled a 13-film "Noir by Gaslight" series for the Criterion Channel last September, then wrote a typically skittering essay about it for Criterion's in-house e-zine which danced around the concept of "noir elements" while name-checking Paul Schrader and Eddie M. As with much of Nehme's writing, it is a chatty cul-de-sac of circular references and escalatingly arch enthusiasms, which makes no attempt to reference any of the "period/gaslight noir" not included in the Criterion Channel series.
The particular Gothic overtones that are variably present in the 40 "period noirs" on the list below are clearly a product of the 1940s, with 30 of the films being produced in that decade. As with the "woman in distress/woman in peril" film, it disappears in the early 50s and is replaced by various forms of "home invasion" noirs, which expand the "distress/peril/danger" beyond gender to a form of fear-mongering with respect to suburban domesticity. The psychotic behavior manifested in "Gothic noir" is primarily a combination of two "deadly sins"--greed and jealousy, which sometimes combust into permutations of a third (wrath).
But in the "peril/distress" noirs in the mid/late 50s, women are often used as targets for revenge actions unrelated to gender itself. After the Production Code is toppled, the deadly sin kept under wraps--lust--becomes more prominently foregrounded in post-noir and neo-noir, eventually leading to "female revenger" films such as MS. 45. Psychosis is significantly more prominent here, running with what was first unleashed in the mid-50s.
Nehme's choices for "Noir by Gaslight" are shown in bold type within the list of 40 "period noirs", which is ordered by year of release. Also included is the studio (or country) of origin, the IMDB rating, and the personal evalution of Mike Keaney from his FILM NOIR GUIDE. (I did not have the opportunity to consult Keaney's book on British noir, which likely includes most of the UK "period noirs" listed below.)
Sadly, Nehme doesn't see fit to include the original UK version of GASLIGHT, which is the catalyst for the "period noir" boom that is strong through the years of WWII (14 films in total), peaks in 1946-47 (11 films), remains robust in 1948-51 due to the entry of MGM in 1949 (12 films), then peters out quickly in the next two years, ending with a wan remake of THE LODGER (1953's MAN IN THE ATTIC: try as he might, Jack Palance is no Laird Cregar).
Title, Year, Studio, IMDB, MK, FSN
L'Affair Lafargue, 1938, France, 6.2, --,
Gaslight, 1940, UK, 7.3, ,
Ladies in Retirement, 1941, Col, 7.1, 3, x
Man in Grey, The, 1943, UK, 6.5, ,
Jane Eyre, 1943, Fox, 7.5, ,
Bluebeard, 1944, PRC, 5.9, 4.5,
Experiment Perilous, 1944, RKO, 6.3, 2.5, x
Gaslight, 1944, MGM, 7.8, 4, x
Lodger, The, 1944, Fox, 7.1, 4, x
Suspect, The, 1944, Uni, 7.4, 4, x
Man of Evil, 1944, UK, 6.5, ,
Hangover Square, 1945, Fox, 7.4, 4, x
Am Abend nach der Oper, 1945, German, 6, ,
Wicked Lady, The, 1945, UK, 6.8, ,
Pink String & Sealing Wax, 1945, UK, 6.7, ,
Dragonwyck, 1946, Fox, 6.9, 3, x
Love From a Stranger, 1946, Uni, 5.9, 3,
Spiral Staircase, The, 1946, RKO, 7.3, 4,
Verdict, The, 1946, WB, 7.2, 3,
Queen's Necklace, The, 1946, France, 7.1, --,
Strange Woman, The, 1946, , 6.5, ,
Ivy, 1947, UNI, 7.1, 2.5, x
Lost Moment, The, 1947, Uni, 6.9, 2,
Moss Rose, 1947, Fox, 6.6, 2.5, x
Uncle Silas, 1947, UK, 6.6, ,
Mark of Cain, The, 1947, UK, 6.2, ,
Blanche Fury, 1948, UK, 6.7, --, x
Corridor of Mirrors, 1948, UK, 6.5, , x
So Evil My Love, 1948, Par, 6.9, 4, x
Woman in White, The, 1948, WB, 6.6, 4,
Black Magic, 1949, UA, 6.4, 2,
Reign of Terror, 1949, MGM, 6.9, 3,
House by the River, 1950, Rep, 7.0, 3,
Madeleine, 1950, UK, 6.9, --, x
So Long at the Fair, 1950, UK, 7.0, --, x
Tall Target, The, 1951, MGM, 7.2, --,
Late Edwina Black, The, 1951, UK, 6.6, ,
Man With a Cloak, The, 1951, MGM, 6.6, ,
My Cousin Rachel, 1952, Fox, 6.9, --,
Man in the Attic, 1953, Fox, 6.1, 2.5,
Studio count for the films on the list: UK studios 12, Fox 7, MGM 4, Universal 4, RKO 2, UA 2, WB 2, France 2, Columbia 1, Paramount 1, PRC 1, Republic 1, Germany 1
Note: Nehme makes a big deal about MADELEINE and the real-life case it references, but misses the fact that Pierre Chenal appropriated those historical events twelve years earlier when he invented the "gaslight noir, femme fatale division" with 1938's L'AFFAIRE LAFARGUE, with Marcelle Chantal in the "Madeleine" role played by Ann Todd in the 1950 version. (Todd seems to have taken on a semblance of the character traits existent in Madeleine after making the film, proceeding to make director-husband David Lean's life miserable for the next three years before the couple parted.)
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