Film noir

Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize moral ambiguity and sexual motivation. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography, while many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Depression.

Film noir was most popular in the early 1940s to the late 1950s. As were crime dramas, showing moral and amigutity showing that there was no right or wrong. Film Noir started as the audiences required respect from the "Villain" type characters.
Typical characters include :

• private eye
• salesman. (good talker/charmer)
• drifter (surviving on wits)
• businessman
• trapped housewife - femme fatal

Amnesia is also a recurring theme throughout the genre with very none optimistic endings.

Before the 1960's there was such thing as the Hayes Code, which was a code created by hollywood production companies making censership stricter than it is now. Meaning that most films included fear, mistrust, loss of innocence and paranoia. They also had very strong views on sex, and Psycho was deemed "out there" for showing a women in a bra