Muller, E. 1998. _Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press. Recommended by a site visitor, this has been on my wish list for a long time.

Muller, E. 2001. _Dark City Dames: The Wicked Women of Film Noir. New York, NY: Regan Books. Recommended by a site visitor.

Phillips, G.D. 2000. _Creatures of Darkness: Raymond Chandler, Detective Fiction, and Film Noir. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky. A very interesting and thorough examination of the film-related work of mystery legend Raymond Chandler, creator of the ultimate film noir gumshoe, Phillip Marlowe. The books follows Chandler's career and work from pulpy dime detective story-writer, to novelist, to screenwriter. Chandler was an odd, cantankerous fellow, but the character he created is forever in the pantheon of American detective film heroes.

Lyons, Arthur. 2000. _Death on the Cheap: The Lost B Movies of Film Noir_. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.

Cochran, David. 2000. _American Noir: Underground Writers and Filmmakers of the Postwar Era_. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. The how and why of pulp. Challenging the beatific portraits of American Democratic Capitalist bliss that came out in art and film during wartime, writers and directors after the war became more interested in exposing America's sickly underbelly.




Duncan, John. 2000. _Film Noir_. North Pomfret, VT: Trafalgar Square. New, snappy, cheap basic pocket book on film noir. Perfect if you're starting a lousy new library.










Hannsberry, Karen B. 1998. _Femme noir: The bad girls of film._ Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. Sorry, I haven't read and can't provide a review at this time. This isn't the book's cover, but this seemed like just the right place for a picture of Ida Lupino!










 
 

Meyer, David N. _A girl and a gun: The complete renter's guide to film noir._ New York: Avon Books. This book is new from Avon. It's the only noir video guide, and it contains lots of additional film noir information. Readers are raving at the Amazon "reader reviews" section. And what a cool cover!








 
 
 

Martin, Richard. 1997. _Mean streets and raging bulls: The legacy of film noir in contemporary American cinema._ Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. I've not looked at this, so I can't report anything, but thanks to Richard Martin for sending a scan of the cover.









 
 

Glassman, Steve and Maurice O'Sullivan (Eds.). 1997. _Crime Fiction and Film in the Sunshine State: Florida Noir_. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press. Key Largo. Body Heat. Miami Vice. From Tampa to Ft. Lauderdale and up to Orlando, there's a lotta bad shit going down if you look past the orange groves. It's all here.
 
 
 
 

Bassoff, Lawrence. 1997. _Crime scenes: Movie poster art of the film noir: The classic period._ Lawrence Bassoff Collection. I'm sorry, I just love Alan Ladd's bizarre eyes when he's being roughed up in "The Glass Key". Any book that puts that flick on the cover has got to be great.
 
 
 
 

Kitses, Jim. 1996. _Gun Crazy_. London: British Film Institute. This is a stunning and sophisticated analysis of the 1950 noir classic "Gun Crazy", starring John Dall and Peggy Cummins. It's filled with cool photos from the set, production background, and serious analysis. Did you know that Millard Kaufman, who is credited with the screenplay, never saw story, script, or film? (He was a front for the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo). The color movie poster graces the cover, and there's even a picture of Peggy Cummins and the author taken in 1995!
 
 
 
 
 

Alton, John. 1995. _Painting with light._ Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. If you've ever seen "T-Men" or "Raw Deal" or "He Walked By Night", then you know the genius of cinematographer John Alton. Maybe you saw Alton being honored during the Academy Awards segment that honored great film people lost in the last year. Alton photographed 56 films between 1940 and 1960, including a fistfull famous noirs. Here's the classic work that tells how he did it.
 
 
 

Stephens, Michael L. 1995. _Film noir: A comprehensive, illustrated reference to movies, terms and persons._ Jefferson, NC: McFarland. A really nice reference book. Full of bios, plot summaries, and photos. Chock full of noir and fun to read. Worth the price for the serious noir fanatic.

Silver, Alain and Elizabeth Ward. (eds.)1992. _Film noir: An encyclopedic reference to the American style._ 3rd Ed. Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press. Alain Silver and Elizabeth Ward's authoritative work. Excellent source for in-depth looks at all of the noir classics. Oversize with lots of great stills.

It's the Film Noir Reader, edited by Alain Silver and James Ursini. This is a great book about film noir because it includes the important early writings that first recognized film noir as a unique and important style/genre, including the seminal 1955 essay by Borde and Chaumeton. Great picture of Robert Aldrich on page 10!
 
 
 

"What's the grift, mug? Watch it, or I squirt metal!" Or if you're too cheap, get The Little Black & White Book of Film Noir: Quotations from Films of the 40's & 50's, and carry your tough talk around in your pocket.
 
 
 
 

Maxfield, James F. (ed.) 1996. _The fatal woman: Sources of male anxiety in American film noir, 1941-1991._ Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.

Palmer, R. Barton. (ed.) 1996. _Perspectives on film noir._ New York: G.K. Hall.

Palmer, R. Barton. 1994. _Hollywood's dark cinema: The American film noir._ New York: Twayne.A very elegant analysis of noir across genres, including chapters on the Noir crime melodrama, the Noir detective film, the Noir thriller and the Noir woman's picture.

Cameron, Ian. (ed.) 1993. _The book of film noir._ New York: Continuum.

Copjec, Joan. (ed.) 1993. _Shades of noir: A reader._ New York: Verso.

Richardson, Carl. 1992. _Autopsy: An element of relalism in film noir._ Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press.

Krutnik, Frank. 1991. _In a lonely street: film noir, genre, and masculinity._ New York: Routledge.

Crowther, Bruce. 1989. _Film noir: Reflections in a dark mirror._ New York: Continuum.

Telotte, J.P. 1989. _Voices in the dark: The narrative patterns of film noir._ Urbana, IL: University of Illinoir Press.

Tuska, Jon. 1984. _American film noir in cultural perspective._ Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Selby, Spencer. 1984. _Dark city: The film noir._ Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

Hirsch, Foster. 1983. _The dark side of the screen: Film noir._ New York: Da Capo Press.

Ottoson, Robert. 1981. _A reference guide to the American film noir, 1940-1958._ Metchuen, NJ: Scarecrow Press.

Kaplan, E. Ann. (ed.) 1980. _Women in film noir._ London: BFI Publishing.

Back to Martin's Film Noir Page