to express his artistic side and use German lighting techniques to capture audiences. As Hitchcock's knowledge and passion for expressing his artistic side in films grew, America was changing. By the 1940s America was entering a dark period where one war was quickly followed by another, where depression stole the civilized lives of many, and where crime and violence were prevalent. The melancholy emotions and morbid feelings caused by these occurrences placed America in a period of film making that is regarded as one of the most artistic yet least known.
             After World War II, French film critics began to noticed a growing trend in many of the American crime/detective films and melodramas. The films were dark, morbid, pessimistic, and filled with sex, betrayal, and murder. They placed these unusual Hollywood crime thrillers under the title film noir meaning black film. This style occurred between the 1940's and 1960's but some elements of film noir are still seen in some of the modern day movies. Film noir is a sub-genre or an offshoot of the 1930's gangster era cinema. Although similar to these gangster sagas film noir carries a different tone revolving around society's evil, moral conflict, and human depravity. These films used a dark style of visual presentation and lighting effects from technical achievements of German Expressionism of the 1920s and 1930s (Borde). German Expressionism was a general art movement which in Germany sought to express the very essence of post-war life, its moods and concerns. There was an emphasis on irrational behavior (Silver). While many consider film noir a genre because the main noir movies occurred during a 20 year time frame, it is best described as a mood, style or tone of film because its elements can be used still today.
             Film noir films show the dark and evil side of human nature with cynicism, doomed love, brutality, and an atmosphere of anxiety, suspicion, and entrapment. It focused on th...