Women In Film Noir: Double Indemnity And The Big Sleep

Q -‘Film noir give[s] us one of the few periods of film in which women are active, not static symbols, are intelligent and powerful, if destructively so, and derive power, not weakness, from their sexuality’. (Janey Place, ‘Women in Film Noir’ in Women in Film Noir, ed. by Ann E. Kaplan (London: BFI, 1998), pp47-68 (p.47)) Discuss this statement in relation to two films studied on the module.

Women in film noir are portrayed with a vivacious and sexual energy that is different from other periods of film as women had adapted after the Second World War, as they could enter the workplace and thus they were forever changed in society. This caused women in film to transform and thus the femme fatale was born. These women who tempt and lure men into situations using their intelligence as well as their beauty set a new archetype which allowed strong and active symbols of women to be seen onscreen. Double Indemnity (1944) and The Big Sleep (1946) are film noir’s that depict women who derive power from their sexuality and intelligence and are leading examples of how film noir helped transfer a new type of woman on the screen.

Double indemnity, directed by Billy Wilder, (who was a forefront director for film noir,) is a film where we see how the leading lady Phyllis Dietrichson fully encompasses the role of the seductive but fatal femme fatale. The archetype of the femme fatale can be said to have come about after the Second World War as the role of women in society changed to accommodate the effects of war. Women played vital role in the home front and running households and a variety of jobs. As John Coley states “The femme fatale was a genuine threat, the post-war version of the new woman, officially some man’s woman but in reality, no one’s, substituting desire for domesticity, narcissism for children, wealth for suffering.” The change in social norms found women who were more confident with their new-found power and authority and this translates to film noir through the active female characters. The role of the main female character in film noir is immediately sexualised, however, it is done in such a way that she has all the power, she is in control of the situation. This translates to nearly all of women in film noir, as they are presented as sexual objects, but they allow themselves to be perceived as a beautiful creature who needs a man to save/help them. This is for their own personal gain as they are self-aware that their beauty and raw sexual appeal allows them to manipulate men to get their ultimate goals. This means that these women are not static symbols and that they use their sexuality to enable their destructive behaviour. These women are the very definition of allure and their appeal reflects this as all men typically fall for them and aid their sinister schemes.

When we first see Phyllis, the camera focuses in on her through a long shot, seductively focusing on her body as she slowly steps forward to talk to Walter. This technique immediately sexualises her as an object that the main character sees, and therefore she is viewed as such by the audience. We look at her from the viewpoint of Walter and thus we look up to her and she is clearly the dominant one here. She has just gotten out of the sunbathing and the allusion to her nakedness is present, especially as she is clad only in a towel. She allows herself to be viewed in this way as she is aware that her womanly wiles will serve her purpose to entice him to help her. Phillis is very good at acting innocent and interested in Walter Neff. Again, she is cunning and smart because she knows that she needs him to further her own needs and is intelligent enough to act attracted to him. She is not weak for using her sexuality to meet her end goal, rather the opposite, as she derives power from her sexuality. Phyllis has just meet Walter but already he is enamoured, his eyes never leave her and even when she leaves he still stares at where she once stood. This first meeting scene is filled with riveting dialogue and hidden meaning and the glorious Barbra Stanwick embodies all the necessary characteristics of a seductive and intelligent woman.

Women were seen traditionally in the history of film as passive and unimportant, they were not fully dimensional and were often seen onscreen as for the male pleasure and this was coined by Laura Mulvey as the male gaze . Woman were objectified and shown as either glamorous or boring. They were made to entertain and satisfy males watching. They could only fit into these two constraints which shows how women were not accurately presented in film. They were sexual objects for the pleasure of the male gaze in early film, however afterwards they were reinvigorated after WW2 which translated to film noir as they were women who used their sexual appeal to their own ends, normally to their own detriment.

In the Big Sleep Vivian Sternwood is the femme fatale played by Lauren Bacall. Similarly, to the character of Phyllis she is a seductive woman who entices detective Philip Marlowe to help her family whilst gaining his trust for information. She is a new modern woman, who has her sights set on him as a target to find out information. However, she is not a usual femme fatale as she does not create her own destruction. Vivian changes towards the end of the film where we find that her motives were not what we originally thought, therefore she does not fit perfectly into the femme fatale archetype. She is however still a strong and active woman always ahead of the game, a woman who challenges the men. Vivian is an active woman who is intelligent and powerful, playing a dangerous game with threatening men solidifying her as an active symbol who is intelligent and powerful for playing a perilous game of murder.

During the 1940s and early 1950s the femme fatale was born in film noir. This archetype was popular due to the sexual motivations and change in perspective towards women and the shift in women on the silver screen was popular. However due to the Hayes Production Code many sexual scenes were prohibited, however this was not necessarily an issue as Raymonde Borde states “censorship has had a paradoxically positive effect: where sensuality is concerned, the implied meaning can only add to the turgid atmosphere, to the images power of suggestion.” This is shown in The Big Sleep as there are many hidden meanings and playful innuendos between Marlowe and Vivian. Vivian states “You’ve forgotten one thing. Me.” Marlowe then pulls her to him and replies, “What’s wrong with you?” Vivian says, “Nothing you can’t fix. ” This scene skirts around the regulations set by the Hayes Code whilst still showing a romantic and sexual moment between the two characters.

