I'm not a great one for dictionary definitions; more specialist texts
are better sources of information than the postage-stamp sized spaces
typically available in a general compendium. That said, the closest
dictionary to hand (Collins English Dictionary, updated third edition
(1994)) offers "_adj_ (of a film) showing characteristics of film noir,
in plot or style". The cross reference gives "_n_ a gangster thriller,
made esp. in the 1940s in Hollywood characterised by contrasty lighting
and often somewhat impenetrable plots [C20: French, literally: black
film]". Meanwhile, Frank Krutnik's _In A Lonely Street: _Film Noir_,
Genre, Maculinity_ (London: 1991) devotes chapter three to "hard boiled"
crime fiction and _film noir_.
While Krutnik italicises both "noir" and "film noir", I would suggest
that they are in common usage to not need italicisation; house style may
of course prevail. I'm not so sure about the plural though, as _films
noirs_ does not appear to be so common (the incorrect "film noirs" is,
however, another matter). Interestingly, Krutnik seems to avoid the
plural, although the term _femmes fatales_ does make an appearance in
his text
As far as hypens go, I'm with the clarifiers: punctuation functions as a
way of helping the reader; if it's faulty, the reader's experience is
disrupted. Omitting hyphens for the sake of "cleanliness" is simply
misguided: if in doubt, consider the three year old dogs.
ED
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