Pulp Fiction to Film Noir: The Great Depression and the Development of a Genre

by William Hare

Overview

During the Great Depression, pulp fiction writers created a new, distinctly American detective story, one that stressed the development of fascinating, often bizarre characters rather than the twists and turns of clever plots. This new crime fiction adapted brilliantly to the screen, birthing a cinematic genre that French cinema intellectuals following World War II christened "film noir." Set on dark streets late at night, in cheap hotels and bars, and populated by the dangerous people who frequented these locales, these films introduced a new antihero, a tough, brooding, rebellious loner, embodied by Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon and Philip Marlowe in The Big Sleep. This volume provides a detailed exploration of film noir, tracing its evolution, the influence of such legendary writers as Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, and the films that propelled this dark genre to popularity in the mid-20th century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786466825
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	07/09/2012
Pages:	222
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Movie historian and writer William Hare is a contributor to Films of the Golden Age. He has also written for the Los Angeles Examiner and the Inglewood Daily News. He lives in Spain.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction 1

1 Film Noir and the Great Depression 5

2 The Hammett Touch and a Huston Launching 20

3 Raymond Chandler and His Symphony of the Streets 37

4 Captain Joseph Shaw and the Flowering of Film Noir 48

5 orace McCoys Dance Marathon 57

6 Chandler's Blueprint for Mystery and His Career in Hollywoo 78

7 The Outsider arid Film Noir 103

8 Bogart's Dark Passage and Moorehead's Blockbuster Performance 116

9 Berlin and Vienna, Film Noir Influences 133

10 Siodmak's Phantom Femmes 149

11 Billy Wilder and Alcoholism Noir 167

12 Preminger's Noir Touch with Fallen Angel and Alice Faye 180

Chapter Notes 199

Bibliography 202

Index 205

Editorial Reviews

Hare takes readers on a tour of film noir, its dark settings, its brooding, almost anti-hero heroes…Hare provides a sense of film noir both in terms of what appeared on screen and the actors, directors, authors, and others who made it possible”—Reference & Research Book News.

From the Publisher