Customer Reviews

Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style, Third Edition

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The casual film fan will be overwhelmed with this...academic jargon, much discussion of film theory, sensory overload of details. But, the obsessive film fan, who is a student (professional or amateur) of this genre will revel in the scope of what has become one of the standard texts on the genre (assuming there is any standard....whatever). A basically complete rundown on the Hollywood output of noir in the 30s through the early 60s...with all the detail on the films that it never occurred to you to ask in the first place.

It also has rather thourough essays on themes, threads, influences, settings...more than enough to explore other sources of noir citicism. It can be dry, it is sorely lacking in coverage of film noir outside the USA, the selection of neo-noir can be quibbled with (perhaps because the post-noir style still isn't settled..."Mullholland Drive", "Novocaine", and "Memento" are examples of how the genre is still evolving).

But all in all, an essential volume for the noir aficionado.

This 3rd edition of "Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style" provides descriptions and analysis for nearly 300 film noirs that were produced from 1927 to 1976, concentrating on the classic period, 1940-1958. The authors are strict in defining film noir as a movement and a style -not a genre- molded specifically by the social, economic, technical, and aesthetic circumstances in post-WWII America, and therefore confined to that era. They exclude genre and foreign films produced in the post-war era that other critics might include. So "Film Noir" is a reference of "pure noir" of the classic period. It may be just as well that it doesn't explore impure noir in much depth, as this book is quite large as it is.

The authors introduce the book by defining the uniquely American classic noir style and discussing some of its common characteristics. The Encyclopedia, itself, is 314 pages long and organized alphabetically by film title. The entry for each of the nearly 300 classic noir films included provides, wherever applicable: the film's title (including working and alternate titles), it's year of release, director, producer, screenwriter(s), director of photography, music director, persons responsible for special effects, sound, score, set decoration, costumes, make-up, the production designer and/or art director, assistant director, and editor. This is followed by a cast list -divided into main and "bit" cast, the date filming was completed, the date the film was released, running time, a plot summary, and a critical analysis by one of the book's 18 contributors. The plot and analysis do often contain spoilers, including endings and surprise twists, which is probably necessary to provide analysis and to define the film as "noir". The plot summaries are useful in refreshing my memory of films seen long ago, but I avoid reading the entire summary or commentary for films I have not yet seen.

"Film Noir" has 5 informative Appendices that explore topics and films not covered in the main section of the book. Appendix A is a lengthy essay explaining the rationale for excluding genre films from the film noir movement. It addresses The Gangster Film, The Western, The Period Film, and The Comedy separately, discussing films that reflect the noir style and what they share and do not share with film noir. Appendix B is a series of lists: A chronology of film noir, listed by year, 1927-1976. Directors listed alphabetically with their films. The same for Writers, Directors of Photography, Composers, Producers, Actors & Actresses, and Releasing Companies, each category with its own list. The criterion for inclusion in the lists is participation in at least 2 film noirs. Appendix C is a survey of "Other Studies in Film Noir". It comments on significant articles and books published on the subject of film noir, from 1955's seminal work by Borde & Chaumeton, "A Panorama of American Film Noir", through 1992, when the latest edition of this book was published. Appendix D discusses "Additional Films from the Classic Period" which were not included in the earlier editions of the book, because they were unavailable or overlooked. Here, 50 films are discussed according to their characteristic noir elements -femme fatale, alienation & despair, maniacs & mayhem, etc. Why these films were simply not included in the Encyclopedia section of this 3rd edition is a mystery to me. Appendix E is a lengthy discussion of Neo-Noir,1966-1992, including a filmography. In the back of the book, you will find a fairly comprehensive Index of films, names, book titles, and most references you might want to locate in "Film Noir".

Film Noir aficionados and students will find "An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style" endlessly fascinating and useful. The critical analyses are thoughtful. The authors' inclusions, exclusions, and definitions of classic noir are always well-articulated and thought-provoking. A single source that collects the production details for each film is a big time-saver.

