Film gris

Film gris (

Thematic elements

Films gris offer a

in particular. They typically examine such themes as the psychological damages of class, the false promises of middle class happiness, and the pitfalls of materialism.^[5] The politically-active John Garfield was frequently cast by producing partner Bob Roberts as the leading actor in this sub-genre.

Distinction from film noir

Film gris differs from film noir in some of the following ways:

• Film gris is more pessimistic and cynical than film noir. The dividing line between crime and law enforcement is often blurred.
• Films gris tend to blame society for crime, rather than the individual.
• Audience identification is often with the collective in a way atypical of Hollywood films.
• The femme fatale’s motives are more obvious and easier to identify than in film noir.^[6]

List of films gris

Andersen identifies the following^[7] as films gris:^[1]

• 1947
  • Body and Soul
• 1948
  • Force of Evil
  • They Live by Night
• 1949
  • Thieves' Highway
  • Knock on Any Door
  • We Were Strangers
• 1950
  • The Asphalt Jungle
  • The Breaking Point
  • The Lawless
  • Night and the City
  • Try and Get Me!
    (The Sound of Fury)
• 1951
  • The Prowler
  • He Ran All the Way

List of film gris directors

• Jules Dassin
• Abraham Polonsky
• Nicholas Ray
• John Huston
• Joseph Losey
• John Berry
• Cy Endfield

See also

• Neo-noir
• Message picture
• United States in the 1950s

Sources

• Andersen, Thom. "Red Hollywood." Literature and the Visual Arts in Contemporary Society. Eds. Suzanne Ferguson and Barbara S. Groseclose. Columbus: Ohio State University Press. (1985).
• Hirsch, Joshua. "Film Gris Reconsidered." The Journal of Popular Film and Television 34.2. (2006).
• Maland, Charles. "Film Gris: Crime, Critique, and Cold War Culture in 1951." Film Criticism 26.3. (2002).

References