NC SF QUALITY RANKINGS FOR DOMESTIC NOIR--40s vs. 50s

I was surprised to see that 50s noir showed up with higher quality percentages than 40s noir in terms of what's been screened at NC SF. But the number of films in each subgroup might be making a difference: 52% of all domestic (US-produced) noir screened at NC SF is from the 40s, while only 37% is from the 50s.

The ratio is a bit under 2-1 in favor of the 50s for those films with a 90+ quality ranking. For films graded 85 and higher, the 50s place 47% of the total films screened in that grouping, while the 40s manage on 37%.

On the trailing edge of quality, however, the 50s provide a much higher percentage of its films in the lowest quadrants than the 40s (21% vs. 10%).

So NC is showing more extreme films in terms of quality when it shows 50s noirs, and presenting a more balanced distribution of 40s films (with more than half of these falling into the "mediocre" range: 75-84.