Film noir is said to have begun in 1919 with Robert Wiene's film, The Cabinet of Dr. This film is from the German Expressionistic era and is one of the first films to be overly melodramatic with heavy make-up and dark costumes that intensifies the attitudes of the actors. Throughout the story the imagery of instability can be seen with twisted streets, over hanging buildings, oddly squeezed rooms, and contorted scenery. The set designs were unique for their time because they were oddly shaped and in a deco style and every shadow is emphasized as a significant part of the shot. The ideas of dark shadows and dramatic scenery and costumes carry on throughout the topic of film noir and are what make it unique. .
Film noir is unique in comparison to other film genres in history. It is stated in Film Noir: An Encyclopedia Reference to the American Style, that "Noir films have no precise antecedents either in terms of a well defined literary genre or a period in history (Ward, 1). After The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, the height of films with similar characteristics continued being produced thorough the 1950s. Films such as L.A. Confidential and Femme Fatale have been made recently which still follow the original guidelines. The themes of the films cover everything from pre-war paranoia in Germany, with Fritz Lang's M(1931), to American gangster movies like Public Enemy (1931).
Film Noir is a broad genre and has been used for years. The characteristics of film noir never get old because they are unique and they allow the film to have much more suspense and drama because the films are shot in such a dramatic fashion. It is difficult to state when the peak of Film Noir occurred because there were so many different periods. Most American information states that it was from the end of World War II till 1958 with Orson Welles" film, Touch of Evil(King, 27). This is difficult to agree with because it is canceling out all of the great films from Germany during the Expressionist era which paved the way for these American films.