In film noir movies from the 1940s to late 1950s: - Male roles are typically given to main villains and members of the police and detective services. The murderer is sometimes a femme fatale character like in The Maltese Falcon. - Gender roles usually show young female characters as temptresses and middle-aged or older male characters as victims or detectives. - Age roles commonly feature young killers against middle-aged or older victims, with old women portrayed as innocent bystanders and old men as detectives or mob bosses. - Racial diversity is lacking, as films were produced when cultural diversity in America was still limited. On rare occasions, black or Asian minorities were shown stereotyp