Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir

Book Description

Welcome to Dark City, urban landscape of the imagination. A place where the men and women who created film noir often find themselves dangling from the same sinister heights as the silver-screen avatars to whom they gave life. Eddie Muller, who led readers on a guided tour of the seamier side of motion pictures in Grindhouse: The Forbidden World of 'Adults Only' Cinema, now takes us on a spellbinding trip through treacherous terrain: Hollywood in the post-World War II years, when art, politics, scandal, style--and brilliant craftsmanship--produced a new approach to moviemaking, and a new type of cultural mythology.

Customer Reviews:

The only one you need.......2007-04-25

Hands down the best book on film noir. Enough facts for the academics and enough fun for the rest of us. Fantastic layout and though some have trouble with the hard-boiled writing style, I loved it and it comes from a master - check out Muller's novels too!

a brilliant and delightful book by eddie muller!.......2007-01-14

more than you ever knew about film noir, eddie muller plunges the reader into the dark and seamy side of hollywood. a fabulous history of film noir with rare and splendid posters, photographs, and insider stories that can only be found here and as only eddie can tell them.
i highly recommend this book. a must have for every film buff and serious collector.

All flash--a Tommy gun full of blanks.......2005-11-26

I will grant that film noir is mostly about style, that's film noir the thing in itself, not the explanation. Muller tries to write like the hard-boiled wordsmiths that helped give noir its flavor; but he adds so much useless patter as to give the impression that, like them, he is being paid by the word. In the end this book is about as satisfying as getting nicotine from a patch. The two stars are for the pictures.

As fast and stylish as its subject matter.......2005-10-02

When most noir-era directors are presented with what the critics have read into their films, they tend to laugh. What they were making-- as Muller points out-- were known as either crime dramas or murder dramas. They were made on the cheap, with their dark themes and fast pace borrowed from harboiled crime writing, and with lots of tricks learned from German Expressionism. They were stylish B-movies.

Finally, a book has come along that deals with these films and filmmakers pretty much on their own terms. -Highly visual and fast paced. Muller looks at subgenres and trends, but focuses more on looking at the often tortured lives of the people who made these films, and on the turbulent period in Hollywood that the 40s and 50s were.

One of my favorite film books, period.

Maybe a little too cute for it's own good.......2005-05-22

I love this book, with it's short and easy to read vignettes about a wide variety of films, actors and subjects within the Film Noir genre. The pictures are great, and all the salacious details are served up. However, sometimes the prose runs to "too cute"; a little too impressed with it's own smirky coyness. Needless to say, many subjects are not explored in any kind of depth. Other than that, it's a great introduction and contains a wealth of details about my very favorite subject.

Average customer rating:

Tabloid Trash
Interesting but lacking in proof
Minute Production Details, No Proof of the Filmýs Influence
Blade Runner Bible
Absolutely fascinating

Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner
Paul M. Sammon
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0061053147

Book Description

The 1992 release of the "Director's Cut" only confirmed what the international film cognoscenti have know all along: Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, based on Philip K. Dick's brilliant and troubling SF novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, still rules as the most visually dense, thematically challenging, and influential SF film ever made.

Future Noir is the story of that triumph.

The making of Blade Runner was a seven-year odyssey that would test the stamina and the imagination of writers, producers, special effects wizards, and the most innovative art directors and set designers in the industry.

A fascinating look at the ever-shifting interface between commerce and the art that is modern Hollywood, Future Noir is the intense, intimate, anything-but-glamerous inside account of how the work of SF's most uncompromising author was transformed into a critical sensation, a commercial success, and a cult classic.

Customer Reviews:

Tabloid Trash.......2006-05-28

At best, this book should be looked at if you're interested in the facts behind the production of the film and you're able to look past Sammon's masturbative narrative.

While the book is informative on what happened and the difficulties behind the making of the film, the author's writing ability is about the same as someone standing next to you with a bullhorn. Self-aware and bordering on narcistsic, Sammon's dirt-basic writing ability has a constant feel of "Hey! I was here to see all this!" attitude that really undermines his attempt at objective writing.

Frustrating and amatuerish, "Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner" is an unworthy footnote and a worthwhile coffee coaster.

Interesting but lacking in proof.......2005-07-05

The book provides a fascinating look into the trials and tribulations that was the making of Blade Runner. The movie is easily Scott's best, and his relentless pushing of the cast and crew is a testament to his determination and vision. Future Noir gives an in depth view of all the turmoil; the "various cuts debacle", the studio interference, the collaboration, and the omnipresent friction.
It is worth the read but the writer's prejudices are just that. This is not the most influential scifi made. It was a quiet, intellectual scifi and I'm not sure it's influence can ever be quantified. But I enjoyed it-actually it is my favorite scifi behind The Phantom Menace(that's a joke people)-and I enjoyed this book.

Minute Production Details, No Proof of the Filmýs Influence.......2002-10-26

This is a fantastic book and reference tool, and a must-have for any hard-core Blade Runner (BR) fanatic. It's packed with names, places, dates, fascinating factoids throughout, a trivia cornucopia. But, you've gotta be a serious BR fan to stick with author Paul Sammon all the way through this densely detailed, thorough, and clearly personally meaningful work. The book does have one major flaw: Sammon's failure to prove his subtitle promise that Blade Runner is the most influential sci-fi film of all time.

The book reads easily and well, Sammon's style informal. He writes as one BR fan to another, a great approach. The production details are thorough, insightful, and wonderful to read, 441 pages in 18 chapters, with nine appendices containing interviews, production details, the cast list, etc. Sammon is a total BR devotee, I compliment and commend him on his achievement and the recognition of those who worked so hard to make BR.

There is vast information throughout from all members of the cast and crew, all of them supportive of Sammon's effort to tell their story. There is surprisingly liberal information from the movie's principals, Ridley Scott, Harrison Ford, Sean Young, Michael Deeley, Syd Mead, Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. One disappointment is the absence of direct input and comment from the soundtrack maestro, Vangelis. Sammon nevertheless gives him thorough justice.

