2024 the best of film noir review

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This revised and expanded edition of Eddie Muller's Dark City is a film noir lover's bible, taking readers on a tour of the urban landscape of the grim and gritty genre in a definitive, highly illustrated volume.

Named by The Hollywood Reporter one of the "100 Greatest Film Books of All Time!"

Dark City expands with new chapters and a fresh collection of restored photos that illustrate the mythic landscape of the imagination. It's 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, host of Turner Classic Movies' Noir Alley, takes readers on a spellbinding trip through treacherous terrain: Hollywood in the post-World War II years, where art, politics, scandal, style -- and brilliant craftsmanship -- produced a new approach to moviemaking, and a new type of cultural mythology.

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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Running Press Adult; Revised edition (July 20, 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0762498978
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0762498970
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.85 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.05 x 1.4 x 10.4 inches
Reviewer: M. D. ROY EARLE
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A Superb Book on Film Noir: the First Ever Six Star Review!
Review: Advertised as "..a revised and expanded edition of Dark City." It is not. The revisions and additional information are so extensive, it is a totally new book. Both publications are worth owning, as they overlap but also compliment one another.The 1998 Dark City was easily my favorite book about film noir. This new volume is superior to the original in many ways:There are expanded discussions of key movies. These are consistently insightful.There are profiles of key individuals. While these profiles vary in length, each seems "right" in terms of details and information provided. You can find additional information elsewhere, but as biographic sketches, these brief portraits are perfect.While the structure of the original book remains, there are additional chapter headings and much more information.The quality of the photographs is excellent. This would be a great book even if only the photos were published without any print.Gone is much of the "1940's tough guy" dialogue, which can wear thin quickly. What remains is brief and totally enjoyable.Only two minor points of constructive criticism:1. In both the original 1998 book and this volume, screenwriters receive minimal attention. They're infrequently noted, but film directors are far more emphasized.2. On page 187, Richard Widmark's character in his favorite film is described as a "health inspector." In fact, Widmark played an Officer in the U.S. Public Health Service. Calling him a health inspector is like referring to the Captain of a U.S. Naval vessel as a "deck hand."A tremendous publication that belongs in the library of any film noir aficionado. Six stars, at the very least.

Reviewer: E. C. Nelson
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Essential Noir Guide
Review: The revised and expanded version of "Dark City: the Lost World of Film Noir" by Eddie Muller was recently released. The first edition, published in 1998, was a quality paperback. This edition is a hardback, with glossier paper (the copious stills look so much better), and 60 additional pages. It's my favorite book on film noir.The book is broken into chapters, each part of Dark City: Vixenville, The Precinct, Loser's Lane, Shamus Flats, etc. Each chapter covers several related films. (Sometimes the assignment of films to sections of Dark City is relatively arbitrary.) Each film gets relatively brief coverage, less than a page. I believe Muller covers every significant film noir and a sizeable number of other film noirs. The revised version has more coverage of neo-noirs and also classic noirs that were revived in the past twenty years.Muller writes well about each film. While reading, I would go back and savor paragraphs or mull over his comments. He's also very good on the classics that have been written about over and over, such as PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET, DOUBLE INDEMNITY or TOUCH OF EVIL (with interesting insights into Welles). Another strong point is his ability to point out the contributions of the producers and writers of the film (and the writers of the source novels).There are also great sidebar articles (typically two pages) about axioms of noir, such as Robert Ryan, Gloria Grahame, John Garfield, and Ida Lupino. There are more of these sidebar essays in the new edition. It's fascinating that even the more positive biographies still have their dark moments. And some start dark and get worse.This book is currently available for under $25 from amazon. It is highly recommended as an introduction to noir and as a great conversation, regardless of how much you think you know about noir.

Reviewer: John Q Public
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Film Noir.
Review: Great book. A must read, by Mr. Film Noir, Mr. Eddie Muller! 5 Stars!

Reviewer: Edward B. Furey
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: If You're Going Down These Mean Streets, Take This Guide
Review: Happily, TCM decided to re-issue, complete with updates from Eddie Muller, “Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir” at what they used to call a popular price. You can get the earlier version, but for a much higher price than most people like to pay for a book.Muller brings his Noir Alley combination of expertise and comedy to the book, as in an obiter dicta about “711 Ocean Drive,” which “gave Edmond O’Brien a rare chance to play the lead – and have enough wardrobe changes to make Claire Trevor jealous.” “Dark City” offers as comprehensive look at noir films that you’ll find outside of an encyclopedic listing of the hundreds of pictures in the genre.Although there are exceptions (“Leave Her to Heaven”, “Desert Fury”) noir was a black and white genre, so the book is stuffed with well-chosen stills. Color is served by the posters, which even for B&W pictures were in color. As were the lurid paperbacks the movie scripts were adapted from. Even the endpapers of Dark City feature posters from such usual suspects as “Sunset Boulevard” and “Laura” to titles the obscure like “The Story of Molly X” and “The Sniper.”The discussion is arranged thematically so chapters are dedicated to newspaper noir, in which reporters, editors, photographers and bartenders in press bars, are“fast-talking newshound[s] who’ll do anything for a scoop.” This trope was introduced in the pre-noir era, in a 1928 stage play named “The Front Page,” by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur that has itself been filmed multiple times. And, because it’s noir, the reporters aren’t always heroes battling municipal corruption, as with Kirk Douglas in “Ace in the Hole.”“In noir, crooks are shaved, shined, and high-toned. They’ve folded their rackets into the capitalist economy.” The pictures follow their rise to the “Sinister Heights” and, because it’s noir, their fall. John Garfield’s “Force of Evil” posh office in lower Manhattan skyscraper is merely a place to betray and be betrayed.In noir, the men are bad and the women are worse, which is why actresses like these parts. In “Vixenville” women had agency and as often as not instigated the homicides and double crosses. Sometimes, as with Fred MacMurray in “Double Indemnity,” the men know they walking down a road where the last stop is gallows, but the pull of Barbara Stanwyck is too strong. As is that of “Gilda” (Rita Hayworth” for Glenn Ford. Bogart hopes that Lizabeth Scott is the real thing in “Dead Reckoning,” but…..The main chapters are interrupted with brief profiles of key noir players like “Dark City’s Beatnik Cowpoke” Robert Mitchum or “Gloria Grahame The Fallen Queen” or “A Good Man in a Bad Time” Robert Ryan.So if you choose to go down these mean streets, and you should, let “Dark City” and Eddie Muller be your guide.

Reviewer: L. Mitchel Cooke Jr
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Needs larger print
Review: Well written authoritative volume on Film Noir. Lots of great content And pictures but text is way too smal to enjoy. I would spend double for a coffee table sized edition

Reviewer: Tom Boyle
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Beautifully illustrated, and written . A coffee-table book in looks, an encyclopedia of the genre, especially if you like your coffee dark.

Reviewer: BARRY JOSEPH
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: always interesting to read the past

Reviewer: Rudy Donies
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Alles Top!+++++

Reviewer: Vérter Gomes
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Capítulos bien ordenados, relación de las fotos con los distintos temas en el livro.Un valor añadido para mi biblioteca de cine.

Reviewer: sam m.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Bought this as a gift for a film noir aficionado and he was delighted with it