Film Noir Reader

Film Noir Reader series #1

by Alain Silver (Editor), James Ursini (Editor)

This bountiful anthology combines all the key early writings on film noir with many newer essays, including some published here for the first time. The collection is assembled by the editors of the Third Edition of Film Noir: An Enclyclopedic Reference to the American Style, now regarded as the standard work on the subject.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Noir, Essays, Media Tie In, Academic

344 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1996

About the author

Alain Silver has co-written and co-edited a score of books including The Samurai Film, The Noir Style, The Vampire Film, Raymond Chandlers Los Angeles, director studies of David Lean and Robert Aldrich, and four Film Noir Readers. His articles have appeared in numerous film journals, newspapers, and online magazines. He holds a Ph.D. from UCLA and is a member of the Writers Guild of America west and the Directors Guild of America.

Reviews

[Jesse]

Pages of Noir - The Books that Became Film Noir

Sketchbook and I recently got into a discussion about film noir and the books that inspired them, and so I've compiled a list below for my easy reference, and created a corresponding Listopia list as well.

A Gun for Sale by Graham Greene - This Gun for Hire (1942, Tuttle)

The Asphalt Jungle by W.R. Burnett - The Asphalt Jungle (1950, Houston)

The Big Clock by Kenneth Fearing - The Big Clock (1948, Farrow)

The Big Heat by William P. McGivern - The Big Heat (1953, Lang)

The Big Knife (play) by Clifford Odets - The Big Knife (1955, Aldrich)

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler - The Big Sleep (1946, Hawks)

Black Alibi by Cornell Woolrich - The Leopard Man (1943, Tourneur)

The Black Angel by Cornell Woolrich - The Black Angel (1946, Neill)

The Black Path of Fear by Cornell Woorich - The Chase (1946, Ripley)

The Blank Wall by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding - The Reckless Moment (1949, Lang) (later adapted into The Deep End (2001, McGehee and Siegel))

Build My Gallows High by Geoffrey Homes - Out of the Past (1947, Tourneur)

Bunny Lake is Missing by Evelyn Piper - Bunny Lake is Missing (1965, Preminger)

La Chienne ( Poor Sap or The Bitch) by Georges de La Fouchardière - La Chienne (1931, France, Renoir) and Scarlet Street (1945, Lang)

Christmas Holiday by W. Somerset Maugham - Christmas Holiday (1944, Siodmak)

Clean Break by Lionel White - The Killing (1956, Kubrick)

Criss-Cross by Don Tracy - Criss Cross (1949, Siodmak)

Dark Passage by David Goodis - Dark Passage (1947, Daves)

Deadline at Dawn by Cornell Woolrich - Deadline at Dawn (1946, Clurman)

Detective Story (theatrical play) by Sidney Kingsley - Detective Story (1951, Wyler)

Double Indemnity by James M. Cain - Double Indemnity (1944, Wilder)

The High Window by Raymond Chandler - Time to Kill (Leeds, 1942) and The Brasher Doubloon, (1947, Brahm)

The Fallen Sparrow by Dorothy B. Hughes - The Fallen Sparrow (1943, Wallace)

Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler - Murder, My Sweet (1944, Dmytryk)

The G-String Murders by Gypsy Rose Lee - Lady of Burlesque (1943, Wellman)

The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett - The Glass Key (1935, Tuttle) and The Glass Key (1942, Heisler)

I, the Jury by Mickey Spillane - I, the Jury (1953, Essex)

I Wake Up Screaming by Steve Fisher - I Wake Up Screaming (1941, Humberstone)

If I Die Before I Wake by Sherwood King - The Lady from Shanghai (1947, Welles)

In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes - In a Lonely Place (1950, Ray)

The Killers and Other Short Stories. by Ernest Hemingway - The Killers (1946, Siodmak)

Kiss Me, Deadly by Mickey Spillane - Kiss Me Deadly (1955, Aldrich)

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye by Horace McCoy - Kiss Tomorrow Goodybe (1950, Douglas)

Knock on Any Door by Willard Motley - Knock on Any Door (1949, Ray)

The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler - Lady in the Lake (1947, Montgomery)

Laura by Vera Caspary - Laura (1944, Preminger)

Leave Her to Heaven by Ben Ames Williams - Leave Her to Heaven (1945, Stahl)

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett - The Maltese Falcon (1931, Del Ruth) and Satan Met a Lady (1936, Dieterle) and The Maltese Falcon (1941, Houston)

Mildred Pierce by James M. Cain - Mildred Pierce (1945, Curtiz)

Night and the City by Gerald Kersh - Night and the City (1950, Dassin)

Night Has a Thousand Eyes: a novel of suspense by Cornell Woolrich - Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948, Farrow)

The Night of The Hunter by Davis Grubb - The Night of the Hunter (1955, Laughton)

Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham - Nightmare Alley (1947, Goulding)

Phantom Lady by Cornell Woolrich (as William Irish) - Phantom Lady (1944, Siodmak)

The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain - Ossessione (1943, Italy, Visconti) The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946, Garnett)

Rear Window (originally "It Had to be Murder") by Cornell Woolrich - The Window (1949, Tetzlaff) and Rear Window (1954, Hitchcock)

Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett - Roadhouse Nights (1930, Henley)

Ride the Pink Horse by Dorothy B. Hughes - Ride the Pink Horse (1947, Montgomery)

Serenade by James M. Cain - Serenade (1956, Mann)

Sorry, Wrong Number by Lucille Fletcher - Sorry, Wrong Number (1948, Litvak)

The Spiral Staircase: Some Must Watch by Ethel Lina White - The Spiral Staircase (1945, Siodmak)

Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith - Strangers on a Train (1951, Hitchcock)

Sweet Smell of Success (play) by Clifford Odets - Sweet Smell of Success (1957, Mackendrick)

They Drive by Night by A.I. Bezzerides - They Drive By Night (1940, Walsh)

Thieves Like Us by Edward Anderson - They Live By Night (1949, Ray)

Thieves' Market by A.I. Bezzerides - Thieves' Highway (1949, Dassin)

The Woman in the Window (originally Once Off Guard) by J.H. Wallis - The Woman in the Window (1944, Lang)

...

Cross-posted on my blog, Memories of the Future

[Jason Coffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent overview and introduction to critical responses to film noir. Includes several influential early writings and interesting essays on the evolution of the noir style and its influence on television. A bit lighter on the hardcore academia than the same editors' "Horror Film Reader," but then that's probably why they've done about four volumes of "Film Noir Reader!"

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this film noir "business" is mostly a hoax.

I've looked at about 40 films that are so called film noirs,
but I'd say only about 25% are.

Why are so many labeled noir?
The cost of these films was paid off or written off, 60-80 years ago,
by labeling a bunch of ordinary crime movies noir,
the studios make a pile of money at almost no cost.

The cost of making the DVD itself is only 25¢,
all the rest goes to the bottom line.

Also, writers and critics make money writing books and doing "commentaries" on so call noir.

The more films labeled noir, the more money to be made.

IMO
there are some noir films, they have:
1. Point of view from someone morally ambiguous or better depraved.
2. femme fatal
3. dialog that is cynical, bitter, sarcastic

They should have themes of alienation, entrapment, or corruption,
especially of the richest 1%, a bunch of narcissistic psychopaths.

Things like B&W, low key lighting, shadows, odd camera angles,
are all trivial and irrelevant.

It's the psychology of the characters that is important.

The French say: behind every great fortune lies a great crime.
No wonder they like noir !

Noirs should not have a happy ending, in LA confidential,
2 cops who disliked each other become great buddies,
1 gets married and happily goes off.

To be a noir, after the Cromwell character is shot,
a dozen cops with machine guns should have cut the 2 good cops to ribbons,
then one of the cops should say: There's the dirty rat who shot the chief.

Glen Ford is in several "noirs", he is always a nice guy,
how can he be the protagonist of a noir?

D.O.A. is frequently listed as noir,
it's just a murder mystery, no more.

[Tristram Shandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a Noir World

When Barbara Stanwyck slowly descends the stairs, sultrily displaying her legs and Fred McMurray has not yet realized that murder can smell like honeysuckle; when Joe Garfield watches a lipstick rolling across the floor and is finally thunderstruck by Lana Turner, dressed all in deceptive white; when Raymond Burr watches Steve Brodie take a sound and brutal beating under the glaring light of a swinging naked light-bulb; when Burt Lancaster, tired and dispirited, waits for the wise-cracking hitmen to force their way into his crummy apartment and gun him down, we are in the world of film noir.

As well as many of the classic noirs are known to people, at least to those of my generation, as little film scholars seem able to agree on whether film noir is a genre in its own right, or rather a certain style or movement, whether it was limited to the 40s and 50s or still can justly be said to incorporate what is today referred to as neo-noir, and neither do film critics feel at ease when having to decide if a certain film fulfils the requirements that would make it noir or if it doesn’t. To be sure, you do not have to get into this academic brush-wood in order to be able to enjoy the films, but the more of them you know the more you would like to learn about what the common denominator of all those hauntingly beautiful films is, and how it came to pass that in the 1940s suddenly elements of a new visual style and new, often disenchanted, outlooks on life combined to cast the shadow of noir over Hollywood.

Alain Silver and James Ursini, in their first Film Noir Reader, have collected some of the most ground-breaking essays on film noir, ranging, for instance, from Raymond Borde and Étienne Chaumeton’s 1955 definition of film noir over Raymond Durgnat’s family tree of the film noir – which lists certain noir themes – to Janey Place and Lowell Peterson’s very intriguing foray into visual motifs of the noir.