Wonderful esoteric tidbits abound through the book, such as the revelation that the original lead was not Harrison Ford, but Dustin Hoffman. Edward James Olmos provides great background on his preparation for his role as Gaff and his detailed construction of his Cityspeak dialog (most of it sadly unused). We learn of fantastic special effects scenes never realized, and that in the background in one of the aerial city shots is a painted Millennium Falcon model. We learn that the process of creating this movie was a years-long, highly personal effort, first by Hampton Fancher to secure rights and create a screenplay, then later by Ridley Scott and other members of the team who continued to craft the film even after they were fired by the production company. It is a story of dedication to craft and art from a group of artists looking to raise diverse artistic, social, moral, and ethical issues with this genre-transcending film. I often was reminded of the documentary Hearts of Darkness, the story of Francis Ford Coppola's unending dedication to and struggles with the making of Apocalypse Now.

Highlighted superbly in the book is the true key to BR's success, Ridley Scott's intense attention to detail, his relentless questioning of the larger context and physical placement of the story. For example, Scott insisted on instructions painted on the futuristic parking meters in the street scenes. Absolutely illegible in the finished film, this sort of detail nonetheless set a compelling, even subconscious tone for the set and those who worked within it.

Particularly entertaining is Chapter 8, the scene by scene account of the shoot, with comment from the actors, producers, specialists, crew, and Scott. Also very useful for the true BR fanatic are the appendices listing all of the various BR versions, their formats, availability, and catalog information. Sammon does the same for the various soundtracks and musical compositions heard throughout the film, even the music and lyrics from the advertisements sported on the ad-blimps. Especially enjoyable is Appendix C's detailed list of "blunders," a compendium of the film's both obvious and subtle continuity errors, dubbing flaws, and inserted footage.

There are dozens of illustrations throughout the book, and Sammon gives due credit to BR's still photographer for the hundreds of stills that BR fans know and collect. The main problem is that the ONLY color photos in the entire book are on the front and back covers. The B/W photos in the book are small, grainy, poorly reproduced, and do not reflect Sammon's praise. These sorry photos do not allow the reader, who hasn't seen many of these never-before-published stills and production drawings, to revel in the details.

Sammon is overly obsessed with cataloging ALL of the different versions of the film, and detailing the most minute differences. We have chapter after repetitive chapter discussing the differences between the Workprint, the pre-release revisions, the theatrical release, the various video, broadcast, and satellite releases, as well as the competing director's cuts. The fascinating core tale of the political, economic, and artistic fights over all of these versions of the film is lost as Sammon loses track and focuses too closely on the details of the different versions, obsessing to the point of irrelevance on miniscule details. For the BR fanatic this is invaluable, but for most readers this makes the narrative tedious and repetitive, given this technical information is available also in Appendix B.

Sammon's promised discussion of BR's influence on sci-fi film is absent. His subtitle, "The Fascinating Story Behind the . . . Most Influential SF Film Ever Made" promises a discussion of BR's influence on filmdom. His discussion is poorly introduced, disorganized, and sorrowfully weak on supporting facts and testimonials, leading ultimately to the conclusion that BR simply is NOT the most influential sci-fi film of all time. In fact, the paltry six-page discussion of BR's influence is one of the shallowest, most poorly researched and organized parts of the entire book. Sammon's strength and enthusiasm clearly lie in the film's production details. Nowhere in the book does he cite any filmmaker, actor, editor, producer, or special effects artist describing BR as an influence.

This book is an invaluable acquisition for any die-hard BR fan, and a great memoir for any student of filmmaking. It's not for the casual BR or film fan; it's a cult book, just as Blade Runner is a cult film. Disappointingly, Sammon fails to deliver a crucial element of his work, a thorough and convincing discussion of BR's influence on cinema and its place in greater filmdom.

Blade Runner Bible.......2002-10-04

The book is written by Paul M. Sammon in 1996, about 15 years since the original release and 4 years after the Director's Cut re-release. As he explains in the opening chapter of the book, Sammon worked for a science fiction magazine called Cinefantastique, and what began as a double-issue special on the making of the highly-anticipated film Blade Runner eventually evolved into what Sammon calls an "exhaustive archaeology" of information regarding the film.

The novel is simply an overwhelming wealth of information on all things Blade Runner; chapters focus on every minute detail such as the evolution of the story as it passed through the hands of Phillip K. Dick's novel, Hampton Fancher's screenplay, then into the hands of David Peoples and Ridley Scott. Chapter VIII is such a delight, as it meticulously works through each scene in the film, stopping along the way to add tidbits of info such as exclusive interviews with the actors. Sammon apparently also had the luxury of roaming the set of Blade Runner, and he reveals things such as the futuristic magazine covers he would see on the magazine racks and many other incredibly obscure decorations the design team threw in that are virtually impossible to see when you watch the film.

Like the other reviewers, I agree that Sammon is not perhaps the most skilled writer, and the prose of the book is very choppy and (especially in Chapter I) pretty corny. What troubles me most, though, is that Sammon has a particularly annoying habit of throwing out names without properly introducing them and explaining their role in the Blade Runner universe. Mercifully, there is a cast and crew listing printed as an appendix, which is a great help. This, and some of the other errors in the book seem quite obvious, and it leaves one wondering who was in charge of the editing.

Anyhow, the book allows great insight into the workings of the film, all gathered from what must be piles and piles of notes and cassette-recorded dialogue Sammon collected over the years to produce a rather well-organized book for fans of the film to read. I have seen the film countless times, and the new perspectives and ideas gained from this book keep the film fresh and wondrous as the years go by.

Absolutely fascinating.......2002-07-20

There can be no better introduction to Blade Runner.
There is a wealth of material here available nowhere else - from interviews with Philip K Dick to anecdotes about the shooting of the film.
My favourite chapters were the ones dealing with the writing of the screenplay; and the one dealing with the rediscovery and release of the Workprint, and the subsequent Director's Cut. You cannot find this information anywhere else.

Mr Sammon's writing is somewhat overenthusiastic, reading like a fan's website. But the sheer quanitity and interesting nasture of the material makes up for this.

The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir
Average customer rating:

One of the 1st Film Noir Books. Still a Solid Introduction.

Dark Side of the Screen is shining light!

