I’m curious about films that might fit in as noirs from the silent era and early sound films. Will these be added later?

Topic

[Mike Bayer]

Good question. We limited it to after 1936, which many noir critics would already say is too early. : ) But, you’re right, there are lots of brilliant proto-noirs from before this date, especially masterpieces like Lang’s M (1931), Murnau’s romance-noir crossover Sunrise (1927), and the great original Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920). These films have been referenced in some of the articles, and I’m sure will be covered in blog posts down the road, but I hadn’t thought of adding earlier pre-1936 films to the actual directory. But if you’d like to see those included, I could always create a separate proto-noir category.

[Author]

Replies