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Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir
This revised and expanded edition of Eddie Muller's Dark City is a film noir lover's bible, taking readers on a tour of the urban landscape of the grim and gritty genre in a definitive, highly illustrated volume.
Dark Cityexpands with new chapters and a fresh collection of restored photos that illustrate the mythic landscape of the imagination. It's a place where the men and women who created film noir often find themselves dangling from the same sinister heights as the silver-screen avatars to whom they gave life. Eddie Muller, host of Turner Classic Movies' Noir Alley, takes readers on a spellbinding trip through treacherous terrain: Hollywood in the post-World War II years, where art, politics, scandal, style -- and brilliant craftsmanship -- produced a new approach to moviemaking, and a new type of cultural mythology.
Dark Cityexpands with new chapters and a fresh collection of restored photos that illustrate the mythic landscape of the imagination. It's a place where the men and women who created film noir often find themselves dangling from the same sinister heights as the silver-screen avatars to whom they gave life. Eddie Muller, host of Turner Classic Movies' Noir Alley, takes readers on a spellbinding trip through treacherous terrain: Hollywood in the post-World War II years, where art, politics, scandal, style -- and brilliant craftsmanship -- produced a new approach to moviemaking, and a new type of cultural mythology.
259 pages, Hardcover
First published May 15, 1998
173 people are currently reading
1713 people want to read
About the author
Eddie Muller
41 books107 followersEDDIE MULLER is a second generation San Franciscan, product of a lousy public school education, a couple of crazy years in art school, and too much time in newspaper offices and sporting arenas. No college, but he's compensated by always hanging around smarter people, an effortless feat typically accomplished in bars.
Despite repeated warnings, he followed in his father's footsteps, earning a living as a print journalist for sixteen years. No scoops, no big prizes, but he left behind a thoroughly abused expense account that got him into (and out of) various intriguing parts of the world.
His career as an ink-stained fourth estate wretch sidetracked Muller's early goal of becoming a filmmaker. A stint in George Kuchar's notorious "narrative filmmaking" class at the San Francisco Art Institute in the late 1970s resulted in the creation of a 14-minute, 16mm hommage to Raymond Chandler called Bay City Blues, one of five national finalists for the 1979 Student Academy Award. He also appeared as an actor in several Kuchar movies of the period.
Since 1998 Muller has devoted himself full-time to projects that pique his interest, ranging from the creation of a Historical Boxing Museum, to a fully illustrated history of Adults Only movies, to acting as co-writer and -producer of one of the first completely digital theatrical documentaries, Mau Mau Sex Sex. He created his own graphics firm, St. Francis Studio, which enables him to design, as well as write, his non-fiction books. He has achieved much acclaim for his three books on film noir, earning the nickname "The Czar of Noir."
His father, the original Eddie Muller (he's not a junior— long story, don't ask), was a renown sportswriter for the San Francisco Examiner who earned the nickname "Mr. Boxing" during his 52-year run. The senior Muller served as inspiration for the character of Billy Nichols, the protagonist of the younger Muller's two critically acclaimed novels, The Distance (2002) and Shadow Boxer (2003).
Eddie lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Kathleen Maria Milne.
Despite repeated warnings, he followed in his father's footsteps, earning a living as a print journalist for sixteen years. No scoops, no big prizes, but he left behind a thoroughly abused expense account that got him into (and out of) various intriguing parts of the world.
His career as an ink-stained fourth estate wretch sidetracked Muller's early goal of becoming a filmmaker. A stint in George Kuchar's notorious "narrative filmmaking" class at the San Francisco Art Institute in the late 1970s resulted in the creation of a 14-minute, 16mm hommage to Raymond Chandler called Bay City Blues, one of five national finalists for the 1979 Student Academy Award. He also appeared as an actor in several Kuchar movies of the period.
Since 1998 Muller has devoted himself full-time to projects that pique his interest, ranging from the creation of a Historical Boxing Museum, to a fully illustrated history of Adults Only movies, to acting as co-writer and -producer of one of the first completely digital theatrical documentaries, Mau Mau Sex Sex. He created his own graphics firm, St. Francis Studio, which enables him to design, as well as write, his non-fiction books. He has achieved much acclaim for his three books on film noir, earning the nickname "The Czar of Noir."
His father, the original Eddie Muller (he's not a junior— long story, don't ask), was a renown sportswriter for the San Francisco Examiner who earned the nickname "Mr. Boxing" during his 52-year run. The senior Muller served as inspiration for the character of Billy Nichols, the protagonist of the younger Muller's two critically acclaimed novels, The Distance (2002) and Shadow Boxer (2003).
Eddie lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Kathleen Maria Milne.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 95 reviews
July 26, 2017
Film noir fans rejoice!!! Here is a book, written by noir film maven Muller, which will expand on your knowledge about the special genre of film that has become rather a cult phenomenon. These dark, raw, and gritty movies, shot in black and white, were made mostly by second level studios or as "B" features by the majors, They became popular during the post WWII era through the early 1950s and were rediscovered in the 1990s, receiving the long overdue kudos from critics and fans alike.
The author's approach to telling the story of the noir film is unusual......he creates Dark City and develops each neighborhood (Sinister Heights, the Precinct, Hate Street, Shamus Flats, Vixenville, Blind Alley, Psych Ward, Knockover Square, Loser's Lane, and Thieves' Highway) into which he fits the films that reflect that neighborhood. In this manner, the list of films has some categorical coherency as opposed to putting them in chronological or alphabetical order.
If you are a noir fan, you know the actors.......Marie Windsor, Ida Lupino, Charles McGraw, Sterling Hayden, Ted de Corsia, Lizabeth Scott, et al. Meaner than snakes, totally amoral, not to be trusted, and dangerous, these actors played characters that were not your next door neighbors and they played them to the hilt.
There are some true overlooked gems contained in this excellent history of noir film. There is the extra added attraction of short biographies of some of the directors/actors responsible for the loyalty of fans who were not even born when these films were made. Highly recommended.
The author's approach to telling the story of the noir film is unusual......he creates Dark City and develops each neighborhood (Sinister Heights, the Precinct, Hate Street, Shamus Flats, Vixenville, Blind Alley, Psych Ward, Knockover Square, Loser's Lane, and Thieves' Highway) into which he fits the films that reflect that neighborhood. In this manner, the list of films has some categorical coherency as opposed to putting them in chronological or alphabetical order.