The Best Introduction to Film Noir

This book contains an excellent account of noir stylistics

The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir
Foster Hirsch
Manufacturer: Da Capo Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Film Noir

Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style, Third Edition

ASIN: 0306810395

Book Description

The classic study of the most menacing and original genre of American cinema.

A backlist best seller and the definitive take on one of today's reigning screen influences, film noir, this is an essential guide to the extraordinary genre that launched the careers of such luminaries as Burt Lancaster, Billy Wilder, Joan Crawford, Orson Welles, and Stanley Kubrick.

Customer Reviews:

One of the 1st Film Noir Books. Still a Solid Introduction........2005-08-09

First published in 1981, "The Dark Side of the Screen" was among the first books in English on the subject of film noir. Author Foster Hirsch revisits that time before film noir was a fashionable subject in his introduction to this 2001 edition. More than 2 decades after its publication, "The Dark Side of the Screen" is still a solid introduction to film noir history, although it lacks discussion of the neo-noir films that have been made since its publication and has not been influenced by more recent theories. If you are new to classic film noir, this book is not a bad place to start. It is very readable, discusses or mentions over 100 films, and the large format (8.5"x11") allows for over 180 black-and-white photographs. "The Dark Side of the Screen" contains basic information on the film noir movement that you are likely to find in any good introductory text, so it's not intended for those already well-versed in the subject.

In eight chapters, Hirsch follows the film noir movement through its classic period, 1941 to the late 1950s, until its self-conscious revival in the 1970s. "The Dark Side of the Screen" starts out with an overview of typical noir themes and summary of the style's evolution, then takes a step back in time to film noir's sources, obvious and alleged, in American hard-boiled crime literature, German Expressionist art, and Italian Neo-Realist cinema. Hirsch summarizes noir's narrative and visual style before discussing key directors, mainly German émigrés and Americans, and many of the important names among film noir actors, with analysis of the typical film noir acting style. The book concludes with a useful, though occasionally forced, attempt to categorize film noir's basic narrative patterns and central figures and a brief discussion of neo-noir.

Like all historians and theorists, Foster Hirsch has opinions. His assertion that film noir is a "genre" and his presumption that its low-key lighting is "borrowed directly" or "clearly indebted" to German Expressionism become increasingly controversial as time passes. I mention this so that film noir aficionados know where he's coming from and to caution tyros that many ideas about film noir are controversial, so take everything with a grain of salt until you've formed your own opinions. But there is no reason not to start forming them with "The Dark Side of the Screen", which provides a nice overview of the classic film noir movement and lots of good film recommendations.

Dark Side of the Screen is shining light!.......2001-11-06

Hirsch's brilliant analysis of the antecedents, key period and legacy of noir remains perhaps the finest single work on the subject. Not as funny or entertaining as Eddie Muller's 'Dark City', but a major work that pre-dates many inferior later studies. Especially notable is Hirsch's use of stills, his choice of key scenes (e.g. Panic in the Streets, the Phenix City Story, Scarlet Street) skilfully differentiates between studio shot film noirs and pseudo-documentary/location filmed noirs.

Highly recommended for serious lovers of the genre (not room enough here to debate whether film noir is a genre or not!) and ranks, for me, alongside Paul Schrader's legendary 'Notes on Film Noir' essay (1972) as the single most important piece of work on the subject.

The Best Introduction to Film Noir.......2000-06-08

This book is the best of several I have read recently on film noir. It strikes the right balance between being thorough and accessible; not nearly as dry and academic as some others. One of the main elements of noir is its distinctive visual style, and this book has dozens of excellent photographic stills, which enable the reader to understand the style in a way that text descriptions could never duplicate. The author does an excellent job of placing noir in its historical context, without assuming the reader has prior knowledge of German Expressionism, hard-boiled fiction or any other influence. The book ends with a list of 120 or so classic noirs; this alone is worth the price of the book. I have seen approximately one-half of the movies on his list and every single one has been excellent. For anyone interested in gazing into "The Crazy Mirror," this is the place to start.

This book contains an excellent account of noir stylistics.......1998-11-09

I found this book to be a concise and relevant exploration of the history, style and themes of film noir. It was immensely helpful as a research source for an essay I did on noir styles and themes. With clear explanations and pictorial examples it bestowed upon me a clear and precise understanding of the genre.

Average customer rating:

A great reference
Essential
This one walks the walk, not just talks the talk.

The Big Book of Noir

Manufacturer: Carroll & Graf Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Pulp Masters

ASIN: 0786705744

Amazon.com

Penzler Pick, December 1999: It took the French, with their word for "dark," to give an identity to an important mystery sub-genre. Something more than hard-boiled, noir--whether in film, book, or television--must also speak to a sense of existential nihilism, where betrayal is how romance best expresses itself and fear is only another name for foreplay. But while we all now know what noir is, when it was starting to coalesce as a coherent style back in the 1940s and early 1950s, it was more spontaneous, less self-conscious. It was wholly representative of a world then at war, not just with visible enemies, but with unseen ones as well.

Editors Gorman, Server, and Greenberg have brought together a fine galaxy of contributors (among them, William F. Nolan, James Sallis, Mike Ripley, Bill Pronzini, Gary Lovisi, Max Allan Collins, and many more) to cover the waterfront in all areas of noir artistry. Even Stephen King weighs in with a tribute to Jim Thompson, wonderfully titled "Warning! Warning! Hitchhikers May Be Escaped Lunatics!" (Thompson fans will get the joke.) Charles Willeford, Chester Himes, Patricia Highsmith, Dashiell Hammett, Mickey Spillane, Orson Welles, John D. MacDonald, Leigh Brackett, Billy Wilder, Fritz Lang, Alfred Hitchcock, Peter Gunn, Joe Friday, Lew Archer, and Lawrence Block--they're all here, and more, of course. It's 386 pages deep in noir references, lore, and opinions. But of special interest to book collectors are the chapters on the old publishers and imprints: Lion Books, Gold Medal, and others. There are conversations too, among them a rare chat with cult favorite Peter Rabe (who died in 1990), an interview with the always lively and urbane Donald E. Westlake, and a talk with Abraham Polonsky (screenplay writer, director, and blacklistee). Even kid stuff is not exempt from the bleak world of noir. Ron Goulart explores comic book noir, and, as a well-respected expert in the field of comics and cartoon strips, leads us back to such forgotten figures as "Steel Sterling," "Madam Satan," and "Johnny Dynamite."

