The latter film seems an appropriate transition to Lang's 40s style, which saw a deeper use of contrasts between light and darkness and a slightly sharper edge to some of the lighting effects. The delicate sensibility was still there as well, though, and the combination added a great deal to two "haunting" ghost dramas, "The Uninvited" (1944) and "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" (1947), as well as to Billy Wilder's evocative portrait of postwar Berlin, "A Foreign Affair" (1948), with Marlene Dietrich crooning amidst blazes of light in smoky cafes.
Leaving Paramount in 1951, Lang showed that his talents could fit the moody, violent world of film noir when he collaborated with another Lang, Fritz, on the powerful crime classic, "The Big Heat" (1953). As color became increasingly prevalent in American film during the 50s Lang demonstrated a cool control of color tones in such films as "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" (1957) and "Charade" (1963), while the muted color and deep focus cinematography were among the highlights of the offbeat, Marlon Brando-directed Western, "One-Eyed Jacks" (1961). Lang's work on Wilder's hilarious "Some Like It Hot" (1959) showed, however, that he had not forgotten how to evoke a bygone visual style in his work. He continued working until the early 70s ("Butterflies Are Free" 1972, "40 Carats" 1973), bequeathing to the cinema a rich, often poetic, legacy of visual artistry.