If you are a noir fan, you know the actors.......Marie Windsor, Ida Lupino, Charles McGraw, Sterling Hayden, Ted de Corsia, Lizabeth Scott, et al. Meaner than snakes, totally amoral, not to be trusted, and dangerous, these actors played characters that were not your next door neighbors and they played them to the hilt.
There are some true overlooked gems contained in this excellent history of noir film. There is the extra added attraction of short biographies of some of the directors/actors responsible for the loyalty of fans who were not even born when these films were made. Highly recommended.
February 17, 2017
“Got More Than You Bargained for, Huh?“ – “Yes … and No: I Should Have Considered the Follow-up Costs.”
Follow-up costs? What follow-up costs can there possibly be hidden in a harmless book? In the case of Eddie Muller’s crazy roller-coaster of a homage to film noir the answer is quite simple: You will end up buying loads of films to complete your noir collection while following the author on his tour de force through the Mean Streets of Dark City. For example such forgotten gems as Edward Dmytryk’s “The Sniper” (1952), Robert Wise’s “Born to Kill” (1947), Joseph Losey’s “The Prowler” (1951) or Otto Preminger’s “Fallen Angel” (1945), films which Muller discusses in comparative detail and which as yet I had not had in my noir collection. Let alone several other films which I could not order since they have not yet found their way on DVD – and I would so much like to see Robert Ryan bully Ido Lupino in “Beware, My Lovely” (1952)!
A look at the book itself will already tell you that this may be unusual fare because with its 21.5 cm height and 25 cm breadth it will not easily fit among the other titles in my bookshelf but instead it will stick out. So does Muller’s way of dealing with the topic: Whereas Foster Hirsch in his knowledgeable study Film Noir: The Dark Side of the Screen applies a rather systematic approach by looking at literary backgrounds, at the development of the cinema that is mirrored in noir, at noir stylistics, at noir directors, at actors and at typical narrative patterns, or whereas the various Noir Readers edited by Alain Silver and James Ursini give you scholarly in-depth studies of single films or particular aspects of film noir, Eddie Muller makes the world of noir come to life again by linking the films with the stories behind them. This can at times take on a rather muck-raking attitude – Gene Tierney’s private ordeal is described in what I would deem a very sensationalist style, and Gloria Grahame’s sex life is exposed in a lot of detail, for instance – but often it proves very elucidating, e.g. when Muller writes about the infamous HUAC or studio politics.
Muller structures his book by taking us to various places of Dark City, which all stand for certain narrative patterns or sub-genres: In his chapter “Sinister Heights”, for instance, he deals with films centring on gangsters and their influence on society, in “Hate Street” we are invited to take a look behind the bourgeois façade of families like the Dietrichsons (“Double Indemnity”) or at deadly ménages à trios, like in “The Postman Always Rings Twice”, in “Shamus Flats” we get to know the typical noir detective, in “Blind Alley” Muller deals with the fatalism that is so typical of noir, and “Vixenville” might speak for itself. Ah, “Deadly Is the Female”! [1] In a way, this is a very systematic approach but it allows Muller to proceed in a less scholarly way that is rather based on association. Still, while he often gives quite detailed summaries of films that are important to his cause – his language makes sure that this is entertaining reading, though –, he manages to offer a lot of interesting insight – as, for example, when he detects an acid attack on middle-class hypocrisy in a seemingly harmless noir like “The Prowler”. Or, even more surprising to me, when he makes a sound case for considering Raoul Walsh’s “White Heat” a conservative film in that it does not see crime as partly caused by social iniquities but rather as the result of a “mother complex”.
I already mentioned Muller’s language. He adopts a very casual style, trying to imitate the tough talk that features in so many noir films, which might seem off-putting and contrived at the start but soon adds to the flair of the whole book. [2] I also liked the way in which Muller does not shy away from taking up a stance: He leaves no doubt that he does not particularly like Orson Welles as a person, and his commentary that Ida Lupino was an artist who, to the chagrin of modern critics, “never stooped to define herself in terms of gender” (p.177) may not be politically correct but is at least honest and refreshing, and true. A similar refreshing jab at “the cultural elite who had adopted its post-everything attitude” (p.191) made me nearly drown in my coffee for laughter.
Last not least, the book is full of appetizing stills from lots and lots of noir movies.
If you want to dive into the intricacies of noir cinema and learn something about critics’ theories and if you are not afraid of scholarly mumbo-jumbo, the Noir Readers mentioned above would be more to your taste, but for those who love film noir and want to read a very, very long essay written by someone who shares this love, Eddie Muller’s book is a very good choice.
[1] This impressive film is actually dealt with in the chapter “Loser’s Lane” under its better-known title “Gun Crazy”.
[2] A non-native speaker like me will also cherish the opportunity of enlarging their vocabulary for words and expressions they will probably never use.
Follow-up costs? What follow-up costs can there possibly be hidden in a harmless book? In the case of Eddie Muller’s crazy roller-coaster of a homage to film noir the answer is quite simple: You will end up buying loads of films to complete your noir collection while following the author on his tour de force through the Mean Streets of Dark City. For example such forgotten gems as Edward Dmytryk’s “The Sniper” (1952), Robert Wise’s “Born to Kill” (1947), Joseph Losey’s “The Prowler” (1951) or Otto Preminger’s “Fallen Angel” (1945), films which Muller discusses in comparative detail and which as yet I had not had in my noir collection. Let alone several other films which I could not order since they have not yet found their way on DVD – and I would so much like to see Robert Ryan bully Ido Lupino in “Beware, My Lovely” (1952)!