If you've ever enjoyed a book by James Ellroy, Jim Thompson, or Richard Stark, or any movie with Veronica Lake or Lizabeth Scott, this book is not to be missed. --Otto Penzler

Customer Reviews:

A great reference.......2002-05-02

If you're looking for an intriguing, informative, and overall enjoyable reference work on both noir fiction and film, look no further. The Big Book of Noir, co-edited by Lee Server and Ed Gorman, is chock full of terrific pieces on great directors and writers including Cornell Woolrich, A.I. Bezzerides (writer of the classics Kiss Me Deadly, On Dangerous Ground, and Thieves' Highway), Harry Whittington, Peter Rabe, Fritz Lang, Leigh Brackett, Gil Brewer, Mickey Spillane, and many more.

One of the best things about the book is that several of the above-mentioned pieces are actually interviews; Lang and Bezzerides fall into this category, as do Daniel Mainwaring (writer of Out of the Past), Abraham Polonsky (writer of Force of Evil), Peter Rabe, Charles Willeford, and Donald Westlake.

Several of the non-interview pieces are written by some of the best known writers in suspense fiction around including Stephen King (on Jim Thompson), William Nolan, Ed Gorman, Barry Malzberg, Bill Pronzini, and Max Allan Collins. Other pieces are firsthand accounts--by Leigh Brackett and Malvin Wald (writer of Naked City).

There's an interesting checklist of 100 favorite noir films (including a few by Jean-Pierre Melville, one of the all-time great French directors--a powerful inspiration for Tarantino), another checklist of 100 noir novels, and even a section on noir comics!

The Radio and TV section goes into Peter Gunn, of course, but also mentions the lesser-known (and by all accounts, far more interesting) Johnny Staccato which starred John Cassevetes who was infinitely edgier than Craig Stevens' Gunn character.

These guys have done their homework and more, and it definitely shows. It's a shame this book is out of print; it's terrific!

Essential.......2002-03-15

A wonderful collection featuring some of the world's best noir scholars and historians. There's a wealth of information between these covers, but the book is worth its weight in platinum for the magnificent, definative essay on Gil Brewer written by Bill Pronzini.

This one walks the walk, not just talks the talk........1998-11-03

As the lowly web guy behind The Thrilling Detective Web Site, I'm always looking for good reference books, and this one's a keeper! It collects some of the very best articles, essays and critiques in one handy volume, covering everything from film and fiction to radio, television and comics. Passionate, diverse, opinionated, cranky, illuminating and enlightening, it's like a Greatest Hits of Noir Criticism.

Film Noir Reader 4: The Crucial Films and Themes (Film Noir Reader)

Average customer rating:

Empty Streets and Shadowy Lighting
Some Solid History & Some Silly Dogmatizing.
The Persistence of Film Noir Style

Film Noir Reader 4: The Crucial Films and Themes (Film Noir Reader)
Alain Silver , and James Ursini
Manufacturer: Limelight Editions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0879103051

Book Description

The earlier Film Noir Readers, which now boast a combined sale of well over 30,000 copies, have all quite deliberately conveyed a sweeping overview of the classic period, demonstrating how broad and inclusive noir movies are. Film Noir Reader 4 moves in a different direction. Its purpose is to identify the key films and motifs of noir and to analyze in depth the prototypical pictures that, while vivid examples of certain cinematic themes, bend and break their molds to find new ways to enthrall and frighten us. Like its predecessors, Film Noir Reader 4 is generously illustrated and features essays by such respected film critics and scholars as Robin Wood, J.P. Telotte, R. Barton Palmer, and Robert Porfirio. All have as their purpose to explain why and how these classic films work; the way screenplay, direction, acting, cinematography, editing and all the other filmmaking crafts blended together to produce work that exemplifies both a particular movement in film history and the innovations that keep the noir style fresh and compelling.

Customer Reviews:

Empty Streets and Shadowy Lighting.......2006-11-06

All in all, this is a worthy collection of two dozen or so essays on empty streets, shadowy lighting, calculating women, and doomed men, otherwise known as film noir. Why these cinematic downers keep commanding the scholarly attention they get is itself a matter of curious conjecture. But they do, and there must be a readership as this fourth entry in the publishing cycle demonstrates. I was prepared to pass this one up, figuring everything that needs saying has been said. But then I'm as hooked on the Walter Neffs and Kathie Moffetts of the world as the contributors are; so here I am, 20 bucks or so poorer, but reasonably happy with the deal.

Sure, in the eyes of the beholder some essays are bound to be of lesser interest or quality than others. I myself wonder about the future of the project when it includes such diminishing returns as an essay on the trivia of title sequences, or the `noir-izing' of a technicolor western like Rancho Notorious. However, unlike reviewer Mira, I don't fault the authors for standard high-brow terminology like "capitalist patriarchy" or `misogyny"-- though I do fault the editors (not the authors) for failing to footnote such real esoterica as "diagetic" and "syntagmatic". Come on, Mira, no one picks up the fourth installment of a series like this expecting the prose level of Photoplay. Then too, Mira, just which contributors are guilty of "absurd ideological readings". You need to specify. Worse-- why are these readings "absurd'? That's a pretty strong charge, and you've got a thousand words to back it up. Otherwise, it looks like an ungrounded cheap shot, and who knows, maybe you can convince me in the process.

As two of those presumably ideological essays stand, Hodges's and Humphrey's, respectively, they make a lot of sense to me. Hodges shows how war-time noir differs from post-war noir and how these changes reflect larger national happenings, while Humphries argues that post-war noir eventually fell victim to Cold War needs and what he calls the "liberal consensus". Humphries, in particular, makes provocative and well-reasoned points for anyone with interests beyond what's there on the movie screen. And as far as that goes, I would surmise both writers, with the concerns they have, lean toward the political left ( which I suspect is what really bothers reviewer Mira). But then, the dark side of noir has long attracted those suspicious of a social order where wealth stands as the ordering principle and people lacking that are left to dangle. Anyhow, #4 stands in my book as a worthy addition to the series, and I'll likely fork over another 20 or so if there's a #5.

