are Double Indemnity (1944) and Out of
the Past (1947). They pin the noir meter, so
to speak. There are lots of films from the
silent and pre-Code eras that exhibit all the
hallmarks, but they’re one-offs, not part of a
movement: Sunrise (1927), Asphalt (1929),
Thunderbolt (1929), A Cottage on Dartmoor
(1929). These and many more anticipate the
noir movement although they’ve never been
classified as such.
Davis: “Noir” has become a word direc-
tors on tour invoke to justify their other-
wise uninteresting thrillers. Often it seems
merely to mean the main character is a
loser or the ending is grim. That’s not noir
to me. Tragedy is more than just a sad story,
and noir is more than just a grim tale about
losers. The statement they both make is that
the universe is indifferent and often just
brushes someone off the counter. But there’s
also the element that something in the main
character’s nature is inviolable. It makes it
impossible for that person to do anything
other than what leads him, often knowingly,
to destruction. Oedipus has got to be Oedi-
pus and Walter Neff (Double Indemnity),
Walter Neff. There are outside forces, but
the noir character can’t be other than he is
and achieves a limited nobility in it.
Muller: Dennis Lehane has called noir
“working-class tragedy.” There’s something
to that. What I look for in noir is a sense of
empathy—I want the writer and director to
make us care about that person that is mor-
ally compromised. This is the great catharsis
in art, to vicariously act out one’s worst
instincts, to feel the tragedy of a wrong deci-
sion. I have no interest in the work of film-
makers who take an almost gleeful pleasure
in watching the characters suffer.
Davis: Noir also seems to be an awareness
brought to the forefront in a specific gen-
eration. Even though you can find a noir
sensibility in things made earlier, it seems
so much a product of the postwar period.
I’ve often thought that noir is where you
come out after seeing the horrible, random
violence of the war. You’re an ordinary
guy. You get drafted. You learn quick that
your fate is not your own. It doesn’t even
deserve the glorification of the word “fate,”
so have a belt and deal with it. It’s not that
the noir sensibility doesn’t exist outside of
that time period. It’s more universal than
that. It’s more like it crystallized in these
movies, in that period, like classical trag-
edy in ancient Athens.Muller: Have you read Robin Robertson’s
The Long Take? It’s an ambitious long-
form poem that conjured precisely what
you are describing. Nominated for the 2018
Man Booker Prize for literature. Which is
a little ironic, don’t you think? The books
and movies that he’s found a “literary” way
of honoring certainly were never nomi-
nated for prizes. It’s a period piece, yes. But
I think noir is still viable today; Breaking
Bad strikes me as maybe the most popular
example of the noir ethos in mainstream
American culture. Lots of people would
scoff at that; “Where’s the femme fatale?
Where are the shadows?” To me, the story of
a married chemistry teacher who becomes a
drug kingpin... pretty damn noir.
Modern noir is not about the window
dressing. The minute you try to re-create
that, the majority of people look at it as a
parody. Curtis Hanson was very smart whenhe made L.A. Confidential (1997)—he nixed
the fedoras, even though it was inaccurate
to the period. In that era, they would have
worn hats, all the time. But he knew modern
audiences wouldn’t take the film as seriously
if the guys wore hats.Davis: Most foreign authors I have met are
much more into noir than the “traditional”
mystery, demonstrating the international
appeal of noir. The French praised Jim
Thompson and David Goodis when such
writers got high-hatted here.Muller: I completely agree. It goes back to
what I said about empathy. Other cultures
have more acceptance of, shall we say, the
“failings” of human nature. In America right
now, where superhero movies dominate,
we are obsessed with moral righteousness.
Everybody in the public eye is expected
to be some paragon of virtue. American
culture has become so brazenly bizarre that
the artists can’t seem to keep pace. Plus,
noir stories are by nature minimalist, and
the people who parcel out the money in this
country aren’t as interested in minimalist
art. They want the spectacle.Davis: One final question. That TCM Wine
Club you advertise, with labels and blends
suggested by movies—is the wine any good?Muller: Yes! It’s a nice perk. I’m not a
wine snob. Cases of it just show up on my
porch and I’m happy to drink it. I haven’t
uncorked the Marx Brothers wine yet; I’m
convinced something’s going to pop out of
the bottle.April 2019J. Madison Davis is the
author of eight mystery
novels, including The
Murder of Frau Schütz, an
Edgar nominee, and Law
and Order: Dead Line. He has also published
seven nonfiction books and dozens of short
stories and articles, including his crime and
mystery column in WLT since 2004.CRIME & MYSTERY EDDIE MULLER, TCM‘S “CZAR OF NOIR”
I want the writer
and director to make
us care about that
person that is morally
compromised. This is
the great catharsis in
art, to vicariously act
out one’s worst instincts,
to feel the tragedy of a
wrong decision.12 W LT SUMMER 2019