A look at the book itself will already tell you that this may be unusual fare because with its 21.5 cm height and 25 cm breadth it will not easily fit among the other titles in my bookshelf but instead it will stick out. So does Muller’s way of dealing with the topic: Whereas Foster Hirsch in his knowledgeable study Film Noir: The Dark Side of the Screen applies a rather systematic approach by looking at literary backgrounds, at the development of the cinema that is mirrored in noir, at noir stylistics, at noir directors, at actors and at typical narrative patterns, or whereas the various Noir Readers edited by Alain Silver and James Ursini give you scholarly in-depth studies of single films or particular aspects of film noir, Eddie Muller makes the world of noir come to life again by linking the films with the stories behind them. This can at times take on a rather muck-raking attitude – Gene Tierney’s private ordeal is described in what I would deem a very sensationalist style, and Gloria Grahame’s sex life is exposed in a lot of detail, for instance – but often it proves very elucidating, e.g. when Muller writes about the infamous HUAC or studio politics.
Muller structures his book by taking us to various places of Dark City, which all stand for certain narrative patterns or sub-genres: In his chapter “Sinister Heights”, for instance, he deals with films centring on gangsters and their influence on society, in “Hate Street” we are invited to take a look behind the bourgeois façade of families like the Dietrichsons (“Double Indemnity”) or at deadly ménages à trios, like in “The Postman Always Rings Twice”, in “Shamus Flats” we get to know the typical noir detective, in “Blind Alley” Muller deals with the fatalism that is so typical of noir, and “Vixenville” might speak for itself. Ah, “Deadly Is the Female”! [1] In a way, this is a very systematic approach but it allows Muller to proceed in a less scholarly way that is rather based on association. Still, while he often gives quite detailed summaries of films that are important to his cause – his language makes sure that this is entertaining reading, though –, he manages to offer a lot of interesting insight – as, for example, when he detects an acid attack on middle-class hypocrisy in a seemingly harmless noir like “The Prowler”. Or, even more surprising to me, when he makes a sound case for considering Raoul Walsh’s “White Heat” a conservative film in that it does not see crime as partly caused by social iniquities but rather as the result of a “mother complex”.
I already mentioned Muller’s language. He adopts a very casual style, trying to imitate the tough talk that features in so many noir films, which might seem off-putting and contrived at the start but soon adds to the flair of the whole book. [2] I also liked the way in which Muller does not shy away from taking up a stance: He leaves no doubt that he does not particularly like Orson Welles as a person, and his commentary that Ida Lupino was an artist who, to the chagrin of modern critics, “never stooped to define herself in terms of gender” (p.177) may not be politically correct but is at least honest and refreshing, and true. A similar refreshing jab at “the cultural elite who had adopted its post-everything attitude” (p.191) made me nearly drown in my coffee for laughter.
Last not least, the book is full of appetizing stills from lots and lots of noir movies.
If you want to dive into the intricacies of noir cinema and learn something about critics’ theories and if you are not afraid of scholarly mumbo-jumbo, the Noir Readers mentioned above would be more to your taste, but for those who love film noir and want to read a very, very long essay written by someone who shares this love, Eddie Muller’s book is a very good choice.
[1] This impressive film is actually dealt with in the chapter “Loser’s Lane” under its better-known title “Gun Crazy”.
[2] A non-native speaker like me will also cherish the opportunity of enlarging their vocabulary for words and expressions they will probably never use.
December 1, 2021
Stylistically it’s not your typical book about films - it’s neither a dry and comprehensive encyclopaedia, nor a chronological run through a film genre. Much of Eddie Muller’s ‘Dark City’ is written in the hard boiled tradition of novels and short stories on which the noir films were based. After a couple of intro’s, he divides the book into thirteen chapters that cover some of the chief themes within the genre; so we take a walk through ‘Sinister Heights’ to delve into the criminally corrupt; ‘The Precinct’ to look over battered law enforcement officials; ‘Hate Street’ to peer and ruminate over ruined relationships; ‘The City Desk’ to study the media; ‘Shamus Flats’ to scrutinise the dogged and tired PI’s; and ‘Vixenville’ to admire and analyse the motivations of the femme fatale etc etc. Muller imparts his knowledge in a very readable, atmospheric, and entertaining style.
I read the new edition from 2021 which has been glossily produced with expanded text and additional photo’s (all beautifully printed, and given the landscape format of the book, ensure that no pictures are spoiled by being spread over two pages).
What is and what isn’t a film noir is always a question for debate. Is it the themes? The look? Or both? A dull and pointless exercise! Anyway, almost all of my favourites are here – Laura, Out Of The Past, Double Indemnity, The Maltese Falcon, Possessed, On Dangerous Ground, Where The Sidewalk Ends etc, plus a few are they noirs!
My only minor gripes? The overly small text (which sadly precluded my mother’s reading of the book). And regarding Alfred Hitchcock, I think it’s a pity Muller chooses to quote and reference Donald Spoto’s rather dubious biography - which from memory had a silly dark pseudo-analysis agenda which could be applied to any character study for sensationalist marketing effect!
Overall, Eddie Muller’s book is an enjoyable read, and given its glossy layout and well selected pictures, is a book well worth owning.
I read the new edition from 2021 which has been glossily produced with expanded text and additional photo’s (all beautifully printed, and given the landscape format of the book, ensure that no pictures are spoiled by being spread over two pages).
What is and what isn’t a film noir is always a question for debate. Is it the themes? The look? Or both? A dull and pointless exercise! Anyway, almost all of my favourites are here – Laura, Out Of The Past, Double Indemnity, The Maltese Falcon, Possessed, On Dangerous Ground, Where The Sidewalk Ends etc, plus a few are they noirs!
My only minor gripes? The overly small text (which sadly precluded my mother’s reading of the book). And regarding Alfred Hitchcock, I think it’s a pity Muller chooses to quote and reference Donald Spoto’s rather dubious biography - which from memory had a silly dark pseudo-analysis agenda which could be applied to any character study for sensationalist marketing effect!
Overall, Eddie Muller’s book is an enjoyable read, and given its glossy layout and well selected pictures, is a book well worth owning.
December 12, 2025
In this book author and noir scholar Eddie Muller looks at film noir as if it were a city, with each chapter covering a different theme or aspect. For example “The Precinct” covers noir films about cops, “Shamus Flats” covers private eyes, and “Knockover Square” covers heists and holdups. It’s written in the style of hard boiled novels and short stories which I found hit and miss and the text is tiny, but the book is loaded with behind the scenes info, photos, and movie posters. Also included are sidebars covering famous noir figures. Entertaining and quite informative.
