Film noir represents the illusive charm of black and white cinema and of its stars that graced the silver screen in its glory years in the 40s and 50s.
Film Noir meaning “black film” in french coined by the critic Nino Frank in 1946, defined an era of stylish visually moody black-and-white crime mysteries. The plot of the film could be told in one dramatic photo promoting the central figure either portraying the private investigator, grifter and the elusive femme fatale. The images are always bold and the use of lighting and shadows created a noir universe that invites you into an erotic and scandalous world of deceit and conspiracy.
Robert Coburn, Ernest Bachrach, and A.L. “Whitey” Schafer’s portraits captured the A-list superstars Robert Mitchum, Barbara Stanwyck, Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Humphrey Bogart to the character actors of the period Gale Sondergaard, Delores del Rio and George Raft who are published in the book Film Noir Portraits. Curated by Paul Duann and Tony Nourmand it also includes rarely-seen imagery from The Night of the Hunter; Sweet Smell of Success and imagery from Double Indemnity, Gilda and Lady From Shanghai.
Scroll through a selection of the very best portrait photography of the Film Noir era, these images remain some of the most innovative and striking portraits in the history of cinema and still contain the same raw power as they did in the 1940s.
Film Noir Portraits by Paul Duncan and Tony Nourmand is published by Reel Art Press.
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THE MALTESE FALCON, 1941
A portrait of Humphrey Bogart as San Francisco private detective Sam Spade. Taken by photographer Scotty Welbourne at Warner Bros Studios uses light and shadow to convey the image of a falcon behind Bogart.
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PHANTOM LADY, 1944
A studio photo of Ella Raines depicting the classic femme fatale portrait.
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PHANTOM LADY, 1944
A portrait of Franchot Tone.
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MILDRED PIERCE, 1945
A studio portrait of Joan Crawford in her Academy Award-winning role as Mildred Pierce. The image was used in advertising campaigns with the tag line: ‘The Kind of Woman that most men want – BUT SHOULDN’T HAVE!’
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THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE, 1946
A portrait of Dorothy Mcguire in this striking portrait from the film directed by Robert Siodmak.
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GILDA, 1946
A striking portrait of Rita Hayworth in the film ‘Gilda’ photographed by Robert Coburn.
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GILDA, 1946
‘Gilda’ film Poster starring Rita Hayworth designed by art director Jack Kerness.
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THE BIG SLEEP, 1946
Directed by Howard Hawks, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall captured in this moody portrait.
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THE KILLERS, 1946
Burt Lancaster with Ava Gardner in a moody publicity shot for the film, based on a short story by Ernest Hemingway. This was Lancaster’s first starring role at the age of 33 with Gardner, one of the most memorable Femme Fatales of the film noir genre
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THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, 1947
Written and directed by Orson Welles and starred actress Rita Hayworth. Robert Coburn captured this image during the funhouse mirror scene.
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OUT OF THE PAST, 1947
Ernest A Bachrach captured this image of Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer in the film directed by Jacques Tourneur.
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RAW DEAL, 1948
A portrait of Dennis O’Keefe portraying the character Joe Sullivan.
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FOLLOW ME QUIETLY, 1949
A portrait from the film directed by Richard Fleischer starring William Lundigan and the faceless man character.
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PANIC IN THE STREETS, 1950
A portrait of Jack Palance in his first role on the screen as hoodlum Blackie was taken by the studio’s on-set photographer during the filming of Elia Kazan’s classic noir.
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SUNSET BOULEVARD, 1950
This studio portrait of Erich von Stroheim and William Holden.
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FILM NOIR PORTRAITS BY TONY NOUMAND AND PAUL DUNCAN
A portrait of Robert Mitchum in the 1955 classic The Night of the Hunter.
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