This is a big theme in David Goodis' novels. In many of his
books you get the femme fatale and the angel. Can't remember
if it was also blonde vs. brunette, but it wouldn't surprise
me. Maybe some of the Goodis experts can here can tell
you.
Jeff
> I'm in the middle of Gil Brewer's 13 French Street.
The narrator is
> torn between two women, his blonde girlfriend at
home and the dark
> haired wife of his old Army buddy. Brewer really
plays up her dark
> hair, clearly symbolic of a greater blackness within
her. It reminded
> me of what had been pointed out to me in a college
class on westerns,
> how the blondes usually represent purity (for
instance, Doc Holliday's
> girlfriend back east in My Darling Clementine) and
the fallen women are
> dark haired (Holliday's Mexican girlfriend in
Tombstone). I must
> admit, I haven't really paid much attention to the
hair color of femmes
> fatales in vintage noir lit, but Brewer makes suc a
big deal about the
> contrast. Has anyone else paid more attention? Is
this typical? Seems
> to me a lot of these femmes were blonde or redhaired
in film.
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