3. The Big Sleep
Film Noir lives in black and white. There is no other genre in the history of cinema that benefits as much from the added depth of the shadows, the heightened sense of mystery and the enigmatic characterization that black and white allows. The Big Sleep is also the perfect film to use as an example of the way that black and white helps develop the characters and narrative of Film Noir. The story is the most convoluted in all of cinema in that it is one mystery that is part of a bigger mystery that is then also part of an even bigger mystery. While it is incredibly difficult to follow the story once it gets going the lead performances by Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall give The Big Sleep a sordid edge that is thoroughly gripping. The way that Bacall's character, Vivian Rutledge, seems to exist in the shadows gives the story an air of mystery that could only be achieved in black and white.