Some Solid History & Some Silly Dogmatizing........2005-04-05

As Alain Silver explains in the book's Introduction, "Film Noir Reader 4" is different in purpose from the previous Film Noir Readers. It focuses on key films and key themes, rather than attempting to be inclusive or comprehensive. In that spirit, Silver has included a few lists of the most important film noirs according to himself and others in the Introduction. "Film Noir Reader 4" contains 23 mostly modern essays, many apparently not previously published, presented in two parts. The paper the book is printed on is pure white, instead of the off-white of previous volumes, so the black-and-white stills look better.

Part I, "Case Studies", includes 12 essays on key films. The films discussed are: "Double Indemnity", "Detour", "The Big Sleep", "Out of the Past", "The Unsuspected", "Gun Crazy", "D.O.A", "The Big Night", "Kiss Me Deadly", "The Big Heat", "The Big Combo", and "Touch of Evil". Glenn Erickson's enthusiastic and insightful essay "Fate Seeks the Loser: Edgar G. Ulmer's Detour" is particularly interesting. The same can be said for Kevin Hagopian's study of "The Big Sleep" and Stephen B. Armstrong's history of "Touch of Evil". Both films were radically altered by recuts, with the result of making them nonsensical. These carefully researched essays explain what was changed and why.

Part II focuses on "Noir Themes", although I don't think that most of these can reasonably be called "key" themes. Eleven essays discuss a variety of themes that can be found or projected upon classic noir films, including psychodrama, images of women, noir antecedents, horror-noir, war noirs, left-wing politics in noir and crime films, hybrid noir-westerns, and noir title sequences. In other words, Part II is a catch-all. "Cat People", "Rancho Notorious" (in comparison to "The Big Heat"), and "Double Indemnity" are discussed in the most depth.

I'm giving "Film Noir Reader 4" a lower rating than I gave the previous Film Noir Readers, because it is overwhelmed by the sort of absurd ideological readings that I haven't heard this much of since I studied film in college. The reader can't get far without running into dogmatic -and, I might add, eternally ill-defined- terminology like "patriarchal capitalism" and "misogyny". For grown persons to legitimize their socio-economic hang-ups by deliberately misrepresenting 60-year-old movies is pitiful. I am reminded of the reason director Fritz Lang left Germany: The Nazi Party liked his films so much that they offered Lang the opportunity to run the German film industry. His films were anti-fascist. Anyway, there are some good, informative, essays in "Film Noir Reader 4", and it's useful to present different interpretations. But these aren't so different, and I get the impression of scraping the bottom of the barrel.

The Persistence of Film Noir Style.......2005-02-06

This is the fourth reader in a series previously reviewed by me...I never thought the editors could find another 23 articles on "film noir," but they have successfully put together a new book organized in two parts: Case Studies and Noir Themes.
The "Case Studies" section deals with essential film noirs like DOUBLE INDEMNITY, DETOUR, THE UNSUSPECTED & TOUCH OF EVIL. The articles are written by well-respected "noir" critics; but the second section on Noir Themes is far more fascinating, especially the article by Nicolas Saada, "Noir Style in Hollywood."
There are two major errors in the text: (1) in a photo from ASPHALT JUNGLE, it is Marc Lawrence as Cobby in the background, not Anthony Caruso and in OX-BOW INCIDENT, it is Henry Morgan, not Frank who plays Art.
Otherwise, I would certainly include this book in a list of related readings in any noir course that I teach. I have taught NOIR STYLE at Columbia University and CUNY, using my own book, NOIR, NOW & THEN (Greenwood Press, 2001) as the main text and have used all the FILM NOIR READERS in my courses.
I would like to dedicated this review to Charles P. Mitchell who passed away suddenly this past January at the age of 55. He was an excellent noir scholar with a critical acumen and sense of humor that will be missed. His wife still runs their DARKER IMAGES VIDEO business in Millinocket, Maine, tracking down VHS & DVD recordings of the most elusive of noir films.

Ronald Schwartz at noir1937@aol.com

Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style, Third Edition

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FILM NOIR ENCYCLOPEDIA
Takes the definition of Film Noir way too far
the indispensable gets more indispensable
The Essential Classic Film Noir Reference.
A Great Reference - and you CAN avoid spoilers...

Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style, Third Edition
Alain Silver
Manufacturer: Overlook TP
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ASIN: 0879514795

Customer Reviews:

FILM NOIR ENCYCLOPEDIA.......2006-11-10

This book is a reference book and not the type of book you just sit down
and read for fun. It is a very comprehensive work on the film noir culture. Just about any information that you will want to know about the film noir classics will be found in this work. Fun to flip through and make a mental note of the format and where to look for your future inquiries.

Takes the definition of Film Noir way too far.......2006-06-12

If I could give this book ZERO stars, I would. I ordered this book, looked inside for about 2 minutes and promptly returned it. It excluded my 2 favorite film noir movies, The Sweet Smell of Success and ...what I deem, next to the Maltese Falcon and Sunset Blvd., as the absolute epitome of film noir....The Third Man. Not even a mention, even though it is #2 on the all time favorite film noir movie list at the IMDB website.

I thumbed through the book for a sec or two and noticed MANY full technicolor movies, some of which, because of the content of the movie, I thought had absolutely no place in a film noir book, technicolor or not. The genre is not as wide open as this author believes it is. C'mon....Dirty Harry? Sorry, but that is NOT a film noir. I did not read the book, but whatever definition of film noir he is using, it CERTAINLY comes nowhere near MY definition of film noir. And according to Wikepedia.org, my definition is correct...color films have no place whatsoever according to the "purist" view. But I'm openminded, you know, it can be in color and it can be made after 1970....I don't have a huge list of criteria. I only asked that it include a few of my favorites, but when it didn't even meet my needs with the very first glance at the index, I pretty much discounted it as hogwash. Yeah, it has loads of obscure gumshoe B movies and if that's what you're interested it, go for it. But if you think all film noir movies should be in black & white and contain the Third Man, et al, pass it by.

