[Editorial note: the following essay is a guest post by Mark Thompson.] The Elective Affinities of Film Noir and Social Darwinism by Mark Thompson  “A resurgence of social Darwinism, in either its individualist or imperialist uses, is always a possibility so long as there is a strong element of predacity in society.”                                                                                    Richard Hofstadter (1944)[1]When is a cliché not a cliché?  When a picture does actually sum up a thousand words.  The new cover for the Criterion Collection’s hot-off-the-press release of John Huston’s The Asphalt Jungle (1950) is a case in point: Sterling Hayden (playing Dix Handley) is semi-nestled behind Read more