Product Description

The term "film noir" was first applied by French critics to a number of American films that made their way to France over a period of six weeks at the end of World War II. These films, such as "The Maltese Falcon", "Murder, My Sweet", "This Gun for Hire" and "The Big Sleep", fascinated French moviegoers with their new breed of criminals - love-starved husbands and wives, local business owners, writers, gamblers, small-time hoods, private eyes, mental patients, war veterans, rebellious teenagers and corrupt lawyers, politicians, judges and cops. Over 700 film noirs from the classic period of film noir (1940-1959) are presented in this reference book - such films as "The Accursed", "Among the Living", "The Asphalt Jungle", "Baby Face Nelson", "Bait", "The Beat generation", "Crossfire", "Dark Passage", "I Walk Alone", "The Las Vegas Story", "The Naked City", "Strangers on a Train", "White Heat" and "The Widow". For each film the following information is provided: the title of the film, release date, the main performers, the screenwriter(s), the director(s), the type of noir, the film's thematic content and a rating based on the five-star system.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #792656 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 541 pages

From Booklist
Over a six-week period at the end of World War II, French cinema audiences saw a flood of American films. All were crime movies, mostly involving murder. French critics applied the term film noir to these, and it stuck. Examples include The Maltese Falcon and Murder, My Sweet. Since then, of course, the academic definition of this term has been in much dispute, including, but not limited to, when the first and last film was produced. Keaney, a film noir fan, briefly addresses these controversies, but as a true fan he would rather leave the arguments to professors and collect and enjoy the movies even if they fall outside somebody's definition.

The result is this work, a filmography of more than 700 movies released from 1940 to 1959. Each entry includes a cast and crew list; film noir type (for example, "Blackmail," "Femme Fatale") and themes ("greed, lust, guilt, fatalism"); a one- to five-star rating; and a synopsis and brief examination written in an easy, familiar style that serves to inform and entertain. Keaney is not a blind fan, as he does recognize the faults and problems with the films he includes. The features he appends to most entries add interest. One feature highlights "Memorable Noir Moment(s)." For example, for The Maltese Falcon (1941) he notes: "Psychotic gunman [Elisha] Cook, fed up with Bogey's [Humphrey Bogart] lack of respect, warns him, 'Keep on ridin' me, they're gonna be picking lead out of your liver.'" He also identifies "Familiar Faces from Television," cluing viewers into early appearances of Star Trek's Dr. McCoy or F Troop's Sgt. O'Rourke. The work is completed by lists of films by director, type, and year of release; a collector's guide; and a very useful annotated bibliography.

As a popular film reference resource, this is a worthy addition to public libraries, and even specialized or research libraries might be interested in it for the filmography alone. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

NOIR HEADS DELIGHT
Mr. Keaney has done a great service to us self-proclaimed "noir heads" with his comprehensive book "The Film Noir Guide" Unlike other books of the canon, it is truly a "guide" or rather an primer to the complete noir theme. Other authors, in fact all that I've read, have analyzed film noir to death. The Keaney book minimizes this frequently trodden path and instead provides an extensive filmography of noir with a refreshing look at many obscure and borderline noirs as well as all the old favorites. Most important, it explains a simple and inexpensive way to locate and own these films. This in itself will save a significant amount of money and countless hours trying to track down these movies (Hint: They're not at Blockbuster); and it certain justifies the cost of the book. (I only wish I had a reference book like this when I started collecting). Also impressive is the fact that he actually watched all of these movies, something other authors have neglected, often relying on third party sources.

An earlier reviewer argued over several of the inclusions (BLOOD ON THE MOON, i.e.), but he clearly is not very knowledgeable about film noir (Or relies only on select authors). There are western noirs (YELLOW SKY, STATION WEST) as well as costumer noirs (BLUEBEARD, HANGOVER SQUARE), horror noirs (The Val Lewton films) and serials noirs (The SHADOW series). Noir is not just defined by THE BIG SLEEP, DOUBLE INDEMNITY and TOUCH OF EVIL. It has a look, feel and tone that cuts across genres. Frankly limiting noir to only pulp detective films is not only wrong and arbitrary but deprives the noir fanatic of many rewarding dark films. Thankfully, Mr. Keaney has bypassed this pitfall and breathed new life into an often written about subject.

A Delight for fans of noir
If you are a lover of film noir, do yourself a favor and pick up this book. It is chock full of wonderful comments,as well as a number of films you probably have never heard about elsewhere. Michael Keaney casts the widest possible net in compiling his compendium of over 700 noirs (ALL FROM THE CLASSIC ERA OF THE 1940S & 1950s), and while he himself admits many may not be true noirs, each and every one displays a genuine noir influence. Keaney writes in an approachable light and breezey style. He does not go in for deep analysis, but has a large number of wry, amusing and downright clever observations about most of these efforts. His ratings might annoy some (Hey, he gave a low rating to one of my all time favorite noirs, Bogie's DARK JOURNEY!) but then this is part of the fun of the book, seeing where you agree or disagree with his critiques. He provides an extensive bibliography as well as a fine breakdown in an appendix of classification of films according to type. One important note: Keaney limits himself to films he actually viewed, so a number of excellent noirs that are currently out of circulation are not included, such as I WOULDN'T BE IN YOUR SHOES, STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT and WITHOUT WARNING. Let's hope these rarities may turn up in the future. Then maybe Keaney can add them to his book in an update in five years or so. In the meantime, Keaney's book is a "must have" for anyone interested in film noir. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

The perfect Film Noir guide for the uninitiated
Though I didn't know what to expect, this compendium of Film Noir from the Classic Era was the perfect book to introduce me to a genre that I am only beginning to learn. It was well written, I enjoyed the photographs, the summaries provided generous details, and the list of reviews was so comprehensive that every movie for which I had a questions, I always found a review. The author definitely knows his subject matter and is witty in his presentation. I was amazed and appreciative that this type of encyclopedic book on Film Noir is available. I look forward to Mr. Keaney's next review guide on whatever genre he chooses.