Film noir, in its classic form from 1941 to 1959 in America, was a melting pot of European film migrants. Predecessors such as the novels of the "hard-boiled school" and the gangster films of the 1930s, as well as the conditions of war and post-war shock, become the subject of Brandlmeier's research. Around 1940, psychoanalysis also makes its way into the USA: instead of intact individuals, characters with psychological disorders such as amnesia, schizophrenia, paranoia, and claustrophobia become more prevalent. Modern variations of Oedipus and Electra are staged, and fetishisms of all kinds are addressed. The femme fatale is complemented by the fascination of the homme fatal, and necrophilia and living dead also emerge as motifs: film noir as a rehearsal for postmodernity.