A deep dive into classic noir films and how filmmakers today are refreshing and updating the genre for new generations. In American Film Noir, M. Keith Booker introduces readers to the cult-favorite genre of film noir and discusses the ongoing power and popularity of the genre's key elements and themes in modern films, often considered neo-noir, well into the twenty-first century. Booker covers a wide range of noir favorites, from the early classics The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep, to late 20th-century neo-noir such as Chinatown,and ultimately newer iterations of the genre as seen in films like Inherent Vice, Promising Young Woman, and Uncut Gems. American Film Noir contains three separate parts, each exploring crucial categories of noir: the detective film, the lost man film, and femme fatale films. Within each section, Booker discusses the essential classic noir films that embody these themes as well as neo-noir films that invite viewers to analyze how the traditional components of noir have evolved with filmmaking. Finally, each section concludes with twenty-first-century films that evoke noir elements while refreshing the genre and enhancing viewers' appreciation of the originals that inspired them-what Booker terms "revisionary noir". Whether new to noir films, students of the genre, or long-time fans, readers will be sure to learn what makes this genre so special, discover why filmmakers keep coming back to it, and find a new favorite movie to add to their shelves.
M. Keith Booker is the author or editor of over sixty books including Mad Men: A Cultural History (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016), Tony Soprano's America: Gangsters, Guns, and Money (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017), Star Trek: A Cultural History (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018), and The Coen Brothers' America (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019). He is professor of English at the University of Arkansas.
INTRODUCTION TO NOIR FILM PART I. NOIR DETECTIVE FILMS CHAPTER 1. THE FILM NOIR DETECTIVE: Maltese Falcon (1941) CHAPTER 2. THE FILM NOIR DETECTIVE: Murder, My Sweet (1944) CHAPTER 3. THE NEO-NOIR DETECTIVE: Chinatown (1974) CHAPTER 4. THE NEO-NOIR DETECTIVE: Blue Velvet (1986) CHAPTER 5. THE REVISIONARY NOIR DETECTIVE: Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) CHAPTER 6. THE REVISIONARY NOIR DETECTIVE: Inherent Vice (2014) CHAPTER 7. THE REVISIONARY NOIR DETECTIVE: Under the Silver Lake (2018) PART II. THE NOIR FILM LOST MAN CHAPTER 8. THE FILM NOIR LOST MAN: Detour (1945) CHAPTER 9. THE FILM NOIR LOST MAN: Out of the Past (1947) CHAPTER 10. THE NEO-NOIR LOST MAN: After Dark, My Sweet (1990) CHAPTER 11. THE NEO-NOIR LOST MAN: The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) CHAPTER 12. THE REVISIONARY NOIR LOST MAN: The Killer Inside Me (2010) CHAPTER 13. THE REVISIONARY NOIR LOST MAN: You Were Never Really Here (2017) CHAPTER 14. THE REVISIONARY NOIR LOST MAN: Uncut Gems (2019) PART III. WOMAN IN NOIR FILM CHAPTER 15.WOMEN IN FILM NOIR: Double Indemnity (1944) CHAPTER 16. WOMEN IN FILM NOIR: Sunset Boulevard (1950) CHAPTER 17. WOMEN IN NEO-NOIR: Body Heat (1981) CHAPTER 18. WOMEN IN NEO-NOIR: The Last Seduction (1994) CHAPTER 19. WOMEN IN REVISIONARY NOIR: Basic Instinct (1992) CHAPTER 20. WOMEN IN REVISIONARY NOIR: Gone Girl (2014) CHAPTER 21. WOMEN IN REVISIONARY NOIR: Promising Young Woman (2020) CONCLUSION NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX ABOUT THE AUTHOR