the indispensable gets more indispensable.......2005-09-26

This book is the bible of film noir, and the 1992 revisions of the 3rd edition make it even more useful than before. Want to know who plays every bit part in one of your favorite films noirs? The info is here. Want to know when shooting started? When it was released into theaters? Ditto. Want a chronological list of the great noirs? Or more "inside" film lists, organized by directors, stars, even cinematographers? They're here. One of the old criticisms of the previous editions of the book is that its plot summaries were sometimes incorrect in the details. The authors cleaned up some of those problems in this edition, although they decided not to add or change text that would disrupt the original page layout. This means that the new language is a compromise for space, and it doesn't quite live up to the original. And some developments of the past decade, like the discovery of a print of the silent noir "The Racket," are too recent for corrections - the bible still says, "This film is lost today." This not-so-new edition includes a great essay on neo-noir and a fine list of neo-noir films (although I miss the obsessive detail of the original listings). Also, it's paperbound instead of hardbound. But it's still a superb reference work for the film noir fanatic - so treat it well until Silver and Ward get a 4th edition on the stands.

The Essential Classic Film Noir Reference........2004-11-15

This 3rd edition of "Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style" provides descriptions and analysis for nearly 300 film noirs that were produced from 1927 to 1976, concentrating on the classic period, 1940-1958. The authors are strict in defining film noir as a movement and a style -not a genre- molded specifically by the social, economic, technical, and aesthetic circumstances in post-WWII America, and therefore confined to that era. They exclude genre and foreign films produced in the post-war era that other critics might include. So "Film Noir" is a reference of "pure noir" of the classic period. It may be just as well that it doesn't explore impure noir in much depth, as this book is quite large as it is.

The authors introduce the book by defining the uniquely American classic noir style and discussing some of its common characteristics. The Encyclopedia, itself, is 314 pages long and organized alphabetically by film title. The entry for each of the nearly 300 classic noir films included provides, wherever applicable: the film's title (including working and alternate titles), it's year of release, director, producer, screenwriter(s), director of photography, music director, persons responsible for special effects, sound, score, set decoration, costumes, make-up, the production designer and/or art director, assistant director, and editor. This is followed by a cast list -divided into main and "bit" cast, the date filming was completed, the date the film was released, running time, a plot summary, and a critical analysis by one of the book's 18 contributors. The plot and analysis do often contain spoilers, including endings and surprise twists, which is probably necessary to provide analysis and to define the film as "noir". The plot summaries are useful in refreshing my memory of films seen long ago, but I avoid reading the entire summary or commentary for films I have not yet seen.

"Film Noir" has 5 informative Appendices that explore topics and films not covered in the main section of the book. Appendix A is a lengthy essay explaining the rationale for excluding genre films from the film noir movement. It addresses The Gangster Film, The Western, The Period Film, and The Comedy separately, discussing films that reflect the noir style and what they share and do not share with film noir. Appendix B is a series of lists: A chronology of film noir, listed by year, 1927-1976. Directors listed alphabetically with their films. The same for Writers, Directors of Photography, Composers, Producers, Actors & Actresses, and Releasing Companies, each category with its own list. The criterion for inclusion in the lists is participation in at least 2 film noirs. Appendix C is a survey of "Other Studies in Film Noir". It comments on significant articles and books published on the subject of film noir, from 1955's seminal work by Borde & Chaumeton, "A Panorama of American Film Noir", through 1992, when the latest edition of this book was published. Appendix D discusses "Additional Films from the Classic Period" which were not included in the earlier editions of the book, because they were unavailable or overlooked. Here, 50 films are discussed according to their characteristic noir elements -femme fatale, alienation & despair, maniacs & mayhem, etc. Why these films were simply not included in the Encyclopedia section of this 3rd edition is a mystery to me. Appendix E is a lengthy discussion of Neo-Noir,1966-1992, including a filmography. In the back of the book, you will find a fairly comprehensive Index of films, names, book titles, and most references you might want to locate in "Film Noir".

Film Noir aficionados and students will find "An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style" endlessly fascinating and useful. The critical analyses are thoughtful. The authors' inclusions, exclusions, and definitions of classic noir are always well-articulated and thought-provoking. A single source that collects the production details for each film is a big time-saver.

A Great Reference - and you CAN avoid spoilers..........2004-09-17

Have others noted, this is both a great reference and a good way to discover these films -- a real gem. One of the reviewers here mentioned that the reviews are so clinical in laying out the plot as to constitute spoilers. I agree, but I would also point out that the reviews are very structured, making it easy to avoid "spoilers."

The first paragraph of each review is the complete plot summary, usually right to the last scene of the film. After the plot summary paragraph, the second and all subsequent paragraphs discuss the non-plot elements of the film, such as the production history, cinematography, etc. Thus you can read a sentence or two of the first paragraph to get the flavor of the story and skip to the second paragraph to learn more about the film without spoiling the typical noir twists and revealing the ending.

The structure of the reviews is so consistent that it has to be by design, and is just one more little touch that makes this an enjoyable, as well as authoritative, read.

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The Philosophy of Film Noir

Manufacturer: University Press of Kentucky
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Film Noir
Film Noir Reader 4: The Crucial Films and Themes (Film Noir Reader)

ASIN: 0813123771

Book Description

From The Maltese Falcon (1941) to Touch of Evil (1958), the classic film noir is easily recognizable for its unusual lighting, sinister plots, and feeling of paranoia. For critics and fans alike, these films defined an era.

Book Description

• Strong, cutting-edge imagery shows artists how to make crime pay
• Superstar author Christopher Hart explores a new genre
• Perfect for anyone interested in drawing for comic books or graphic novels

Aspiring artists, lonely, desperate—this is your chance to grab the gold ring of the hottest style around: noir. Windswept streets, dark shadowy figures, reckless women, gleaming pistols, men without conscience, boulevards of fear...they're all here in Drawing Crime Noir. Extensive instruction, including a complete tutorial on how to turn an ordinary comic-book scene into a crime noir scene, shows how to create the moody world of noir, from using shadows to create intense moods and suspense, to drawing the swirling capes and cloaked faces of tormented superheroes; the trench coats and dark glasses of nihilistic antiheroes; the dark suits of mobbed-up politicians on the take and the hit men who keep order; and the form-fitting dresses and snakeskin shoes of the sexy women who would kill a man as soon as kiss him.

