Spy Noirs & the First Femme Fatales
Below are three key issues regarding the femme fatale in film noir.
I. Spy Noirs Are Distinct from Crime Noirs
We must expand our understanding of the femme fatale. In spy noirs, she is deadly as an enemy government agent, an informer against the underground or as a fifth columnist.
For an analysis of spy noirs in the Second World War era, as well as the relationship of spy noirs to film noir, see the page Spy Noirs & the Origins of Film Noir in the UK & US.
II. Two Periodizations of the Femme Fatale in Film Noir
A. First Spy Noirs and then Crime Noirs
B. In Crime Noirs: First Only Soft Femmes Fatales then also Hard Femmes Fatales
We must revise the periodization of the femme fatale. Below there is a list of femmes fatales in spy noirs, 1936-1945, both in the UK and the US. Note that the femme fatale in spy noirs appears several years before the femme fatale in crime noirs.
In crime noirs, the femme fatale is at first only “soft”; in crime noirs, the “hard” femme fatale appears later, in 1944. For an explanation about the soft femme fatale vs. hard femme fatale, see the page International Lady.
Yet, by 1944, as the list below indicates, many spy noirs had already been released with a hard femme fatale. For in-depth discussions about two hard femme fatales, see the pages Under Secret Orders and Quiet Please, Murder.
In spy noirs, the femme fatale is a recurring character mainly before and up to 1944. The historical context is the Axis’ initial widespread victories and the perceived threat of female espionage operators working against the Allies.
In a crime noir, a femme fatale is involved with one murder (and, infrequently, multiple killings). However, a femme fatale in a spy noir is involved either in mass murder (sinking Allied ships, betraying the resistance) or sabotage that can cause many deaths (blowing up critical facilities, stealing top-secret military plans).
Femme Fatale in Spy Noir: title, date, country of release (UK or US), femme fatale (actor), seductress (alluring to a man in the film) or spy-ring leader (not alluring to any man), involved in multiple murders or lethal sabotage (yes or no), soft or hard
The General Died at Dawn, 1936, US, Judy Perrie (Madeleine Carroll), seductress, no, soft
Under Secret Orders, 1937, UK, Dr. Anne-Marie Lesser (Dita Parlo), seductress, yes, hard
The Spy in Black, 1939, UK, The School Mistress (Valerie Hobson), seductress, yes, soft
Charlie Chan in Panama, 1940, US, Miss Jennie Finch (Mary Nash), spy-ring leader, yes, hard
Federal Fugitives, 1941, US, Rita Bennett (Doris Day), seductress, yes, soft
International Lady, 1941, US, Carla Nillson (Ilona Massey), seductress, yes, soft
Mr. Dynamite, 1941, US, Achilles (Elisabeth Risdon), spy-ring leader, yes, hard
Eyes in the Night, 1942, US, Cheli Scott (Katherine Emery), spy-ring leader, yes, hard
Little Tokyo, U.S.A., 1942, US, Teru (June Duprez), seductress, yes, soft
Quiet Please, Murder, 1942, US, Myra Blandy (Gail Patrick), seductress, no, hard
Secret Enemies, 1942, Paula Fengler (Faye Emerson), seductress, yes, hard
Spy Ship, 1942, US, Pam Mitchell (Irene Manning), seductress, yes, hard
Assignment in Brittany, 1943, US, Elise (Signe Hasso), seductress, yes, hard
The Fallen Sparrow, 1943, US, Toni Donne (Maureen O’Hara), seductress, no, hard
Passport to Suez, 1943, US, Valerie King (Ann Savage), seductress, yes, hard
Yellow Canary, 1943, UK, Madame Orlock (Lucie Mannheim), spy-ring leader, yes, hard
Crime by Night, 1944, US, Ann Marlow (Faye Emerson), seductress and spy-ring leader, yes, hard
Hotel Berlin, 1945, Lisa Dorn (Andrea King), seductress, yes, hard
House on 92nd. Street, 1945, US, Else Gebhardt (Signe Hasso), spy-ring leader, yes, hard
III. The Femme Fatale: First Workers and then Slackers
We must change our view of the femme fatale’s relationship to work.
Mark Jancovich’s essay, “Phantom Ladies: the war worker, the slacker and the ‘femme fatale’,” only relates the femme fatale to crime noirs.1 (For clarity, I have changed Jancovich’s references in his examples from the first name of femme fatale characters to the titles of films.)
“[F]ar from being independent working women, most of the key characters identified as examples of the femme fatale are actually the mistresses of criminals [Scarlet Street, The Killers, Out of the Past, Criss Cross, Dead Reckoning] or the wives of wealthy men [Double Indemnity, Murder, My Sweet, Woman in the Window, The Lady from Shanghai]….2
“It is therefore significant that most of the female characters that have come to be seen as classic examples of the femme fatale are rarely seen in public space, but are almost always located in domestic interiors or nightclubs, where they wile away their time in boredom as they await the return of their men or are presented to the world as spectacles that display their partner’s power. Furthermore, their demeanor and attire also contribute to this image: they are often dressed in evening gowns, bathrobes and lingerie, and are frequently reclined in a bored and languid pose. The world in which they operate is not one productive labor but of leisure and consumption, even if they are an object of someone else’s leisure and consumption.3
“Rather than independent working women, these dangerous women were clearly presented as selfish, greedy and parasitic, qualities that clearly associated them with the private and domestic sphere rather than with public activity.”4
This is an important example of why the first issue above is so significant. Jancovich’s observations, he thinks, pertain to the femme fatale in film noir in general. In fact, they only pertain to the femme fatale in crime noirs. His observations don’t pertain to spy noirs in the WWII era, because nearly all femme fatales in spy noirs have jobs, which are usually integral to their espionage work.
Femme Fatale’s Job in Spy Noir: title, job (when indicated), whether her spying and her job are connected (yes or no).
The General Died at Dawn, no job indicated
Under Secret Orders, doctor, no
The Spy in Black, British undercover agent, yes
Federal Fugitives, assistant to a Washington, DC lobbyist, yes
International Lady, concert pianist, yes
Mr. Dynamite, no job indicated
Eyes in the Night, theater director, yes
Little Tokyo, U.S.A., no job indicated
Quiet Please, Murder, rare books dealer, yes
Secret Enemies, cocktail lounge singer, no
Spy Ship, aviatrix and spokesperson for a pro-isolationist organization, yes
Assignment in Brittany, waitress at an inn, no
The Fallen Sparrow, hat model/saleswoman, no
Passport to Suez, journalist, yes
Yellow Canary, no job indicated
Crime by Night, head of a theatrical agency, yes
Hotel Berlin, actress, no
House on 92nd. Street, store-owner and designer of fashionable gowns, yes
Notes
1. Mark Jancovich, “Phantom ladies: the war worker, the slacker and the ‘femme fatale’” (New Review of Film and Television, Volume 8, Issue 2, 2010), 164-178.
2. Jancovich, “Phantom ladies,” 171.
3. Jancovich, “Phantom ladies,” 172.
4. Jancovich, “Phantom ladies,” 175.
Sources for film noirs released in 1944 with a femme fatale
Michael F. Keaney, Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era, 1940-1959 (McFarland & Company, Inc., 2003)
Spencer Selby, The Worldwide Film Noir Tradition (Sink Press, 2013)
Andrew Spicer, Historical Dictionary of Film Noir (The Scarecrow Press, 2010)
