Plunging necklines. Alcoholic private eyes. Dark alleys. And everyone — everyone! — is always smoking. Roger Ebert once referred to film noir as “the most American film genre,” because as he explained it, “no society could have created a world so filled with doom, fate, fear and betrayal, unless it were essentially naive and optimistic.” Or maybe we’re all just suckers for the gorgeous visual aesthetic. A post over on Coudal Partners tipped us off to a treasure trove of posters for many classics of the era; click through to check out a selection of our favorite vintage imagery, from Bogey and his “blazing automatics” in The Maltese Falcon to a close-up of Gloria Swanson’s aging film goddess in Sunset Boulevard.
Image credit: La boite verte
Image credit: La boite verte
Image credit: La boite verte
Image credit: La boite verte
Image credit: La boite verte
Image credit: La boite verte
Image credit: La boite verte
Image credit: La boite verte
Image credit: La boite verte
Image credit: La boite verte
Image credit: La boite verte
Image credit: La boite verte
Image credit: La boite verte
Image credit: La boite verte
Image credit: La boite verte