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He wasn't specific about why it was not but admitted that it's dark, mean spirited characterization could make it a noir. I wonder if it's more the look or the satirical bent that makes him say no

For me, it’s core noir (and Wilder’s best film). Doom is ineluctable, all the protagonists are amoral, and you could cut yourself on the dialogue. The only arguments against it being noir are I guess that there’s no obvious law-breaking or gunplay, it’s rural and plays out in broad daylight, but Imogen Sara Smith in her great book In Lonely Places describes it as distilled noir.

domino harvey wrote:There are many noirs that bleed two or more genres. I programmed a whole week of such films (the Spiral Staircase, the Naked Spur, etc) when I did my huge noir unit where my students all watched ~50 or more noirs

It always pays to remember that nobody making noirs in the 40s and 50s knew they were making films noirs. They were all operating in other genres.