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The Dark Side Of The Screen: Film Noir (A Da Capo Paperback)
 
 
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The Dark Side Of The Screen: Film Noir (A Da Capo Paperback) (Paperback)

by Foster Hirsch (Author) "car weaves crazily through the dark deserted streets of downtown Los Angeles..." (more)
Key Phrases: noir victim, noir motifs, noir canon, Scarlet Street, The Big Sleep, The Maltese Falcon (more...)
4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)


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Editorial Reviews

Review
"Wonderfully readable: Hirsch is clear, knowledgeable, and concise... A visual as well as literary pleasure." Martin Jackson, Cineaste" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review
Martin Jackson, Cineaste
“Wonderfully readable: Hirsch is clear, knowledgeable, and concise….[The Dark Side of the Screen] is a visual as well as literary pleasure.”

Philip French, The Observer (London)
“There has been no extended work as good as Foster Hirsch’s The Dark Side of the Screen, a well-written, imaginatively illustrated book that sees the brief, true heyday as between Wilder’s Double Indemnity (1944) and his Sunset Boulevard (1950), but looks at the prelude and the aftermath, and sets the genre in its larger social and cultural context.”

Skyscraper, Spring 2009
“An important examination of what film noir is…The 264-page treatise is not a review source; rather, Hirsch’s academic work delves deeply with a scholarly but not dry approach.”

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Da Capo Press (August 21, 1983)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0306802031
  • ISBN-13: 978-0306802034
  • Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,131,627 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)




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4 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Dark Side of the Screen is shining light!, November 5, 2001
By Jeff Markham (Walton-on-Thames, UK) - See all my reviews
Hirsch's brilliant analysis of the antecedents, key period and legacy of noir remains perhaps the finest single work on the subject. Not as funny or entertaining as Eddie Muller's 'Dark City', but a major work that pre-dates many inferior later studies. Especially notable is Hirsch's use of stills, his choice of key scenes (e.g. Panic in the Streets, the Phenix City Story, Scarlet Street) skilfully differentiates between studio shot film noirs and pseudo-documentary/location filmed noirs.

Highly recommended for serious lovers of the genre (not room enough here to debate whether film noir is a genre or not!) and ranks, for me, alongside Paul Schrader's legendary 'Notes on Film Noir' essay (1972) as the single most important piece of work on the subject.

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29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Introduction to Film Noir, June 7, 2000
By Dennis Hayes "Angry Buddha" (Kenmore, Wa United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This book is the best of several I have read recently on film noir. It strikes the right balance between being thorough and accessible; not nearly as dry and academic as some others. One of the main elements of noir is its distinctive visual style, and this book has dozens of excellent photographic stills, which enable the reader to understand the style in a way that text descriptions could never duplicate. The author does an excellent job of placing noir in its historical context, without assuming the reader has prior knowledge of German Expressionism, hard-boiled fiction or any other influence. The book ends with a list of 120 or so classic noirs; this alone is worth the price of the book. I have seen approximately one-half of the movies on his list and every single one has been excellent. For anyone interested in gazing into "The Crazy Mirror," this is the place to start.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars This book contains an excellent account of noir stylistics, November 9, 1998
By A Customer
I found this book to be a concise and relevant exploration of the history, style and themes of film noir. It was immensely helpful as a research source for an essay I did on noir styles and themes. With clear explanations and pictorial examples it bestowed upon me a clear and precise understanding of the genre.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the 1st Film Noir Books. Still a Solid Introduction.
First published in 1981, "The Dark Side of the Screen" was among the first books in English on the subject of film noir. Read more
Published on August 8, 2005 by mirasreviews

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