Generally in a noir film the male lead is sort of an anti-hero (like Robert Mitchum, Dick Powell, Fred MacMurray, Dana Andrews, or Humphrey Bogart) who is lured either to destruction or at least into a lot of trouble by a sexy femme fatale (like Gene Tierney, Jane Greer, Barbara Stanwyck, Lauren Bacall, or Claire Trevor). Noir movies were usually filmed in black and white, but notable exceptions are Leave Her to Heaven and Chinatown.
James Coburn gets knocked off too early in The Last of Sheila to be considered a noir anti-hero. In addition, Raquel Welch and Dyan Cannon do not really come off as a classic noir temptresses -- neither intentionally lures anyone to his death in Sheila, which is more of a convoluted whodunnit. Just IMO. |
