Welcome to Winona State’s new multimedia blogsite, POV Winona, an outlet for students to examine, critique, and report on films and film events.

This first issue focuses on the classic phase of film noir (1940-1958), examining the ways in which some lesser-known films exhibit or deviate from the kinds of generic tropes and stylistic commonalities made famous by The Maltese Falcon and Double Indemnity.

In “Scarlet Street: The Ghosts of the Past,” Kyra Beske examines the cinematic technique and narrative tropes of the 1945 Fritz Lang noir classic starring Edward G. Robinson.  In “The Naked City: Eight Million Stories,”  Melanie Gillis places the Jules Dassin classic in the historical context of postwar politics and Cold War paranoia.  Sara Manning highlights the unique vision of actress-turned-director Ida Lupino in “The Hitch-Hiker: Ida Lupino in the Director’s Chair.”  And last, in her article  “Sweet Smell of Success: Redefining Crime-and Film Noir” Brynn Artley examines crime and corruption in the 1957 film noir directed by Alexander Mackendrick and starring Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis.

Stay tuned for our next issue, focusing on page-to-screen adaptation as our authors examine the process–and product!–of adapting written work into films.