is a film style and mood primarily associated with crime films that portrays its principal characters in a cynical and unsympathetic world. Film noir is primarily derived from the hard-boiled crime fiction of the Depression era (many film noirs were adapted from crime stories and novels of the period), and the moody visual style of 1930s horror films. Film noir is first clearly seen in films released in the early 1940s. "Noirs" were historically made in black and white, and had a dark, high-contrast style with roots in German Expressionist cinematography.
The term film noir (French for "black film"), first applied to Hollywood films by French critic Nino Frank in 1946, was unknown to most of the American filmmakers and actors while they were creating the classic film noirs. The canon of film noir was defined in retrospect by film historians and critics; many of the creators of film noir later professed to be unaware at the time of having created a distinctive type of film.
Film noir stylish American crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period followed World War II, extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style. 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.
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