Customer Reviews:

A Book for refining your art knowledge.......2007-09-28

Many images. Little explanation.
As another reviewer wrote, Watson-Guptill is very good at cutting cost in producing books.
Christopher Hart books are theme-centered books designed with publishers to titill you curiosity and your wish to study art.
His books are only complemental books. No foundation of study/construction here. Its marketing hype just like the almigthy marketing power of microsoft.
If you want to study art seriously, get the real bibles of Art by Andrew loomis.
1.Figure drawing for all it's worth
2.Drawing the Head and Hands
3.Successful Drawing
4.Creative Illustration
5.Fun with a Pencil
I would not be surprised if Christopher Hart himself studied from Andrew Loomis.
Beware though, Watson-Guptill has done it again!!!!!
The revered Drawing the Head and Hands has been trimmed to another book Drawing: The Head (HT197) of only 32 pages and
Figure drawing for all it's worth trimmed to Drawing: Figures in Action (HT191)
Get the genuine ones. They are pricey but it's worth every penny of your cash!
NB: It's a pity these loomis books don't have a 'search inside' facility.
Many students are passing by just because they can't get an evaluation of the contents.

Good but not Perfect Book on Crime Noir.......2007-07-09

Chris Hart's Drawing Crime Noir for Comics/Graphic Novels is a good place to start, well to be honest its the only book I know of to start with if you are interested in the crime noir in the style of Steranko, Miller, Mignola, etc.
This book has some great points, and some nice examples, but it also leaves some information lacking. Hart sets this book up similar to a kid's super hero drawing book(yes, I know he does those too, perhaps thats why he's in the habit), but with a bit more depth. I love where he shows typical crime noir effects, big shadows of villians overcasting on the victim, the shadowed bars of the blinds crossing someone's face, etc, etc. One additional problem is that his art goes has a wide range of skill. Its as though he started drawing some really awesome art for the book, and slowly realized he was running out of time and started rushing his work into simplified doodles almost.

You might be just better off immersing yourself in film noir movies, and books like Hellboy, Sin City, 100 Bullets, Road To Perdition, etc. But if you have the cash and want something to thumb through for inspiration, go for the book.
I guess I'm just used to higher end comic related drawing books like DCs Guide to Coloring and Lettering, and Wizards How To Draw; but this is still worth a look.

Really Captures the Mood. .......2007-07-01

I bought this book first, and have since bought 4 of Chris's other books, so I like his stuff.

This book however is the best, perhaps its just because the characters are the most real, and Im a bit old for superhero's. But I think its more that for all the work I've seen, this is simply the most convincing. Every drawing in the book is worth doing a study of, and it really makes one wish Chris would pick up the challenge of pulling the characters he created for this book together in a story and venture a graphic novel of his own.

Chris presents some wonderful drawings in both their penciled and inked presentations. I prefer the Pencil drawings, but I tend to be biased that way, I prefer the subtly possible in pencil to the starkness of ink. Noir however uses a lot of Ink, really deep expressive shadows, and Chris displays a great mastery of the form.

Thank God... no shades of gray!.......2007-06-10

First, this is NOT a how-to-draw book: this is a how-to-INK book. And a very good one. Second, you get eight different artists (including Hart), each with its own style. That's good. And third, no shades of gray, thank you very much: only pure black over the pure white paper. And that's... grrreat! And includes many pencilled drawings, for you to Xerox and try a good brush on them (for private use only, you understand. Never try to distribute, not even for free, copyrighted material).

I bought a book from Hogart, and another from DC comics, on the subject of inking. These are fine books, but for learning purposes, this one beats them all. And don't think that this book is good only for "crime noir" comics. If you take a look at "The Simpsons" (Bongo Comics) you'll see the same techniques covered here...

Book Title Should Read "Good Examples of Comic Art"..........2007-02-18

Honestly, that's what it is - a book full of nice examples of comic art, specifically dealing with noir atmosphere.

Same problem affects all books, written by Mr. Hart - they're amazing, if you will look at them as just coffee table books. Unfortunately, they're marketed as books that are supposed to teach you how to draw and it won't happen, judging by the fact that there are very few comments related to drawing process itself.

So 1 star for marketing, 4 (or 5) stars for pictures.

My advice is this - borrow it from the library, but don't spend 20 dollars on it, unless you want a coffee table book.

The Philosophy of Neo-Noir (Philosophy and Popular Culture)

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One of the most intriguing books I have read
noir techniques, perspectives, and subjects of second wave of movies in the genre

The Philosophy of Neo-Noir (Philosophy and Popular Culture)

Manufacturer: University Press of Kentucky
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0813124220

Book Description

Film noir--a cycle of American films from the 1940s and '50s--is characterized not only by a constant opposition of light and shadow and a disruptive compositional balance of frames and scenes, but also by dark, foreboding characters and plots and an overriding sense of alienation and moral ambiguity. Noir films reflect the sense of loss, fragmentation, and nihilism at the heart of the human condition in the twentieth century.

Although the classic film noir period ended in the late 1950s, its impact on more films has been profound. While typically not black and white, these new films incorporate the noir sensibility of alienation, pessimism, moral ambivalence, and disorientation. This sensibility is obvious in films such as Blade Runner, Reservoir Dogs, Chinatown, and Memento. Until now, little scholarly attention has been paid to the unique philosophical conventions of the widely popular neo-noir genre.

In The Philosophy of Neo-Noir, editor Mark T. Conard and other contributors explore the philosophical foundations of neo-noir, using the films to discuss and explain traditional philosophical ideas as well. The themes and topics covered include justice and moral corruption; problems of memory and identity; human nature, space, time, and subjectivity; crime and punishment; pain and redemption; and spiritual transcendence. Conard argues that neo-noir films have benefited as censorship has relaxed, giving current filmmakers a rich noir tradition from which to draw.