Phyllis Dietrichson is a selfish woman wants to murder her husband and uses insurance man Walter Neff to help. Their dialogue makes every scene they are in crackle with tension and creates a sexual atmosphere. Walter Neff: I think you’re swell — so long as I’m not your husband.

Phyllis: Get out of here.

Walter Neff: You bet I’ll get out of here, baby. I’ll get out of here but quick. Phyllis: We’re both rotten.

Walter Neff: Only you’re a little more rotten. He alludes to her murderous side and that she is evil which shows his awareness of her sinister character, but he continues to plot alongside her, showing how her allure and sex appeal keeps him tied to her. It can therefore be said that her character is empowered, that she is a woman who does not remain static, she has a complex nature as she is not just a pretty face. She is intelligent and manipulates the men around her to get what she wants.

The overall cinematography in both films excellently present the style of film noir. John Seitz was the cinematographer for Double Indemnity and was nominated for an Academy Award for best cinematography. The film is shot in black and white which is normally associated with film noir alongside low-key lighting, as it gives the film an ambience that suggests hidden meanings where things are not what they seem. The cinematography is key in any film noir as it was essential to creating a good tone of film noir. It gives a degree of darkness to the women in both films as their characters play in the light and dark, acting innocent and seductive whilst planning murder and deceit.

Costumes in Double Indemnity show the women as active and their sexual appeal shines through helping portray them as powerful intelligent women. She wears a white dress, contrasting her personality, as she seems to be wearing a disguise to charm Walter. The dress is modest as her arms and chest are covered but it is her legs that draw the eye, especially when she sits opposite him. Her long legs are crossed and since they are the only part of her body on show they naturally catch the eye. As the film moves along she begins to wear darker colours drawing parallels to her changing personality as she becomes closer to achieving her morbid plan, her clothes start to reveal the darkness inside of her. The costumes in film noir can be said to show how the women are active and powerful as they use their appearance to control and manipulate men, thus what they wear is extremely important.

In The Big Sleep the use of wide shot allows the playful seductive Vivian at her best, flirting with Marlowe and making his lose his concentration when she visits his office. She sits on the table not so discreetly trying to fix her stockings, aiming to entice the detective but he is not easily swooned. He tells her to hurry up and scratch, which she does in an annoyed manner. This scene illustrates how Vivian plays into the natural role of seductress, she is like Phyllis in this scene, using her legs to distract him from what he wants to know.

Feminist Film Critic Laura Mulvey states in her essay Visual Pleasures “In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between the active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects it fantasy on t the female figure which has been styled accordingly.” This is partially true for film noir. The women are still sexualised in these films, but it is because they allow themselves to be viewed as such. They differ however as they aren’t passive in any sense of the word. Rather these women are more active than the males. They use their intelligence alongside their raw sex appeal to manipulate the men and achieve their goals. Film noir gives power to these women that they did not have during other periods of film.

At the end of Double indemnity Walter realises he was being used by her along. He goes to her house to confront her and she admits “I never loved you Walter, not you or anybody else. I’m rotten to the heart I used you just as you said, it’s all you ever meant to me.” She admits that she used him, and her true motives are revealed. She is not just a woman who is attractive for the audience, she is intriguing and plays an active role in developing the plotline. She was a dangerous woman who caused her own downfall and ultimate demise. The femme fatale shines too bright and deadly which causes her and the hardboiled hero to end badly usually in death.

Lauren Bacall does not however fall into the norm as her character Vivian is not inherently evil and changes at the end of the film. She gets her man and her life. Typically, the femme fatale would cause her own destruction through her sinister plot. Vivian however does not have a menacing scheme, so she does not die at the end of the film. The character of Vivian does not accurately fit the constraints of a femme fatale; however, she does have many of the qualities. She can be said to be a variant of this archetype as she is still an active symbol who uses her intelligence and seductive appeal to get close to Marlowe, but it is not to her own detriment.

To conclude, the women in the Double Indemnity and The Big Sleep are active, intelligent symbols who achieve their power through their raw feminine sexuality. These women can flourish in film noir and the femme fatale Phyllis embodies the archetype perfectly as she uses her deadly charm to lure men into a plot of murder and money. The strong yet less lethal Vivian is a variant of the femme fatale as she simmers with seductive allure, but still has a right-minded set of morals as displayed by the end of the film where she helps Marlowe escape. Therefore, film noir gives us women that are intelligent and active symbols unlike many other periods of film.

Bibliography;

1. Double Indemnity, Directed by Billy Wilder (Paramount Pictures, 1944)
2. The Big Sleep, Directed by Howard Hawkes (Warner Bros, 1946)
3. Borde, R and Etienne, C [trans. Paul Hammond], A Panorama of American Film Noir: 1941-1953. San Francisco: City Lights Books, 2002 [1955]. Pg. 17.
4. Mulvey, Laura, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (Oxford University Press, 1975)
5. Orr, J. (1993) Cinema and Modernity (Cambridge: Polity Press), pg.158