November 19, 2021
Eddie Muller is a genial presence on his "Noir Alley" show on Turner Classic Movies (TCM), but he is also a goldmine of information on film noir. His Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir (Revised and Expanded Edition) is an excellent thematic survey of the world of noir. There are chapters on law enforcement, ruined relationships, the press, detectives, vixens, and a dozen other themes.
Muller's selection of film stills is excellent, and his little sidebars on such noir figures as Robert Ryan, Ida Lupino, Sterling Hayden, John Garfield, Gloria Grahame, and others add interesting background info. Also, Muller's insights are right on the money, as when he writes:
Muller's selection of film stills is excellent, and his little sidebars on such noir figures as Robert Ryan, Ida Lupino, Sterling Hayden, John Garfield, Gloria Grahame, and others add interesting background info. Also, Muller's insights are right on the money, as when he writes:
Noir tore the catalog apart. It suggested that domesticity was a suffocating trap. Somewhere amid the laundry and shopping and bill paying, life's passion had been snuffed out. Noir is about what happens when the fuse is re-ignited: when a devoted husband takes a new woman in his arms, or a bored wife admits that the life she's cherished will never satisfy her.Although I read the book on Kindle, I am seriously thinking of getting a paper copy of the book.
Read
September 15, 2007Dark City is noir czar Eddie Muller’s entertaining and informative exploration of film noir. Since film noir is essentially an urban phenomenon, Muller looks at film noir as if it were a city, and focuses chapters on different noir themes or aspects, relating them to the different sections of Dark City. In Knockover Square you’ll find a lively discussion of heist films; Sinister Heights is where the corrupt and wealthy reside; and if you’re lucky enough to escape Vixenville alive, you’ll probably find yourself on Losers’ Lane or Thieves’ Highway.
Muller writes in a very entertaining, flowery style channeled through the lingo and tone of the films themselves. His discussions of the movies branch out into discussions of authors, directors, and especially actors associated with film noir, finding a remarkable number of lives that mirror the sordid tales these films tell. Dark City is, of course, Hollywood itself, as these many sidebars amazingly illustrate.
I agree with most of his thoughts, disagree with a few, and was inspired by several ideas he has. For instance, he makes a strong case for why the melodramatic, unnatural acting and visual style is preferable in these films to their “realistic” neo-noir counterparts. “Vivid, dynamic imagery – and vivid, dynamic acting – stick in the mind long after the extraneous details of ‘naturalism’ have evaporated,” Muller writes. “Modern film noir plays like real life. Classic film noir plays like fevered memory.” And on the topic of P.I.’s like Spade and Marlowe, Muller makes a most intriguing suggestion as for their inclusion as noir heroes. Writing on Out of the Past, he notes, “Daniel Mainwaring (writing as Geoffrey Homes) constructed an involuted tale that owned up to what most films in the genre only hinted at: these stories are about the protagonist’s quest for solutions to his own problems, not the client’s.”
Some select comments that provide a nice sample of Muller’s writing style:
“For years, critics have troweled endless symbolism onto Kiss Me Deadly, finding hidden meaning in character names, checkerboard floor tiles, veiled allusions to Greek myths, even in Nick the mechanic’s Va-Va-Voom tagline. That’s a lot of extra baggage for Hammer to stuff into the boot of his tiny roadster. No such acclaim attached itself to Aldrich’s Attack!, a better film made the following year, and a darker vision of the human battlefield. But through the magic of critical hindsight, this swaggering, brass-knuckled lark has been hoisted into the pantheon of “meaningful” movies. What it really deserves is a place on any double bill with Dr. Strangelove: a pair of mordant black comedies about dangerous demagogues in places high and low.”
“Although the times dictated fables in which the renegade double-X chromosome must be vanquished before the fade-out, film noir allowed women to savor for themselves the pungent, acrid nectar of unleashed power and violence. “A dame with a rod is like a guy with a knitting needle,” cracks Jack Fisher (Steve Brodie) in Out of the Past. Of course, that’s before Fisher gets an extra orifice blown open compliments Kathie Moffet (Jane Greer), one of Vixenville’s empresses. There’s no greater kick in this town than when a woman finally wraps her delicate fingers around the trigger of a .38 Linga and blasts away every bit of genetic encoding and cultural repression in a roaring fusillade of little lead forget-me-nots.”
Muller’s opinion on when classic film noir ended? At the Bates Motel, in the shower, Hitchcock slashed it to pieces.
Muller writes in a very entertaining, flowery style channeled through the lingo and tone of the films themselves. His discussions of the movies branch out into discussions of authors, directors, and especially actors associated with film noir, finding a remarkable number of lives that mirror the sordid tales these films tell. Dark City is, of course, Hollywood itself, as these many sidebars amazingly illustrate.
I agree with most of his thoughts, disagree with a few, and was inspired by several ideas he has. For instance, he makes a strong case for why the melodramatic, unnatural acting and visual style is preferable in these films to their “realistic” neo-noir counterparts. “Vivid, dynamic imagery – and vivid, dynamic acting – stick in the mind long after the extraneous details of ‘naturalism’ have evaporated,” Muller writes. “Modern film noir plays like real life. Classic film noir plays like fevered memory.” And on the topic of P.I.’s like Spade and Marlowe, Muller makes a most intriguing suggestion as for their inclusion as noir heroes. Writing on Out of the Past, he notes, “Daniel Mainwaring (writing as Geoffrey Homes) constructed an involuted tale that owned up to what most films in the genre only hinted at: these stories are about the protagonist’s quest for solutions to his own problems, not the client’s.”
Some select comments that provide a nice sample of Muller’s writing style:
“For years, critics have troweled endless symbolism onto Kiss Me Deadly, finding hidden meaning in character names, checkerboard floor tiles, veiled allusions to Greek myths, even in Nick the mechanic’s Va-Va-Voom tagline. That’s a lot of extra baggage for Hammer to stuff into the boot of his tiny roadster. No such acclaim attached itself to Aldrich’s Attack!, a better film made the following year, and a darker vision of the human battlefield. But through the magic of critical hindsight, this swaggering, brass-knuckled lark has been hoisted into the pantheon of “meaningful” movies. What it really deserves is a place on any double bill with Dr. Strangelove: a pair of mordant black comedies about dangerous demagogues in places high and low.”
