Dark City The Lost World of Film Noir

by Muller, Eddie

• ISBN13: 9780312180768
• ISBN10: 0312180764
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-05-15
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Summary

Welcome to Dark City , urban landscape of the imagination. A place where the men and women who created film noir often find themselves dangling from the same sinister heights as the silver-screen avatars to whom they gave life. Eddie Muller, who led readers on a guided tour of the seamier side of motion pictures in Grindhouse: The Forbidden World of 'Adults Only' Cinema , now takes us on a spellbinding trip through treacherous terrain: Hollywood in the post-World War II years, when art, politics, scandal, style-and brilliant craftsmanship-produced a new approach to moviemaking, and a new type of cultural mythology. Eddie Muller , a writer and designer, is the creative director of St. Francis Studio, producing storytelling in all media. He co-authored Grindhouse , a history of adults-only cinema in America, and his other books include Dark City Dames and The Art of Film Noir . He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Dark City examines the genre of fim noir in all its terse, mysterious, angst-ridden glory. The book studies the world of film noir by entering this world and fully exploring it, both an urban landscape of the imagination and a purely cinematic realm of shadows, smoke, suspense, and sinister silver-screen avatars. Muller takes us on a spellbinding and fascinating trip through such trecherous terrain: Hollywood in the post-World War II years, when art, politics, scandal, style'”and brilliant craftsmanship'”produced a new approach to moviemaking, and a new type of cultural mythology. "In a genre where some see mostly fatalism and social critique, Muller also finds humor, eroticism, and the unfettered inventiveness of an extraordinary generation of directors and actors."'” Geoffrey O'Brien, author of The Phantom Empire "[The] ultimate companion to gritty black-and-white postwar classics."'” Details "Muller's plot summaries and insider accounts of moviemaking are fitting companions to the brooding images that accompany them."'” The Washington Post "This book displays a salutary knowledge of the underpinnings of the genre; serves as a fabulous reference book; and most importantly, dishes the real life dirt on the freaks, geeks, commies, nymphos, hopheads, has-beens, red-baiters, and all-purpose fiends who made this genre great."'” James Ellroy "The book is organized around the city motif, with chapters devoted to various thematic neighborhoods, for example, 'The Precinct' (cop flicks) and 'Vixenville' (femme fatales) . . . The illustrations, mostly stills, are first rate, and the mix of biographical, historical, and critical material works well. Background on such vintage noir actors as Robert Ryan, Richard Widmark, and, of course, Robert Mitchum is usually fresh and pertinent, and the insider gossip about life in the studios adds some zip . . . Provides an entertaining all-around introduction to the genre."'” Booklist "Eddie Muller seriously takes film noir not too seriously'”just the right mix, and with great stills."'” Paul Schrader

Author Biography

Eddie Muller, a writer and designer, is the creative director of St. Francis Studio, producing storytelling in all media. He co-authored Grindhouse (St. Martin's Griffin, 1996), a history of adults-only cinema in America, and his other books include Dark City Dames and The Art of Film Noir. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	9	(1)
Introduction	10	(4)
1 Welcome to Dark City	14	(7)
2 Sinister Heights	21	(18)
3 The Precinct	39	(16)
4 Hate Street	55	(13)
5 Shamus Flats	68	(16)
6 Vixenville	84	(25)
7 Blind Alley	109	(20)
8 The Psych Ward	129	(16)
9 Knockover Square	145	(14)
10 Losers' Lane	159	(16)
11 Thieves' Highway	175	(17)
Poster Gallery	192	(1)
Afterword	193	(3)
Bibliography	196	(2)
Index	198