Well I just watched
Rope and I was not going to write a review for Noirvember for it, but according to iCheckMovies it is on the TSPDT top 1000 Noir list. This had me wondering exact what is a film noir film. Of course Wikipedia is my go to source and it has this to say:
Film noir : is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American film noir. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key, black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography. Many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Great Depression.
Then it discusses the problems with the definition the key points of that are:
"We'd be oversimplifying things in calling film noir oneiric, strange, erotic, ambivalent, and cruel ..."—this set of attributes constitutes the first of many attempts to define film noir made by French critics Raymond Borde and Étienne Chaumeton in their 1955 book
also:
Though film noir is often identified with a visual style, unconventional within a Hollywood context, that emphasizes low-key lighting and unbalanced compositions,[7] films commonly identified as noir evidence a variety of visual approaches, including ones that fit comfortably within the Hollywood mainstream.
Based on the very stage like set up, Rope does not match the common low-key lighting and unbalanced compositions, nor is it a conventional Hollywood mainstream. So not very noir there.
It is not dream like (oneiric). So no match.
It is strange, in that it is the action based on a theoretical superior / inferior power dynamic. Match
It is not erotic, although the unspoken, apparent, homosexual relationship between our two killers is very unusual for the time. No match
Ambivalent and Cruel, the driving force behind the murder is both. So match
Going through those leads me to not changing me view of seeing
Rope as not film noir, but I am not sure either of the other 2 films I have reviewed for this thread would meet the criteria.
I will say this I enjoyed
Rope, and rate it 79 / 100 (the stagey presentation did not work for me, and knocked down my rating). I will not be listing it in the first post. Of course I am open to having my mind changed.