Film Noir Light and Shadow (Limelight)

This book is a delight. It's absolutely crammed with pictures, details, observations, information, trivia, facts, and theories and... yeah, it is completely wonderful.The only real problem with this book is that now I have dozens more noir films on my to-be-watched list. Such a problem to have, huh?Basically, the whole book is essay after essay devoted to the visual aspects of film noir. The essays have titles like "Rooms like Reveries: Interiors and Interiority in Film Noir" (Imogen Sara Smith), "The Gangster and Film Noir" (Alain Silver), "Fragments of the Mirror: Hitchcock's Noir Landscape" (Alain Silver), and "Women's Song and Dance Performances in Film Noir" (Christophe Gelly and Delphine Letort) -- you can see how enticing they are to someone who enjoys this film style!By far, my favorite essay was "Nothingness and Purpose: Light and shadow in It's a Wonderful Life" by Todd Erickson. I've always felt that Wonderful Life was a much darker movie that it gets credit for, and so much darker than most Christmas movies -- I heartily agree with Erickson that it has noir in its heart.If you're a fan of film noir and love learning about how movies are made, love delving into what's going on below the surface of a story, or just generally love reading about movies, you will probably enjoy this book.

The glory days of Film Noir were from 1940 to 1959. Alain Silver covers this period well in his book. The poster art and still shots that he includes in the book visually depict the themes of pessimism, fatalism, and menace. These ideas are hallmark symbols of noir film style. My 3 favorite movies in this book are Laura (1944), Out of the Past (1947), and The Asphalt Jungle (1950). After you peruse the pages, close the book and watch the movie Laura. Vincent Price has a classic noir comment at a cocktail party: "I can afford a blemish on my character, but not on my clothes." This is noir dialogue at its best.

There is a lot of good information in this book, but the printing is so small my magnifying glass needs a magnifying glass to read it. I would have given it more stars if it was easier to read.

I love this book. It mentions many obscure Film Noir titles I never new of that I’ll somehow try to obtain for my Film Noir dvd collection. I’m still reading this book slowly and enjoying it as though it’s a fine cognac.

Small size of the book doesn't do the material justice...print is too small. Really should have been done as a large coffee table size book.

Great book. Bought this one for a friend. If your into Noir, you will like this.

Really amazing book - so much info, along with awesome/rare photos. Highly recommended.

Silver and Ursini are seasoned editors and you can count on their books being worth your time and money. Proud to author one of the essays in this volume.

A quality book on the subject of film noir with 100s of superb photos and informative articles about the subject. It is a pity the book spent a lot of time about a small number of films (good as they are) as well as the overall genre. I would have loved a book about all 500+ films that sort of make up that genre but it is still a fine book

A marvellous publication. I could hardly put it down. A full analysis and appreciation of the world of Film Noir and its dodgy people

Over 600 pages of background info and pics of this fascinating phase of American movies. A good introduction. Oddly have not yet found any ref to Lizbeth Scott & Arlene Dahl, elsewhere described as the “Queen of FM” & “Most Beautiful...” respectively.

This a great book, plenty of stills from some of the most important noir films, chapters on what makes a film a film noir and a closer look at 50 films in the genre. Avery good introduction to noir that will get you interested in checking out these classic films and reading more about them. Recommend.

This is just the book I was looking for on 'Film Noir', great detail and excellently put together. I would highly recommend it.