“Although the times dictated fables in which the renegade double-X chromosome must be vanquished before the fade-out, film noir allowed women to savor for themselves the pungent, acrid nectar of unleashed power and violence. “A dame with a rod is like a guy with a knitting needle,” cracks Jack Fisher (Steve Brodie) in Out of the Past. Of course, that’s before Fisher gets an extra orifice blown open compliments Kathie Moffet (Jane Greer), one of Vixenville’s empresses. There’s no greater kick in this town than when a woman finally wraps her delicate fingers around the trigger of a .38 Linga and blasts away every bit of genetic encoding and cultural repression in a roaring fusillade of little lead forget-me-nots.”
Muller’s opinion on when classic film noir ended? At the Bates Motel, in the shower, Hitchcock slashed it to pieces.
August 1, 2021
I've wanted to read this for a couple years; I guess it was good I waited, as it's been revised and updated. And it's a terrific read by Eddie Muller, the film noir host on Turner Classic Movies channel. It reads much like Muller's film introductions in his distinctive hard-boiled crime story style. It's entertaining without question - and chock full of information and background. The book is divided in chapters on the various 'settings' for film noirs (this is American film noirs, he doesn't try to traverse the entire planet): Sinister Heights (Exclusive Enclave of the Criminally Corrupt); The Precinct (Battered Bastion of Law Enforcement); Hate Street (Randy Region of Ruined Relationships); Hate Street (All the News That's Unfit to Print); Shamus Flats (Lost Someone? Gumshoes for Hire); Vixenville (Fiefdom of the Femme Fatale); Blind Alley (Crossroads of Coincidence and Fate); The Psych Ward (Where Veiled Veterans are Quarantined); Knockover Square (Deluxe District of Heists and Holdups); Losers' Lane (Street of Sorry Psychopaths); The Big House (Last Stop on a Wayward Course); Thieves' Highway (The Risky Road Out of Town); and The Stage Door (Enjoy a Show...Before It's Too Late). Within each chapter, Muller shares the quintessential films that make each of these categories enticing and thrilling to watch, along with photos, trivia, cast information, and production personnel. And it's NEVER dry reading. Somehow - I'm not sure how, but he does it - it all reads like one long screenplay. It's a very original concept; and, a successful one.
Obviously, I highly recommend this to anybody who is a lover of film noir or hard-boiled detective crime novels. The hard copy is a deluxe book, with glossy paper that makes the well reproduced black and white film stills and photos pop right off the page. However, I chose the Nook version which allows me to click on a photo and enlarge it (the way a photo on a phone does). That way I can examine all the little details in the photos, which I find really interesting.
“I don’t mind if you don’t like my manners. They’re pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter evenings.”
“There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge.”
“Dead men are heavier than broken hearts.”
I'm crazy about this stuff!
Obviously, I highly recommend this to anybody who is a lover of film noir or hard-boiled detective crime novels. The hard copy is a deluxe book, with glossy paper that makes the well reproduced black and white film stills and photos pop right off the page. However, I chose the Nook version which allows me to click on a photo and enlarge it (the way a photo on a phone does). That way I can examine all the little details in the photos, which I find really interesting.
“I don’t mind if you don’t like my manners. They’re pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter evenings.”
“There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge.”
“Dead men are heavier than broken hearts.”
I'm crazy about this stuff!
May 15, 2008
A Desert Island Book. Even if you don't care about film noir you need this book, it's filled with amazing stills from crime films.
In between the noir film summaries are amazing "Mysteries and Scandals"-type stories of Gloria Grahame's affair with her stepson, Charles McGraw's violent accidental death, Steve Cochran's bizarre death (aboard a boat with an all teenage girl crew in Mexico), Linda Darnell's fear of fire ultimately meeting up in her death, etc.
There's no shortage of great photos and amazing Hollywood gossip. Highly recommended.
In between the noir film summaries are amazing "Mysteries and Scandals"-type stories of Gloria Grahame's affair with her stepson, Charles McGraw's violent accidental death, Steve Cochran's bizarre death (aboard a boat with an all teenage girl crew in Mexico), Linda Darnell's fear of fire ultimately meeting up in her death, etc.
There's no shortage of great photos and amazing Hollywood gossip. Highly recommended.
January 9, 2025
Throughout most of the year TCM channel has, on Saturday nights, Noir Alley, hosted by Eddie Muller. He shows movies from the Film Noir genre, and comments before and after each movie. It’s one of my favorite shows on tv. This book is an in-depth look at that era and genre, and it’s utterly absorbing and fascinating, generously illustrated with many photos from the films. The mini-biographies of some of the participants and creators during this time is alone worth the price of the book. Outstanding in every way.
April 4, 2012
Without warning, Eddie Muller spilled the beans about everything that happens in While the City Sleeps (1956). I wanted to splash scalding coffee in his face, plug his liver full of lead with my .45 and then tie him to a wheelchair and giggle as I push it down a long flight of stairs.
Maybe I've been watching too many films noir. That might have been an overreaction. But I knew I had to spread the word that this Muller character doesn't know when to keep his trap shut. His Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir is a terrific contemplation of the best of that kind of movie. It also offers information about the real lives of some of the actors for whom life unfortunately imitated their art. But Muller doesn't know when to quit.
By the time he squealed about Force of Evil (1948), I had no one to blame but myself. I'd read too much and learned more than I wanted to. I haven't seen Scandal Sheet (1952) yet, but I know the identity of that movie's "Lonelyhearts Murderer." I know what happens when Joan Crawford feels Sudden Fear (1952) and what leads to Union Station (1950). I know more than is good for me.
And I know that if I ever re-read Dark City (it's good enough that I might), I should skip at least the next three or four paragraphs every time Muller starts to describe a movie's plot.
Muller is not impressed with much of the analysis that's been published about film noir:
Conventional wisdom has branded these films bleak, depressing and nihilistic -- in fact, they're just the opposite. To me, film noirs were the only movies that offered bracing respite from sugarcoated dogma, Hollywood-style. They weren't trying to lull you or sell you or reassure you -- they insisted that you wake up to the reality of a corrupt world. Quit kidding yourself. Stand up, open your eyes, and be ready for anything. Prayers go unheard in these parts.
