Overview

Enter the world of film noir, a world of darkness, ambiguity, and moral corruption. Meet the cynical and obsessive heroes of film noir portrayed by actors like Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, James Cagney, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. You may encounter a gun-toting gangster, a femme fatale wrapped in fur, a detective with the brim of his hat turned down, or a desperate murderer lurking in the shadows of a doorway. It's a world we all know - the seedy underbelly of the American Dream, and every bit as much a part of our culture. This wonderfully exhaustive text - tallying more than three hundred thousand words with hundreds of film stills and photos new to the work - distills everything about the genre into one volume from movies to stars to themes and motifs, and brings us up to date with contemporary contributions to the genre. Essentially a new work, this completely revised, expanded and redesigned classic is a pioneering work and the final word on a dark and mysterious subject.

Full Product Details

9780715638804

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Reviews

'It's what you always want in a film reference book, but rarely find: comprehensive, intelligently organised, voluminously illustrated, and possessed of its own distinctive voice' - Lawrence Kasdan, director of Body Heat, writer of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Big Chill . 'A top-flight piece of work' - Walter Hill, director of 48 Hours , writer of The Getaway and Hickey & Boggs . 'An extraordinary well done book about a neglected subject ... This is likely to become the book on film noir' - Robert Benton, writer of Bonnie and Clyde . 'The best book on the subject, by peope who understand how movies work' - John Flynn, director of The Outfit and Best Seller .

Author Information

"Together Robert Porfirio, Alain Silver, Elizabeth Ward and James Ursini have written, edited, or contributed to more than a dozen books about film noir, from its key films to its literary and visual modus operandi, including ""The Noir Style"", ""Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles"", ""L.A. Noir: the City as Character"", ""Femme Fatale"", and four volumes of the ""Film Noir Reader"" series. They have also provided audio and video commentary on all four DVD collections from Warner Bros., a dozen titles in the Fox noir series, and other releases including ""Double Indemnity"" and ""Laura""."

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