The Rough Guide to Film Noir
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Book Summary Information
Editor: Alex BallingerEditor: Danny Graydon
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-07-02
ISBN: 1843534746
Number of pages: 312
Publisher: Rough Guides
Book Reviews of The Rough Guide to Film Noir
Book Review: Informative, Insightful, Highly Readable
Summary: 5 Stars
A couple of brave critics have tackled a risky theme with style, energy and above all, insight. Correctly placing the origin of noir in German expressionism, they also commendably cite the French influence of directors Julien Duvivier and Marcel Carne, but surprisingly tend to neglect formative Hollywood movies like William Worthington's "The Tong Man" (1919) and Tay Garnett's "The Spieler" (1928). Pleasingly, the authors devote a whole section to noir icons including directors Robert Aldrich, Sam Fuller, Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang, Anthony Mann, Otto Preminger, Nicholas Ray, Robert Siodmak, Orson Welles and Billy Wilder. No-one would argue with this selection, even though it doesn't include Joseph H. Lewis, two of whose films figure in their fascinating canon of "50 Essential Film Noirs" (sic), or John Farrow (elsewhere described in the book as a "seasoned noir specialist"). Commendably, the authors discuss cross-genres such as noir westerns, although they underestimate noir musicals such as Joseph H. Lewis' "Minstrel Man". Their brief tip of the hat to "International Noir" considerably underestimates British contributions to the genre, but in a paperback of this size, there is not room for everything. Throughout the book, they continuously make the point that while noir is exclusively concerned with crime or espionage, not all spy, mystery and suspense movies are necessarily noir. In the latter category, you could place serials and other films (such as the "Bomba" series) made for a juvenile market, comedies like Red Skelton's "A Southern Yankee" or Bela Lugosi's "Spooks Run Wild". However, it's true to say that most crime and mystery-suspense thrillers do have noir elements, and therefore it's impossible to cover a full range of noir, even in 300 well-designed pages. Some notable omissions such as "Among the Living", "Black Angel", "Confidential Agent", "The High Wall", "Johnny Allegro", "The Man with a Cloak", "The Mark of Cain", "My Name Is Julia Ross", etc., are covered in my book on "Movie Mystery & Suspense", which also includes a short piece on Robert Siodmak and a long article on Otto Preminger. MOVIE MYSTERY & SUSPENSE
Summary of The Rough Guide to Film Noir
From dimly lit streets and glamorous apartments to world-weary detectives and irresistible femmes fatales, The Rough Guide to Film Noir illuminates every corner of cinema?s darkest and most compelling genre. From early masterpieces like Double Indemnity and Kiss Me Deadly through to neo-noir classics such as Chinatown and LA Confidential, this book highlights all the groundbreaking noir movies. There are profiles of legendary performers such as Humphrey Bogart and Barbara Stanwyck, great directors like Fritz Lang plus key cinematographers, composers and designers. Complete with website listings and books for further reading, this Rough Guide takes a fascinating look at the noir movies made in the Classical Hollywood era and beyond.Movies Books
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