Life Film Noir

By incorporating and transforming foreign influences, film noir became a uniquely American art form. Though it was overlooked at first, this powerful genre would give Humphrey Bogart and Robert Mitchum career-defining roles, fuel Joan Crawford's middle-age comeback, and set the stage for the work of Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino. Noir illuminated the dark side of the American dream, but despite its characteristic bleakness, these films are somehow always fun. Film Noir: 75 Years of the Greatest Crime Films revisits 20 of the genre's best, from the first noir The Maltese Falcon to L.A. Confidential. We commence by delving into "Classic Noir," films released between 1941 and 1958 with their angular chiaroscuro and Teutonic angst combined with the influence of pup and hard-boiled crime fiction. Stunning photography walks us through Shadow of a Doubt, Double Indemnity, Laura, Mildred Pierce, Out of the Past, The Third Man, In a Lonely Place, Niagara, The Night of the Hunter, Touch of Evil and more. Next in our "Neo Noir" section, you will see the transformation of noir from 1967 onward with films like Bonnie and Clyde, Dirty Harry, Chinatown, Taxi Driver, Body Heat, Blood Simple, Blue Velvet, Pulp Fiction and more. Articles about how the genre was born, tabloids and film noir, offscreen noir, and what factors lead film back to black punctuate these spreads. Enter the cinematic world of "doom, fate, fear, and betrayal," as beloved film critic Roger Ebert said, with Film Noir: 75 Years of the Greatest Crime Films.

Claire Trevor (1910–2000) is best remembered as the alluring blonde femme fatale in such iconic noir films as Murder, My Sweet (1944) and Raw Deal (1948). Yet she was a versatile performer who brought rare emotional depth to her art. She was effective in a range of diverse roles, from an outcast prostitute in John Ford’s classic Stagecoach (1939) to the ambitious tennis mother in Hard, Fast and Beautiful (1951) to the embittered wife of a landowner in William Wellman’s overlooked gem My Man and I (1952). Nominated for three Oscars, she deservedly won Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Gaye Dawn, a gangster’s broken-down moll in Key Largo (1948). The author covers her life and career in detail, recognizing her as one of the finest actresses of her generation.

This revised and expanded edition of Eddie Muller's Dark City is a film noir lover's bible, taking readers on a tour of the urban landscape of the grim and gritty genre in a definitive, highly illustrated volume. Dark Cityexpands with new chapters and a fresh collection of restored photos that illustrate the mythic landscape of the imagination. It's 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, host of Turner Classic Movies' Noir Alley, takes readers on a spellbinding trip through treacherous terrain: Hollywood in the post-World War II years, where art, politics, scandal, style -- and brilliant craftsmanship -- produced a new approach to moviemaking, and a new type of cultural mythology.

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. The Philosophy of Film Noir explores philosophical themes and ideas inherent in classic noir and neo-noir films, establishing connections to diverse thinkers ranging from Camus to the Frankfurt School. The authors, each focusing on a different aspect of the genre, explore the philosophical underpinnings of classic films such as The Big Sleep (1946), Out of the Past (1947), and Pulp Fiction (1994). They show how existentialism and nihilism dominate the genre as they explore profound themes in a vital area of popular culture.

Explores philosophical themes and ideas inherent in classic noir and neo-noir films, establishing connections to diverse thinkers ranging from Camus to the Frankfurt School. The authors, each focusing on a different aspect of the genre, explores the philosophical underpinnings of classic films.

"Examines how African-American as well as international films deploy film noir techniques in ways that encourage philosophical reflection. Combines philosophy, film studies, and cultural studies"--Provided by publisher.

This first book published on film noir established the genre--a classic, at last in translation.

Film Noir Style: The Killer 1940s looks at the fashions of the femmes fatales who were so good at being bad, and the suits and trench coats of definitive noir actors such as Humphrey Bogart and Alan Ladd. Film and fashion historian Kimberly Truhler explores twenty definitive film noir titles from 1941 to 1950 and traces the evolution of popular fashion in the decade of the '40s, the impact of World War II on home-front fashion, and the influence of the film noir genre on popular fashion then and now. Meet not only the fabulous women of noir, including Betty Grable, Veronica Lake, Gene Tierney, Lauren Bacall, Barbara Stanwyck, Ava Gardner, and many others, but also the costume designers that created and recreated these famous stars as killers—and worse—through the clothes they wore.