Researching the film noir 'Notorious' before watching.

I have decided its about time to watch some popular film noirs to understand them a bit more and to see if i can get some valuble inspiration! I could maybe steal ideas and get some inspiration which could influence the making of my film noir OTS. Here are some popular film noirs that i have been suggested: Sunset Boulevard, High Noon, Dial M for Murder, To Catch a Thief, Shadow of a Doubt. I have also grabbed hold of some names of famous Directors that have made some film Noirs: Alphred Hitchcock, Joseph H. Lewis - Gun Crazy (1950). Im going to look up these people and write about them soon i promise!

I decided to watch the film noir 'Notorious' (1946). I did some research before hand and discovered that at one time, there was 'the longest screen kiss'. At this time there was something called the 'production code' where a kiss could only last a maximum of 3 seconds, so to make the longest kiss possible, Alphred Hitchcock thought of something clever. He got Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman to kiss for three seconds and then mumble something and then start kissing for three seconds again, this lasts for over 9 MINUTES! I also found the video of it, but you may not want to watch it for 9 minutes! Here is the link  to the video as the owner wont letr me embed it, watch it if you are a very patient person!:

ADD LINK HERE. http://vimeo.com/17702794

I wanted to see what other people thought about the whole film before i watch just the OTS. Here are some of the quotes people have said:

"A nearly flawless espionage thriller that has been mimicked many times since, but never equaled."
"Occassionally too slow, but compelling."
"The suspense builds continually, operating on multi-layers... "
"A glorious exercise in film style, where virtuoso camerawork combines with the characters to create a wonderful harmony of visuals and narrative - and where the complexities of character and story exist above and beyond the dictates of genre. "
"Notorious is badly dated."
                                                                                         http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1015287-notorious/


So these quotes lead me onto the conclusion that even though it can be slow at times and silence is often, people love the suspense and thrill this classic film has to offer. I was thinking, isn't slow-paced and silence what a film noir is? I thought it is key to creating suspense and for a film to actually be called a film noir, these people don't know what they are talking about!?


UPDATE AFTER WATCHING THE 'NOTORIOUS' OTS




So these quotes lead me onto the conclusion that eventhough it can be slow at times and silence is often, people love it. Isn't silence and slow paced meant to be what a film noir is like? I have to agree that the camera work and filming is soft and compelling - and i have only seen the OTS! Very well filmed, with addictive character personalities which you urge to know more about. When you think you know who the main character is going to be, you are proved wrong with another character coming into the picture. At times it is hard to know what is going on if you were paying attention as some sentences are key to know who is who and what is what. However, this OTS was truly very addictive to watch the characters even though i suffered from confusion and the urge to watch more than the OTS.