Customer Reviews:

One of the most intriguing books I have read.......2007-02-23

As the title suggests, this book covers the philosophical background behind films defined as neo-noir. Surprisingly this contains a large number of films most people wouldn't readily identity as Film Noir. Blade Runner, Memento, A Simple Plan and the works of Quentin Tarantino and the Cohen Brothers are amongst some of the movies that are analysed in depth. Many other movies are touched upon including Fight Club, Minority Report, The Bourne Identity and many others. The essays in this book give new insight into these movies and are easily readable by those without any background in philosophy. I would highly recommend it.

noir techniques, perspectives, and subjects of second wave of movies in the genre.......2007-01-30

Neo-noir films incorporated the visual style, characterizations, and subject matter of the classic film noir of the 1940s and '50s. But this latter film genre was able to employ more advanced film techniques; and with the replacement of the moralistic Production Code with the more flexible modern ratings system, neo-noir film was able to add new dimensions of subject and visual matter. The 1974 "Chinatown" may be "the first authentic neo-noir," writes Richard Gilmore, professor of philosophy at a Minnesota college. The TV program "Miami Vice"--first program, September 1984--was set in the Great Miami area for its "cycle of decline, decay, development, and renewal (invariably followed by further repetitions of the cycle) [which] affirmed the indeterminacy and contingency of the postmodern noir," as Stevens Sanders, emeritus professor of philosophy at a Massachusetts university writes. Thirteen essays by these and other philosophy professors relate neo-noir films not only to the film noir which preceded them, but also philosophical thoughts and ethical perspectives of Sartre, Plato, Kant, Kierkegaard, Marx, and others. Blade Runner, L. A. Confidential, The Onion Field, Parallax View, Dances With Wolves, and Raiders of the Lost Arc are among the films analyzed as neo-noir or which contain elements of this genre. This collection of essays is a companion of the editor Conard's "The Philosophy of Film Noir."

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Dense, Highly Academic Collection of Film Noir Theory with a Few Gems.

Shades of Noir: A Reader (Haymarket)

Manufacturer: Verso
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Customer Reviews:

Dense, Highly Academic Collection of Film Noir Theory with a Few Gems........2006-06-26

"Shades of Noir" is a collection of 10 highly academic essays on the nature of film noir, its origins, and its relevance to the culture at large, first published in 1993. The contributors are mostly academics from universities in the U.S. and Europe. In her introduction, editor Joan Copjec explains that the essays contribute different perspectives, not agreement, on what constitutes film noir. "What unites all the essays...is a strong sense of importance of the genre and of the necessity of retheorizing it." First, due to the "re-emergence of film noir in recent years". Secondly, on account of "the uneasy sense that we never adequately defined it in the first place".

Anyone who has taken a college film course will recognize the heavily Laconian and Marxist themes that run through this collection of essays as typical of film theory. You can either stomach it or you can't. The socio-economic and structuralist theorizing places these essays more in the realm of "cultural studies" than film history. The essays are extremely dense, as the intended audience is fellow academics, not the casual film noir fan. Nevertheless, they contain some interesting insights and new perspectives that are not entirely fantastical if the reader is willing to wade through it. I have to say, though, that this volume unconsciously elucidates the problem of defining film noir. Film noir has never been difficult to define. It has simply always been advantageous for academics not to define it -or to define it in whatever way suits their projects of the moment. So I guess they have left the job to us amateurs, who will make quick work of it. ;-)

The essays are as follows:

(1) "Film Noir on the Edge of Doom" by Marc Vernet. Vernet speculates about the motives of French theorists who "invented" film noir, as he denies that the film noir movement or style ever existed. This is the essay that Alain Silver fired a torrent of criticism at Vernet for in the introduction to his book "Film Noir Reader". Vernet displays an remarkable ignorance of cinematography, hard-boiled crime fiction, American film criticism, and cinema before 1940. (2) "The Synaptic Chandler" by Fredric Jameson. Analysis of the "peculiar nature of Chandler's plot construction", i.e. illogic, the "radio aesthetic" of film noir, and a Heideggerian perspective on the noir world.

(3) "Strange Pursuit: Cornell Woolrich and the Abandoned City of the Forties" by David Reid and Jane L. Walker. Primarily discusses how Woolrich's depression-era sensibility was particularly suitable to film noir and why it found an audience in the post-War 1940s. Very worthwhile for debunking the persistent claims that audiences were drawn to film noir due to "post-war depression" or disillusionment and that the femme fatale was the result of threats to masculine culture posed by women in the workplace. Compares hard-boiled fiction to the crime and adventure novels of the 1830s-1840s.

(4) "The Mystery of The Blue Gardenia" by Janet Bergstrom. Presents the production history of Fritz Lang's film, analysis, and comparison to Vera Caspary's story. I never thought "The Blue Gardenia" had much substance or that it was film noir. I still don't, but the particulars of its adaptation to film are interesting. (5) "Film Noir and Women" by Elizabeth Cowie. Attempt to "change the characterization of film noir as always a masculine film form". The roles of "duplicitous women", female protagonists, and victims. Analysis of several films, in particular Fritz Lang's "Secret Beyond the Door".

(6) "The Phenomenal Nonphenomenal: Private Space in Film Noir" by Joan Copjec. Starts with observation that the origin of detective fiction coincides with mid-19th century "passion for counting". The role of reason in film noir, particularly as exemplified in voice-over narration. Focus on "Double Indemnity". (7) "The Thing That Thinks: The Kantian Background of the Noir Subject" by Slavoj Zizek. Compares classic film noir to films of the 1980s that combine noir with other genres. Focus on "radical undermining of self-identity" in 1987's "Angel Heart" and 1982's "Blade Runner".

(8) "Home Fires Burning" by Fred Pfeil. The "domestication of film noir" in the neo-noir of the 1980s, focusing on the small-town domestic space of the art house "Blue Velvet" and the cyborg-as-father in the blockbuster "Terminator 2". Attributes this emphasis on nuclear family to "Reaganism". (9) "Noir by Noirs: Toward a New Realism in Black Cinema" by Manthia Diawara. Race and class in black film noir, focusing on "A Rage in Harlem". (10) "Democracy's Turn: On Homeless Noir" by Dan MacCannell. Diatribe on film noir's alleged "confrontation between capitalism and democracy". The disappearances of the "actual spaces" of film noir as seedy neighborhoods were gentrified.

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