For the Noir Geek, this is THE Sacred Book. Over 300 titles from the genre's "classic" postwar period are given the synopsis/analysis treatment. Reviews can be a bit "scholarly" (depending on the particular contributing writer) but overall very enlightening for fans who want to "go deep". As a collector who obsessively videotapes and archives obscure noir, I have reached for this book again and again and found it to be a valuable reference tool. One warning to those who wish to use it like a standard "movie guide"- the synopsis capsules are clinically outlined to the point of effectively becoming "spoilers", so you may want to see the film first, then read about it. Some reviewers have taken umbrage with the book's U.S.-centric focus. To them I would point out that while this volume excludes European-PRODUCED cinema, if one takes a closer look, a number of the films included were DIRECTED by people like Billy Wilder, Fritz Lang and Roman Polanski, all in fact native Europeans, so referring to them as "American" noirs may be a matter of semantics. Highly recommended for genre fans.

Have others noted, this is both a great reference and a good way to discover these films -- a real gem. One of the reviewers here mentioned that the reviews are so clinical in laying out the plot as to constitute spoilers. I agree, but I would also point out that the reviews are very structured, making it easy to avoid "spoilers."

The first paragraph of each review is the complete plot summary, usually right to the last scene of the film. After the plot summary paragraph, the second and all subsequent paragraphs discuss the non-plot elements of the film, such as the production history, cinematography, etc. Thus you can read a sentence or two of the first paragraph to get the flavor of the story and skip to the second paragraph to learn more about the film without spoiling the typical noir twists and revealing the ending.

The structure of the reviews is so consistent that it has to be by design, and is just one more little touch that makes this an enjoyable, as well as authoritative, read.

This encyclopedia is a valuable addition to any Film Noir library. It contains production credits, plot summmaries, and brief analyses of hundreds of films noirs, as well as excellent appendices which include summaries of the Film Noir genre and a chronology. The analyses are in general quite good, if brief, with those by Robert Porfirio the most perceptive and well written. I question the book's stance that period films should be excluded based on the concept that "the action of film noir must be grounded in a contemporary setting." This not only eliminates many worthy films noirs, like Robert Siodmak's The Suspect (1945) from the book, but neglects those like The Suspect whose roots are clearly based in French Naturalism, itself a literary antecedent of Film Noir. However, the book's overall value supercedes their omission.

A "must have" for fans of noir. The book presents itself as an encyclopedic reference, and as a guide to the main body of noir it succeeds admirably. Each entry includes production crew, cast members (identified down to bit players), shooting and release dates, plus running time, along with a brief plot synopsis and critical comment by one of the staff of contributors. Naturally, where there's controversy, it's this latter that generates the most. But agree or not, the comments are almost uniformly informative and stimulating, and a testament to the continuing vitality of noir's golden age. The appendices, however, are a more mixed bag. The categorized lists are helpful as guides, but serious rethinking should have gone into Appendix C, which comes across as a somewhat heavy-handed and murky critique of noir's available literature, rendering doubtful its value as a reference guide. Appendix E presents a compilation of "neo-noirs" or recent films in the classic mode. As a work striving for encyclopedic range, I can understand the urge to extrapolate, but it's also clear that this Third Edition just about exhausts the possibilities and I am not looking forward to another sequel. Nonetheless the work itself remains an invaluable tool for serious fans of noir everywhere, and should not be passed up.

This book is the bible of film noir, and the 1992 revisions of the 3rd edition make it even more useful than before. Want to know who plays every bit part in one of your favorite films noirs? The info is here. Want to know when shooting started? When it was released into theaters? Ditto. Want a chronological list of the great noirs? Or more "inside" film lists, organized by directors, stars, even cinematographers? They're here. One of the old criticisms of the previous editions of the book is that its plot summaries were sometimes incorrect in the details. The authors cleaned up some of those problems in this edition, although they decided not to add or change text that would disrupt the original page layout. This means that the new language is a compromise for space, and it doesn't quite live up to the original. And some developments of the past decade, like the discovery of a print of the silent noir "The Racket," are too recent for corrections - the bible still says, "This film is lost today." This not-so-new edition includes a great essay on neo-noir and a fine list of neo-noir films (although I miss the obsessive detail of the original listings). Also, it's paperbound instead of hardbound. But it's still a superb reference work for the film noir fanatic - so treat it well until Silver and Ward get a 4th edition on the stands.