To correct the record, he takes us through Dark City, after warning us to "stay calm, act natural, and keep the windows rolled up. Dark City was built on fateful coincidence, double-dealing, and last chances. Anything can happen, and it will."
Muller discusses the major films noir and many of the minor ones as well, including Private Hell 36 (1954), which he calls one of the best "dirty cop noirs." He takes detours to give short biographies of some of film noir's major players, such people as Ida Lupino, who started her career as a "sweet-faced ingenue who dispensed straight talk with a tart tongue." Lupino went on to produce and direct several acclaimed movies and was the only woman to direct a film noir (The Hitch-Hiker in 1953).
Gloria Grahame inspired the advertising tagline "You're destined to make wise men foolish." She won an Academy Award but could not make the transition from B-pictures to the A-list. She ended up having a scandalous sexual relationship with her 13-year-old stepson, whom she married, briefly, when he was in his 20s.
Muller points out other tragic intersections of real life and film noir make-believe, as when 20th Century Fox pulled Fourteen Hours (1951) from theatres and changed the ending when a studio executive's daughter killed herself in a way that was too close to the movie's original finale.
Muller guides his tour with polished patter. He calls Jimmy Stewart's glimpse into a world without him in It's a Wonderful Life (1946) an "angel-dust inspired nightmare." Of Orson Welles' Touch of Evil (1958), he writes that watching it "is like drinking vintage wine not long before it turns to vinegar. The headiness, the pungency and the uniqueness are there, but so is a queasy aftertaste. The filmmaking is intoxicating, at times magnificent, but as the coda of Orson Welles's Hollywood career, it leaves a painful hangover."
Yep, Muller talks a good game. But one of these days, that mouth of his is gonna get him into trouble.
August 28, 2022
If you like film noir, this is an interesting but ultimately unfulfilling overview of the genre. There is no question that Muller knows the topic in depth and there is no question that there is a massive amount of information here about the films and the actors, but it feels lightweight.
Muller delivers his information by dividing the films and performers by typical film noir setting such as psychiatric hospitals or skid row, and using the language of the genre to sound stylized and cool. The book's organization is clever, but it jumbles the chronology and it keeps the narrative jumping around, referring to performers and crew and then not mentioning them for another 50 or 60 pages. As many of the performers and crew may not be familiar to modern readers, you are constantly referring to the index to remember the film or individual referenced.
Muller does a nice job of providing summaries of key films to be sure. You will come out of the book with a healthy list of movies to see. He also provides some nice biographical sketches of a number of key performers and a handful of key crew. More sketches of the crew might have been useful.
In the end though, while it reads well, you wonder what the takeaway is from this volume. It feels like reading a series of reviews, bios and film summaries but without direction or point. It's fun, but a little empty.
I do have to give kudos to the books design. It is filled with amazing stills of the films and the performers. The layout is beautiful and the production quality is really amazing.
Muller delivers his information by dividing the films and performers by typical film noir setting such as psychiatric hospitals or skid row, and using the language of the genre to sound stylized and cool. The book's organization is clever, but it jumbles the chronology and it keeps the narrative jumping around, referring to performers and crew and then not mentioning them for another 50 or 60 pages. As many of the performers and crew may not be familiar to modern readers, you are constantly referring to the index to remember the film or individual referenced.
Muller does a nice job of providing summaries of key films to be sure. You will come out of the book with a healthy list of movies to see. He also provides some nice biographical sketches of a number of key performers and a handful of key crew. More sketches of the crew might have been useful.
In the end though, while it reads well, you wonder what the takeaway is from this volume. It feels like reading a series of reviews, bios and film summaries but without direction or point. It's fun, but a little empty.
I do have to give kudos to the books design. It is filled with amazing stills of the films and the performers. The layout is beautiful and the production quality is really amazing.
August 10, 2023
An informative and interesting visit to Dark City with tour guide, Eddie Muller, one of the world's experts on the film noir genre. As a fan of TCM's Noir Alley I looked forward to reading this book - and was not disappointed. Eddie has a unique writing style that entertains, informs and holds one's interest. His commentary is rich with Noir trivia and little known facts about the films and the producers, directors and actors who worked on them. This book is a lot like Eddie's preambles and post-film commentaries on his Noir Alley programs.
November 16, 2019
A must-read for anyone who loves the movie genre of film noir.
Eddie Muller, who hosts “ Noir Alley” on TCM, wrote this book in 1998, and it now, as far as I know, out of print. I was fortunate to find a copy at a nearby library ( and blessings be upon all libraries,)
Writing with occasionally appropriate purple prose, Mr. Muller brigs his deep knowledge and affection for these black and white films about doomed souls heading down Hell’s Highway as he puts it. Muller, tells of the craftsmanship behind the movies. Some were done on the cheap, with minimal budgets and no - name players, some featuredHollywood’s biggest stars, writers and directors. Many of these films retain their impact viewing after viewing, year after year.
Muller’s book is neither pompous nor pedantic. It is great fun and very rewarding all movie lovers.
It needs to be real-issued for a new generation of readers.
Eddie Muller, who hosts “ Noir Alley” on TCM, wrote this book in 1998, and it now, as far as I know, out of print. I was fortunate to find a copy at a nearby library ( and blessings be upon all libraries,)
Writing with occasionally appropriate purple prose, Mr. Muller brigs his deep knowledge and affection for these black and white films about doomed souls heading down Hell’s Highway as he puts it. Muller, tells of the craftsmanship behind the movies. Some were done on the cheap, with minimal budgets and no - name players, some featuredHollywood’s biggest stars, writers and directors. Many of these films retain their impact viewing after viewing, year after year.
Muller’s book is neither pompous nor pedantic. It is great fun and very rewarding all movie lovers.
It needs to be real-issued for a new generation of readers.
April 6, 2024
An indispensable guide to Film Noir that goes beyond mere summaries or recommendations through its use of sparky, dry prose and by grouping the films under discussion into workable thematic divisions. My film watchlist is now positively bulging at the seams and that’s entirely down to Muller’s enthusiasm, which seeps through every page of this book even when he justly — and with tenderness — recognises a film’s worth despite its shortcomings.
