The woman in film noir; the first steps that destroyed the myth of a gender of men

Cinema plays an important role as art to reveal and exalt not only women as the main entity of society but as a fundamental part of the struggles and social conquests throughout history. Today women occupy important places within the film industry, not only as actresses but as directors, screenwriters and various functions that give quality to the films.

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From pioneering female directors like Lois Weber, Mabel Normand or Alice Guy who gave their first steps behind the camera in the silent film era, Norman was even one of Chaplin’s muses in several of his films, to those that innovated the technique and language of this art of the 20th century.

As was the case with Leni Riefenstahl, one of the masters of documentary film, that despite having used his art to serve one of the most criminal regimes in history such as the Nazi, His documentaries are a sample of the mastery of montage and the use of the camera, or the more contemporary ones like Maria Luisa Bemberg, Lina Wertmuller, Margarethe von Trotta, the great agnes varda, even the Oscar winners sophia coppola or Katryn Biegelow.

At the national level figures such as Tanya Hermida, Maria Fernanda Restrepo, Gabriela Calvache, Ana Cristina BarraganIsabel Davalos, Monica Mancero, Yanara Guayasamin, among other.

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An exceptional case, women in film noir

One of the genres that revolutionized not only the history of cinema but also turned the treatment that had been given to women in movies completely upside down. From a submissive, obedient woman and even from being taken as an object, she became the axis where the plot of the film. Film noir empowers women in facets rarely seen, and not only with its protagonists, but also It was the vehicle for women to also be the producers and directors of this type of film, a genre that, like the western It was predominantly male.

And among the most emblematic actresses of the genre are Rita Hayworth or Veronica Lake, Lauren Bacall or Barbara Stanwyck, Mary Astor, powerful women, owners of their destiny, who displace the male protagonist to be the center of attention, using intelligence and seduction they destroy the myth of a gender of men. They are the first ladies of film noir.

They left footprints

Cinema has shown us the evolution of the female figure, From its beginnings, where a stereotyped image of a submissive and sexually attractive woman was presented, to its marked evolution, when the industry came of age, which shows it in various genres as a character with its own entity, determined and daring, be a model of this the movies of western case of the haunting Joan Crawford in the mythical johnnyguitar. Waves women film noir fatalities like Rita Hayworth or Veronica Lake, Lauren Bacall or Barbara Stanwyck, powerful women, masters of their destiny.

But that as far as actresses are concerned, but film noir would offer more space for women, as was the case with the brilliant, Virginia van Upppowerful producer of Columbia studios, which was part of the success of the Orson Welles movie, the lady from shanghai and architect of the success of another noir gem like Gildawhich catapults Rita Hayworth to stardom.

Another example is the writer Leigh Brackett, Lead writer and collaborator of the director Howard Hawks. From his pen comes the script of the film eternal sleep, adaptation of the novel Raymond Chandler, vehicle for display Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart, always linked to the noir environment; she would collaborate with Robert Altman in the new version of The long goodbye.

Sylvia Richards is another important screenwriter of this genre and also a tragic figure. Her name is behind scripts for classic movies like Notorious Ranch and secret behind the doorfrom Fritz Lang, Passion under the mist, from King Vidor and Love that kill, her brilliant career was destroyed when she was included in the Black List of McCarthyism.

But what is worth noting is the presence of Ida Lupine, popular American actress and femme fatale of the noir, he made films with the help of prestigious directors such as Fritz Lang, Raoul Walsh, and Nicholas Ray. He also excelled directing the camera. Lupino became the only woman to run a film noir during the classical period of the genre, whose title is The hitch hiker (1953), film noir in its purest form, daring film and with an overwhelming psychological weight, the same one that would be a reference for later productions by various directors who would use the theme, victims, serial killer and highway as a base.

Lupino is an example of a woman who did not submit to her studies, distanced herself from Warner and creates his own production company. She becomes an independent actress and is in charge of choosing her roles without interference from anyone, he also works as a screenwriter, and directs for small studios films whose feminist theme had little support from the big studios, other than deal with sensitive situations such as unwanted pregnancies, rape and family violence.

Lupino is an avant-garde when it comes to producing and directing movies, at a time when men were in control of the big studios.

These and other women that we rarely find in the official histories of cinema are highlighted by Jean-Pierre Esquenazi In his book on film noir, and he rightly said that this genre apart from being popular also it was subversive not only because of the themes but also because of the presence of strong women who bet on their permanence and management of many productions of the genre and managed to win. (I)