The second part of the book offers a selection of essays that either focus on particular films, and it would definitely be useless to read these if you have not watched the respective films before. These include Preminger’s Angel Face, Siodmak’s Phantom Lady and The Killers, Dassin’s Night and the City as well as Aldrich’s Kiss Me Deadly. There are also two essays on the films noir made by directors John Farrow and – my personal favourite – Anthony Mann respectively.

The third section of the book comprises articles that are, for example, concerned with the interplay of voice-over and gender roles, as exemplified by the femme fatale, with noir TV series, with Miami Vice as a show that was especially influenced by the legacy of the noir or with how the noir movement turned into a genre (especially as directors grew more and more conscious of actually contributing to something that was called “noir”).

Most of these essays, especially those of the second part of the book, are written in an intelligible and fluent style, which makes them a pleasure to read. A few, though, suffer from a rather overblown and stilted way of putting things, obfuscating rather than elucidating them, so that I did not bother to read them to the end – but these were, luckily, few and far between. All in all, the Film Noir Reader is a very intriguing book to everyone who wants to know more about film noir and who is ready to concentrate a bit in order to know more than just star trivia and the like. Apart from that, it might be possible that after reading most of the essays in this book you will look at some of those classic and seemingly well-known movies in a new light.

[Nancy Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's an important book because it educates readers to the stages of film noir and the psychology of noir characters, the victim, the cop, the killer, the dame etc.
The writing is ok, not as riveting as the movies that he is discussing. But the author is one of the authorities on film noir and you can choose to take away a lot or a little bit of information.

[Nora · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave me that buzz when after slogging through that nonsensical Raymond Durgnat piece that tried to convince me that BICYCLE THIEVES and 2001 are noirs, every other author spent at least a sentence dragging him for failing to grasp any real definition and talking out of his ass. Iconic.

[Denisse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read to this one now and really enjoying it. I love writing style and everything Describe in this book.

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent collection of essays on the various sides to film noir. I particularly liked the authors (like Raymond Borde & Etienne Chaumeton, Raymond Durgnast, and Paul Kerr) that attempt to bring some focus to the concept: is film noir a genre, a style, a look, a mood? I also liked Alain Silver and James Orsini's discussion of lesser-known noir director John Farrow. Of the topical essays, of particular note is Karen Hollinger's analysis of the infamous character-type, the femme fatale. Television noir from the 1950s and beyond are also examined.

Many of the essays do a nice job of locating noir films (and their modern neo-noir descendants) in the context of post-war America and its many anxieties and aspirations.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always found the old time film noirs fascinating. They hearken back to an older world where men with hearts of gold became cold, looking for redemption. Where the women were mysterious, tough and striking in their beauty, able to drag men down to the depths of hell and back. A time when the likes of Veronica Lake, Bogart, Alan Ladd, Gilda and Lauren Bacall would become sex symbols, while shadows danced across their face and cigarettes were eternally lite, danglingly from their lips. Reading this book reminded me of all the great films I have watched and re-watched countless times in my youth. A fond memory while learning some things new. What more could one ask for?

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
"Film Noir Reader" is a collection of essays by different authors which focus on different topics -- What is noir? When were noir films made? Is noir a genre? What themes are typical of noirs? What cinomatography tricks were usually used? Etc. The essays do not all agree on things (some mention the others by name in their disagreement), and, like in any collection, some are better written or more interesting than others. Still, "Film Noir Reader" is an interesting read, and, if nothing else it certainly gives you a list of movies to watch.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

okay...i didn't completely finish this book. it is a text book. i started it a year and half ago and stopped 4 chapters to the end. the beginning was more applicable to what i was looking for at the time. talk of themes, critiques, influences. then end is stills and mini breakdowns of filming technique. i was not as interested in that part so i stopped. i am admitting it is over now.

[Riana Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew absolutely nothing about film noir when I first got this book. I'm not saying I'm a fan of the genre now (a little too fatalistic for my taste, but that's the basis of the film-type), but this book gave me a better appreciation of film noir by giving me a grasp of the breakdown and background in clear, intelligent language.

[Zoë · Rating 3 out of 5]

This informative collection gives you the basics of film noir, and would be very useful for teaching. I particularly liked Karen Holinger's essay on 'Film Noir, Voice-over, and the Femme Fatale' which considered how the femme fatale's speech is often restrictively framed by the detective protagonist's voice-over.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read Part One.

[Dayna Pearce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very dry but a great text for my film noir class.

[Scott W. Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a film student, just a film noir fan, and this book seems aimed at the former. With that said though, I did enjoy several of the essays in the first section.