July 4, 2022
Fascinating book on the genre film noir. Two significant problems: First, if you dislike spoilers, skip this read. The plots and twists of the films are bared, so no surprises for the viewer after reading, which is a shame because surprise is a significant element in these films. Second, the typeface is tiny, making for a difficult, exhausting read.
May 7, 2025
Take a walk down the dark alley
Eddie Mueller’s book on classic film noir is a must read for any film fan. Now take a slug of whiskey and walk with us down the dark alley.
Eddie Mueller’s book on classic film noir is a must read for any film fan. Now take a slug of whiskey and walk with us down the dark alley.
December 12, 2025
Listened to the audiobook of the expanded edition. As I write noir I am always looking to expand my research. Since I listened to the novel I really didn’t get to write down all the titles I might like to screen. I found it a useful review of plenty of classic noir film some I was unfamiliar with.
January 8, 2024
I wanted more interesting facts and less plot summaries.
December 11, 2022
Highly informative and highly entertaining. A tour of noir in thematic chapters. Muller writes like a man immersed in Dark City. If you're interested in film noir this is essential.
January 28, 2022
I am not finished with this book as I am almost savoring it like a good steak. I have the updated version released in 2021.
Eddie Muller, probably the biggest noir fan to ever live, wrote this book specifically for fellow noir fans. I was pleasantly surprised by how many obscure films he references here. I am a massive fan of his show Noir Alley on TCM, and I've been thrilled to catch some of these films on his program! It used to be a lot blander but it seems like he's been given the license to play some more obscurities!
I've also found a lot of these obscure films are in the public domain so you can watch them on Youtube or Archive.org; I literally have notes written about all the movies I haven't seen yet.
I have probably watched close to 300 noir films and I am realizing that I've only just started on this journey even though I've loved the genre from the first relevant film I ever watched-the much maligned Dark Passage if you're curious-and that was almost 6 years ago. Absolutely my favorite genre of film; not because of quality alone, but because of how many motifs have been repeated throughout the history of film and television that have been borrowed from noir. Other great genres like the French New Wave, Italian Giallo Horror, and of course your typical neo-noir all owe their greatness to this original movement. I even see massive noir elements in popular TV shows like Killing Eve (see the final episode of season 2- which film did that come from? If you can't tell you're not too into noir).
This book is also gorgeous because it's essentially a 200 page picture book. If you love movie stills, classic movie posters, portraits of actors/actresses, then you will adore this.
Anyway I never rate anything without finishing it, but this one I'm making an exception for- an absolute 5 stars. If you are interested in noir film besides the obvious ones, do yourself a favor and get into this book. It's beautifully crafted and you'll be hanging onto every word!!
Eddie Muller, probably the biggest noir fan to ever live, wrote this book specifically for fellow noir fans. I was pleasantly surprised by how many obscure films he references here. I am a massive fan of his show Noir Alley on TCM, and I've been thrilled to catch some of these films on his program! It used to be a lot blander but it seems like he's been given the license to play some more obscurities!
I've also found a lot of these obscure films are in the public domain so you can watch them on Youtube or Archive.org; I literally have notes written about all the movies I haven't seen yet.
I have probably watched close to 300 noir films and I am realizing that I've only just started on this journey even though I've loved the genre from the first relevant film I ever watched-the much maligned Dark Passage if you're curious-and that was almost 6 years ago. Absolutely my favorite genre of film; not because of quality alone, but because of how many motifs have been repeated throughout the history of film and television that have been borrowed from noir. Other great genres like the French New Wave, Italian Giallo Horror, and of course your typical neo-noir all owe their greatness to this original movement. I even see massive noir elements in popular TV shows like Killing Eve (see the final episode of season 2- which film did that come from? If you can't tell you're not too into noir).
This book is also gorgeous because it's essentially a 200 page picture book. If you love movie stills, classic movie posters, portraits of actors/actresses, then you will adore this.
Anyway I never rate anything without finishing it, but this one I'm making an exception for- an absolute 5 stars. If you are interested in noir film besides the obvious ones, do yourself a favor and get into this book. It's beautifully crafted and you'll be hanging onto every word!!
June 19, 2024
Lots of fun and good info. I've seen many of the films discussed and enjoyed seeing his thoughts on them.
Somewhat idiosyncratic way of dividing various sections of the book as if they were various parts of the town of Dark City, but it works. Muller gives good attention to the base sources of film noir stories and scripts -- the hard-boiled novels and stories of the 1920s through 1950s -- and this will give many persons suggestions for valuable reading. He also goes into interesting detail on actors and directors. In short, the book is about the background and ingredients that go into the films, not just the films themselves.
A word of warning . . . beware of spoilers -- if you haven't seen some of the films being discussed, tread lightly. On the films I hadn't seen, I tried to work around some of the detail.
Some detail errors -- is there ANY editing and proof-reading these days?
Somewhat idiosyncratic way of dividing various sections of the book as if they were various parts of the town of Dark City, but it works. Muller gives good attention to the base sources of film noir stories and scripts -- the hard-boiled novels and stories of the 1920s through 1950s -- and this will give many persons suggestions for valuable reading. He also goes into interesting detail on actors and directors. In short, the book is about the background and ingredients that go into the films, not just the films themselves.
A word of warning . . . beware of spoilers -- if you haven't seen some of the films being discussed, tread lightly. On the films I hadn't seen, I tried to work around some of the detail.
Some detail errors -- is there ANY editing and proof-reading these days?
November 23, 2017
Eddie Muller knows what he's writing about. He's one of the finest experts on film noir alive. And, yes, this book is superb in its writing with many wonderful pictures that make it a joy for a quick scan or to slowly peruse.
Nevertheless, it seems disappointing on several levels: 1) There are too many plot synopses to the point I actually had to skip a few paragraphs if it was about a noir I hadn't seen; 2) the book seems poorly structured -- actually at times more like a novel; and 3) there isn't one single photo of Jane Greer, one of the finest femme fatales, in the entire book!
Admittedly, it's a good book and worth your money. But a definitive reference book it is not.
