-
Period: to
Hays Code
Social -
Period: to
The Great Depression
This is significant because it was the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world. -
Period: to
World war II
Political -
The Maltese Falcon
The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 film noir written and directed by John Huston in his directorial debut, and based on Dashiell Hammett's 1929 novel of the same name.The film stars Humphrey Bogart as private investigator Sam Spade and Mary Astor as his femme fatale client. Gladys George, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet co-star, with Greenstreet appearing in his film debut. It follows a San Francisco private detective and his dealings with three unscrupulous adventurers. -
Double Indemnity
The screenplay was based on James M. Cain's 1943 novella of the same name, which originally appeared as an eight-part serial in Liberty magazine. The film stars Fred MacMurray as an insurance salesman, Barbara Stanwyck as a provocative housewife who wishes her husband were dead, and Edward G. Robinson as a claims adjuster whose job is to find phony claims. -
The Big Sleep
The Big Sleep was directed by Howard Hawks, the first film version of Raymond Chandler's 1939 novel of the same name. The movie stars Humphrey Bogart as private detective Philip Marlowe and Lauren Bacall as Vivian Rutledge in a story about the "process of a criminal investigation, not its results." William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, and Jules Furthman co-wrote the screenplay. -
The Third Man
The Third Man is a 1949 British film noir directed by Carol Reed and written by Graham Greene. It stars Joseph Cotten, Valli (Alida Valli), Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. The film takes place in post-World-War-II Vienna. It centres on Holly Martins, an American who is given a job in Vienna by his friend Harry Lime, but when Holly arrives in Vienna he gets the news that Lime is dead. Martins then meets with Lime's acquaintances in an attempt to investigate what he considers a suspicious death. -
Period: to
Vietnam War
Political -
Sweet Smell of Success
It was directed by Alexander Mackendrick and stars Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison and Martin Milner. The screenplay was written by Clifford Odets, Ernest Lehman and Mackendrick from the novelette by Lehman. Mary Grant designed the film's costumes. The film tells the story of powerful newspaper columnist J.J. Hunsecker (portrayed by Lancaster and based on Walter Winchell) who uses his connections to ruin his sister's relationship with a man he deems unworthy of her. -
Blast of Silence
Frankie Bono (Allen Baron), a hitman from Cleveland, comes to New York City during Christmas week to kill a middle-management mobster, Troiano (Peter H. Clune). First he follows his target to select the best possible location, and orders a gun from rat-loving dealer Big Ralph (Larry Tucker). One night, he meets a former friend from the orphanage he grew up in, rattling his cool and putting his life in danger. -
Cuban missile crisis
Political
(16 Oct 1962 – 28 Oct 1962) -
Period: to
Cuban missile crisis
Political -
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
Social -
Watergate
Political -
Chinatown
Chinatown was directed by Roman Polanski from a screenplay by Robert Towne, starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. The film was inspired by the California Water Wars, a series of disputes over southern California water at the beginning of the 20th century, by which Los Angeles interests secured water rights in the Owens Valley. -
Blade Runner
The film depicts a dystopian Los Angeles of 2019 in which genetically engineered replicants, which are visually indistinguishable from adult humans, are manufactured by the powerful Tyrell Corporation to work on off-world colonies. Those that escape and return to Earth are hunted down and "retired" by special police operatives known as Blade Runners. -
L.A. Confidential
L.A Confidential was directed, produced and co-written by Curtis Hanson. The screenplay by Hanson and Brian Helgeland is loosely based on James Ellroy's 1990 novel of the same name, the third book in his L.A. Quartet series. Like the book, the film tells the story of a group of LAPD officers in 1953, and the intersection of police corruption and Hollywood celebrity. -
Dark City
Dark City is a 1998 American-Australian neo-noir science fiction film directed by Alex Proyas. The screenplay was written by Proyas, Lem Dobbs and David S. Goyer. The film stars Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, and William Hurt. Sewell plays John Murdoch, an amnesiac man who finds himself suspected of murder. Murdoch attempts to discover his true identity and clear his name while on the run from the police and a mysterious group known only as the "Strangers". -
Memento
The film's script was based on a pitch by Jonathan Nolan, who later wrote the story "Memento Mori" from the concept. It stars Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Joe Pantoliano. Pearce stars as a man who, as a result of a past trauma, suffers from anterograde amnesia, the inability to form new memories and suffers short-term memory loss approximately every five minutes. He is searching for the persons who attacked him and killed his wife. -
September 11 attacks
Social/Political
