War and Peace: The Influence of WWII on Noir Films’ Femme Fatale
Maryam Moghaddami, Professor Ulrick Casimir 
University of Oregon, Department of Cinema Studies
Introduction Women in 1940s American Society Discussion
Noir films have frequently been understood to reflect a ▪ Female labor force increased by 57% (6.5 million women) Socioeconomic changes during the Second World 
societal malaise and as the femme fatale remains one of War and its immediate aftermath resulted in a shift in ▪ By 1945 there were nearly 20 million women in the 
noir’s defining elements, this research project puts forth society that saw women looking to define themselves 
the argument that the femme fatale is the reaction of the workforce outside of their relationships to men whether in the 
film industry to the changing gender dynamic in society. ▪ After the war, women were seen as “excess workforce” workplace or in the home. Facing the postwar 
This project utilizes information from the post-war era disillusionment brought on by economic instability and 
to make a case for the condition and discontent of women and pushed out of the workplace war trauma, men soon realized that it would be 
then. The hypothesis that the femme fatale’s character ▪ 25.5% increase in divorces between 1944 and 1945 and a difficult for society and women to return to the way 
and death is a result of male anxiety primarily builds on things were before the war and felt their traditional projected 550,000 divorces in 1946 alone
Alfred Adler’s theory of the inferiority complex and Laura dominance within society threatened. As a 
Mulvey’s theory of female sexualization and male control. ▪ Fear that end of the “traditional family” was near, for consequence of the male-dominance of the film 
Double Indemnity (1944), The Blue Dahlia (1946), and Out which women were blamed industry, these concerns were reflected on-screen in 
of the Past (1947) are used to illustrate this argument. noir films through the form of the femme fatale as 
▪ Departure from traditional gender roles was seen as men tried to reckon with their concerns over the role 
responsible of women in society. The femme fatale with her 
economic incentives and lack of interest in men as 
Research Question ▪ Economic incentives as women were accused of romantic partners can be seen as a caricature of 
seeking alimony American women at the time and what their interests 
What is the relationship between were thought to be. Her criminality and the blame noir 
changes in society and the form and film plots tend to lay heavily on her reveals what a 
transgressive figure the femme fatale was and what 
popularity of the femme fatale in noir 
Femmes Fatales in Noir Films sort of a serious threat she was thought to pose to the 
films? structure of society. The death of the femme fatale is 
then inevitable as, through their on-screen male proxy, 
▪ Male-dominated Hollywood as a result of the studio male creators attempted to regain control of the 
system female first through her sexualization then through her 
Methods killing.
▪ Economic and sexual independence
This project examines information about the ▪ Dissatisfaction with conventional route of mother and References
post-WWII era in order to see how the lives wife
Adler, Alfred. Understanding Human Nature (Psychology Revivals), Taylor & Francis Group, 2013, pp. 69-91. ProQuest 
Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.libproxy.uoregon.edu/lib/uoregon/detail.action?docID=1244782.
Bielby, Denise D., and William T. Bielby. “Women and Men in Film: Gender Inequality among Writers in a Culture 
▪ Hyper-sexualization Industry.” Gender and Society, vol. 10, no. 3, 1996, pp. 248–270. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/189696. Accessed 14 Mar. of women changed during the war and what 2021.
Boozer, Jack. “The Lethal Femme Fatale in the Noir Tradition.” Journal of Film and Video, vol. 51, no. 3/4, 1999, pp. 20–
▪ Ending by death or marriage 35. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20688218. Accessed 19 Feb. 2021.resulted of those changes. Then the project CDC.gov. “100 Years of Marriage and Divorce Statistics United States, 1867-1967.” CDC.Gov, National Vital Statistics 
System, Dec. 1973. www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_21/sr21_024.pdf.
looked at the portrayal of the femme fatale ▪ Films Celello, Kristin. Making Marriage Work : A History of Marriage and Divorce in the Twentieth-Century United States, University of North Carolina Press, 2009, pp. 44-72. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-
com.libproxy.uoregon.edu/lib/uoregon/detail.action?docID=454807.
in several films considered to be exemplars ▪ Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbra Stanwyck) in Double Deutsch, James I. “Piercing the Penelope Syndrome: the Depiction of World War II Veterans’ Wives in 1940s Hollywood Films.” Humboldt Journal of Social Relations, vol. 16, no. 1, 1990, pp. 31–42. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24003021. 
Accessed 15 Mar. 2021.
of noir to see whether a connection could be Indemnity Dietze, Gabriele. “Gender Topography of the Fifties: Mickey Spillane and the Post-World-War-II Masculinity Crises.” Amerikastudien / American Studies, vol. 43, no. 4, 1998, pp. 645–656. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41157423. Accessed 
18 Feb. 2021.
made with what was concluded about the ▪ Marie Derry (Virginia Mayo) in The Blue Dahlia History.com. “19th Amendment.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 5 Mar. 2010, www.history.com/topics/womens-history/19th-amendment-1#section_7.
Krutnik, Frank. In a Lonely Street : Film Noir, Genre, Masculinity : Film Noir, Genre, Masculinity, Taylor & Francis Group, 
position of women in society and the ▪ Kathie Moffat (Jane Greer) in Out of the Past 1991. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.libproxy.uoregon.edu/lib/uoregon/detail.action?docID=178317.
depiction of the femme fatale.  Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Screen, vol. 16, 1975, pp. 6-18.Ramsey, Carolyn B. "The Exit Myth: Family Law, Gender Roles, And Changing Attitudes Toward Female Victims Of 
Domestic Violence Toward Female Victims Of Domestic Violence". Michigan Journal Of Gender & Law, vol 20, no. 1, 
2013, p. 1-33. https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1029&context=mjgl Accessed 14 Mar 2021.
Wager, Jans B.. Dames in the Driver's Seat : Rereading Film Noir, University of Texas Press, 2005, pp. 53-63. ProQuest 
Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.libproxy.uoregon.edu/lib/uoregon/detail.action?docID=3443302.