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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.