This is where to go for anyone seeking an in-depth appreciation of film noir. There are lots of good books on the subject, but start here, if for no other reason than the exhaustive list of films from the classic cycle.

And to the guy below who gave this book a one star rating, Sweet Smell of Success IS included in the alphabetical list of films. The Third Man is not, for one simple reason: it's a British-produced film. A strong argument could also be made for the inclusion of French films like Rififi and Diabolique, but the authors clearly made a conscious choice to only include films produced by American studios.

I have been exchanging noir themed dvds with a Canadian friend for the past two and a half years or so. Unfortunately, none of the production details for the intriguing films that I received recently are provided in this book.

That underscores the difficulty with books of this type. Completists are going to be displeased to find their latest discoveries and long time favorites are omitted. The approach to the material by the contributors and editors is pedantic to the point of being boring. Many of the summaries contain mistakes and occasional plot spoilers. As a reference resource, the book is somewhat worthwhile, but do not fool yourself into thinking that you are going to read it from cover to cover or that it is going to be a page turner. It is more of a thick catalogue or a ponderous textbook. I would not recommend this book as a gift to a casual film noir enthusiast.

The book has been revised and updated, but the newest entries do not always contain full descriptions. Some of the films are simply listed with cast and crew credits. One would have wished that the revision process would have included editorial corrections of prior mistakes, but the changes seem to consist wholly of new appendices of film titles that were omitted in earlier editions of the book. The latest version also contains listings of neo-noir films to. My personal preferences run to obscure titles and "B" films, so the book is something of a disappointment as Silver and Ward seem to have a bias in favor of big budget productions. Very few of my favorites from Poverty Row made the grade by being included here.

On the positive side, the essentials are included in the book and it contains sufficient information to direct you to other more specific resources or to find films that are new to you. One such book is "The Noir Style" by the same author (with James Ursini). I found that collection of photo essays to be far more entertaining.

Please note that the copy I am reviewing is the 2nd printing of the 1st edition (1976); I've seen at least one of the later editions and I believe little is cut though there are significant additions - the meat of this review wouldn't be changed very much were I reviewing a newer version.

First, the structure: the book has a lengthy, detailed introduction on what noir is, its importance to American film history, how it developed, etc. Then the bulk of the book, which is an alphabetical listing of 300+ noirs with plot summary and analysis; these vary from perhaps 200 to as many as 1000 words, depending on the author's/editors' impressions of the significance of the film. Following the main section are appendices describing major genres which occasionally interacted with noir but are not considered to be true noir by the editors (the gangster film, the western, the period film, the comedy), and then a listing breaking the pictures up by director, writer, stars, composer, cinematographer, and studio. There is a comprehensive index.

This well-produced large format book remains the standard introductory work to the style, I think, despite the almost 30 years since this edition, and 15 since the most recent. The analysis is nearly always on the money from what I can see, and the authors' insights into what makes noir, noir, are forthrightly and convincgly stated. A couple of points that may be controversial: proto-noirs and neo-noirs are included within the bulk on the main text, thus "M" and "Taxi Driver" rub shoulders with "On Dangerous Ground" and "Laura"; and foreign noirs, including British productions like "The Third Man" are completely omitted. I believe the updated editions make some changes in these areas. And a word of warning: don't read the plot descriptions until after you've seen the films!

Not for absolute beginners in film or even in noir - there's plenty of jargon and the style does verge on the academic at times - but an absolute must for anyone who has fallen in love with the dark, rainy streets, the illumination that comes from just a cigarette, the rough voice of Humphrey Bogart or Robert Ryan, and the allure of Lana Turner or Ida Lupino.