The definition Noir was given to these films by a man called Nino Frank in 1946. Term 'Noir' is a French word which means 'black film' or 'dark film.
Hollywoods classic flim Noirs began in the 1940's and stretched till around 1959, this period is when film Noir was in its heydays and most popular. Film Noir hit Hollywood in 1933, this is the time in which Hitler had rose to power in Germany, film artists, directors, writers and costume designers emigrated from Germany as they would have been oppressed in Germany and many had been exiled for their type of unconventional work, they settled in California Hollywood. They had a profound effect on films in America and began to create work on their experiences in Germany and brang with them a European way of making films also the deep pessimism, anxiety, depression and pure disollusionment that had bistilled them in an ever economicall and political changing Europe with them. Stretching from the 1920's to 1940's when Germany was experiencing national disaster, crime, extreme poverty 
and political turmoil came from this film Noir's roots, from these roots was German expressionism and cinematography. The catergory of film orginally began in Europe, to an average audience it would seem it all started in America, but this type of dark filming began in Germany in the 20's.
Hollywoods classic flim Noirs began in the 1940's and stretched till around 1959, this period is when film Noir was in its heydays and most popular. Film Noir hit Hollywood in 1933, this is the time in which Hitler had rose to power in Germany, film artists, directors, writers and costume designers emigrated from Germany as they would have been oppressed in Germany and many had been exiled for their type of unconventional work, they settled in California Hollywood. They had a profound effect on films in America and began to create work on their experiences in Germany and brang with them a European way of making films also the deep pessimism, anxiety, depression and pure disollusionment that had bistilled them in an ever economicall and political changing Europe with them. Stretching from the 1920's to 1940's when Germany was experiencing national disaster, crime, extreme poverty 
and political turmoil came from this film Noir's roots, from these roots was German expressionism and cinematography. The catergory of film orginally began in Europe, to an average audience it would seem it all started in America, but this type of dark filming began in Germany in the 20's. Take this Image of Nosferatu, this is a classic image of German expressionism, heavy use of shadows,lighting and shade these factors had a great impact on film Noir. Film directors portrayed life under the Nazis in their films. The outbreak of WW2 was a major political and definatly a social drive for the birth of film
.The cold war was a great way for the film to tap into the paranoier and scare in society, society at the time were ever fearful of red communist spys and infiltration of America, with the films basing around shady, unknown characters film Noir could use this to help there films to really broadcast to society on a real level. These 2 main factors of a global war and the cold war are reason for the birth and rise of Film Noir in Hollywood making use of the post-war feel of anxiety, pessimism, and suspicion that led in post war America.
American Film Noir was made cheaply, the top films were classed as A-movies, with all the big stars in hollywood as the cast, a famous well known director and massive spending budget, Film noir had non of that, They were classed as B-movies. the cast tended to be unknown upcoming actors looking for a break into the film industry. What tended to happen was that you would buy a A-movie and be given the B-movie for free at the start. B movies budget was often at least five times less than that of an A-movie. A classic example of a B-movie wouls be Detour, made in 1945. the film was shot for $20,000, a cheap film of the 1940's, the film used re-used sets, straightforward camera work but still stuck to the traditional Noir feel, shadowy black and white cinematography. The film received good feedback for a low budget film.
Novelists Edward Gorman and Dow Mossman wrote:
"...Detour remains a masterpiece of its kind. There have been hundreds of better movies, but none with the feel for doom portrayed by ... Ulmer. The random universe Stephen Crane warned us about—the berserk cosmic impulse that causes earthquakes and famine and AIDS—is nowhere better depicted than in the scene where Tom Neal stands by the roadside, soaking in the midnight rain, feeling for the first time the noose drawing tighter and tighter around his neck."
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