L.A. Noir: The City as Character

by Alain Silver, James Ursini

Los Angeles has always been as much a star in film noir as any actor, be it Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner or Jack Nicholson. In L.A. Noir: The City as Character renowned film historians Alain Silver and James Ursini explore the world of noir cinema in the context of Los Angeles. The book features dozens of noir and neo-noir landmark films from Double Indemnity, Criss Cross, Sunset Boulevard, Gun Crazy, The Big Heat, Kiss Me Deadly, and Touch of Evil in the classic period (1940-1960) to such neo-noir notables as Chinatown, L.A. Confidential, Mulholland Drive , and Pulp Fiction .

L.A. Noir illustrates how these noir films use L.A.'s diverse cityscape and architecture to convey a unique vision of urban corruption and existential fatalism, not only in the ever-changing, chaotic downtown of Bunker Hill, Main Street, and Chinatown, but in its affluent coastal communities (Santa Monica, Malibu) as well as its deceptively sunny suburbs (South Bay, San Fernando Valley). The authors deftly analyze the key films of noir while integrating them into the geography and history of this "dark city" which became such an important icon of noir literature and film.

L.A. Noir is profusely illustrated with approximately 150 photographs-many of them appearing in print for the very first time-including production stills from the movies discussed, archival photos of the locations from the films and new photographs of the locations today, chronicling the ever-changing cityscape of this noir character-Los Angeles.

Genres: Nonfiction, Noir, Film, Crime

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Alain Silver has co-written and co-edited a score of books including The Samurai Film, The Noir Style, The Vampire Film, Raymond Chandlers Los Angeles, director studies of David Lean and Robert Aldrich, and four Film Noir Readers. His articles have appeared in numerous film journals, newspapers, and online magazines. He holds a Ph.D. from UCLA and is a member of the Writers Guild of America west and the Directors Guild of America.

Reviews

[Suvi · Rating 3 out of 5]

In films, Los Angeles has many faces (none have shown that better than one of my favorite documentaries Los Angeles Plays Itself [2003]), and Silver and Ursini (film noir experts familiar to many) examine that from noir's point of view. For me, it's sometimes difficult to differentiate filming locations, but here's a fairly decent source if you want to know which noirs have actually been shot in L.A.

One might think noir only focuses on the seedy parts of the city, but the book is organized by area, and there's a lot to be said about the coastal parts where the rich live a seemingly satisfying life. A mixture of corruption and crushed dreams, it's amazing what lies under the surface of sunny California, and how especially Raymond Chandler revealed it for what it truly was (his novels contain my absolute favorite descriptions of L.A. of that era). It's that strange combination mixed with the oddities of the movie industry that differentiates L.A. from all the other cities out there.

Offering tidbits about the history of Los Angeles and the various changes it has gone through, Silver and Ursini tie it all with moviemaking: during the shoot of Double Indemnity (1944), police officers guarded the food because of the World War II rationing, and the creation of the suburban nuclear family and the new suburbs offered a great opportunity to examine the growing dissatisfaction behind closed doors. In the midst of all the cynicism and fatalism, a hope is still lingering that social injustices can be fixed.

A great introduction to the world of L.A. as a shooting location (and maybe to film noir and neo-noir, too), this is still a pretty basic overview of the topic, one that could have been an even greater analysis of how the L.A. pulse is beating in the noir spirit. The film segments lean more towards synopses than anything else, but there are plenty of successful moments as well to make this a worthwhile read. The photographs are amazing, that goes without saying. Not just film stills of gorgeous cinematography, but also rare behind the scenes photos (of the latter, the photo also appearing in the cover is my favorite).

"Dream and reality are the touchstones of film noir. Los Angeles is where the filmmakers of the classic period brought these elements together, created the emotional conundrums which the noir protagonist must confront—the land of opportunity and the struggle to get by, the democratic ideal and the political corruption, the American dream and the disaffection of veterans who gave up the best years of their lives."

"The dream of “Hollywood” is in many ways just another, slightly more profane version of the American dream."

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with the other books on noir that Sliver and Ursini have been part of--Film Noir Readers 1, 2, 3, & 4; Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style; Film Noir; The Noir Style--this one features extensive close readings of most of the films in the noir catalog. Although there are some variant readings based on the implications of the LA settings, for the most part there's not much new here. With a few notable exceptions--the neo-noirs in which LA is a character: Chinatown, LA Confidential, Mulholland Drive, (and even Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown)--LA as a backdrop is revealed to be a convenience and coincidence of the film industry being located primarily in Hollywood. Although LA settings are used in early noir films, those settings are not material to the films. But it does create an interesting parlor game for those familiar with the locales ("look, there's....), and with this book Silver and Ursini give you a leg up on that game.

[Kym Masera Taborn · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love Los Angeles this is a great coffee table book to have out for your guests and for yourself when you have some discretionary time. The pictures are beautiful, thought-provoking, and comprehensive. Its thesis is that in Los Angeles film noir, the city itself is a critical character. Fun to leaf through and stop at the pages that speak to you, and there will be many if you are a film noir fan.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 and 1/2 stars out of 5.

[GlenK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining look at the city of Los Angeles as a character in classic film noir from the 1940s on. It's good to see under-appreciated "The Long Goodbye" included and there was at least one film - "Hickey and Boggs" - that I'm unfamiliar with and want to investigate. I suppose the near total omission of "The Big Sleep" is due to it's having been shot entirely on sound stages rather then actual locations but how to explain the exclusion of "True Romance"?

[Frances]

Amusingly, had to set the purchase date as February 28 rather than February 29 before Goodreads would recognize that I owned the book.