Nevertheless, it seems disappointing on several levels: 1) There are too many plot synopses to the point I actually had to skip a few paragraphs if it was about a noir I hadn't seen; 2) the book seems poorly structured -- actually at times more like a novel; and 3) there isn't one single photo of Jane Greer, one of the finest femme fatales, in the entire book!
Admittedly, it's a good book and worth your money. But a definitive reference book it is not.
December 16, 2013
The writing, photos and content of this book are great. I know way more about film noir now. My only complaint is "Spoiler Alert!" Nearly every film Muller discusses contains the entire plot, including the ending. Granted, most of these films are from the forties and fifties, and some are fairly obscure, but still. See the movies first before you read the book. Lots of inside dope on the history and art of noir, plus many short bios of its best-known stars. Who knew that Richard Widmark's daughter married Sandy Koufax? Pop quiz: Which director brought down the curtain on film noir?
January 2, 2010
Eddie Muller has written a nitty-gritty guide to the classic of the film noirs that Hollywood made. He uses Hitch's PSYCHO as the cut-off point. I liked reading the background to each film, including the biographies of the performers and directors. Many noirs are out on DVD release. Netflix offers some. Muller tells you which ones are worth a look. So, if you're searching for something different to watch in films, DARK CITY might give you some ideas.
June 8, 2008
Eddie Mueller is probably the premier popular writer on film noir. This is a really engaging and well written book, and its conceit -- that noir films all take place in a single universe -- works better than you might expect.
February 11, 2022
Loved this! It was just like listening to Eddie Muller on Noir Alley on TCM (which I love). It was fun to learn of the back stories of a lot of noir films as well as the lives of the actors. Thanks to Noir Alley I have seen an incredible number of the movies mentioned.
October 24, 2022
Eddie Muller is more a character than an author. I don’t mean that in a bad way at all. He writes this book the same way he introduces and wraps up movies on TCM’s Noir Alley, as a character within the world of noir. If you’ve seen Noir Alley, you know the character, and you’ll be on familiar ground here.
The book is a guided tour of noir, represented as “Dark City.” Each chapter is a neighborhood of Dark City or a slice of its residents. Each is titled in genre-speak: Shamus Flats, Vixenville, Losers’ Lane, . . . It could be hokey, but to me anyway it was more atmospheric and a little campy.
The same can be said of Muller’s vocabulary and writing style — he walks the line between campy genre-speak and overdone. That’s his character, so he’s pretty skilled with it.
It’s also a beautiful book. Stills, posters, and other paraphernalia are well placed throughout the tour. Some are drawn from Muller’s own collection. The print versions capture the distinctive lighting, shadows, silvery tones, and overall unsettling style of noir.
If you’re like me, you’ll be making a list of movies to watch or re-watch. I’ve seen most of the better known movies, but not some of the more obscure ones, and Muller, I suspect especially in his role in film restoration and archivist, has an encyclopedic knowledge of the era. As he goes at a relatively fast pace from movie to movie, he gives context, both from the development of the genre and from the enveloping dramas of the Hollywood that birthed them.
I’ve got an extensive list. Many of the movies on my list are ones that I have seen, but missed nuances and such that Muller does not miss. And often he just reminds me of a movie I saw long ago and am overdue to revisit.
Beyond the tour, Muller does want to make a point about noir and where it comes from. He pulls the curtain at the end to reveal that “Dark City” is really Hollywood itself. The last stop on the tour is Hollywood, setting for Sunset Boulevard and In a Lonely Place.
Muller’s point is that noir itself was a product of the Hollywood studio system of its time — the economics, the factory-like production system, the studio-owned actors and directors. Add in the broader environment — the experiences of the Depression and Prohibition, followed by the horror and the forced glory of World War II, and the rise of a goal of middle class life achievable by many and not all — and you get noir .
There’s certainly something right in Muller’s claim, and other studies (e.g., the classic A Panorama of American Film Noir by Borde and Chaumeton) make similar claims about the historical background of noir. But Muller’s suggestion, and it really is more suggestion than argument, that noir is also born of the Hollywood studio system is provocative and fresh, to me at least. Something to think about.
If there’s one thing missing from Muller’s tour, it’s a tour stop with the audience itself. How do we experience noir? Why are we drawn to it? What does it “mean”? For that I would recommend Geoffrey O’Brien’s The Phantom Empire, also cited by Muller.
Muller actually drops out of character in the Afterward. It’s a little startling to read his words as a “normal” person recounting his own story, how he came to film noir and to the leading role he has in it now. It’s jarring to realize that he isn’t always “inside” the noir world.
The book is a guided tour of noir, represented as “Dark City.” Each chapter is a neighborhood of Dark City or a slice of its residents. Each is titled in genre-speak: Shamus Flats, Vixenville, Losers’ Lane, . . . It could be hokey, but to me anyway it was more atmospheric and a little campy.
The same can be said of Muller’s vocabulary and writing style — he walks the line between campy genre-speak and overdone. That’s his character, so he’s pretty skilled with it.
It’s also a beautiful book. Stills, posters, and other paraphernalia are well placed throughout the tour. Some are drawn from Muller’s own collection. The print versions capture the distinctive lighting, shadows, silvery tones, and overall unsettling style of noir.
If you’re like me, you’ll be making a list of movies to watch or re-watch. I’ve seen most of the better known movies, but not some of the more obscure ones, and Muller, I suspect especially in his role in film restoration and archivist, has an encyclopedic knowledge of the era. As he goes at a relatively fast pace from movie to movie, he gives context, both from the development of the genre and from the enveloping dramas of the Hollywood that birthed them.
I’ve got an extensive list. Many of the movies on my list are ones that I have seen, but missed nuances and such that Muller does not miss. And often he just reminds me of a movie I saw long ago and am overdue to revisit.
Beyond the tour, Muller does want to make a point about noir and where it comes from. He pulls the curtain at the end to reveal that “Dark City” is really Hollywood itself. The last stop on the tour is Hollywood, setting for Sunset Boulevard and In a Lonely Place.
Muller’s point is that noir itself was a product of the Hollywood studio system of its time — the economics, the factory-like production system, the studio-owned actors and directors. Add in the broader environment — the experiences of the Depression and Prohibition, followed by the horror and the forced glory of World War II, and the rise of a goal of middle class life achievable by many and not all — and you get noir .
There’s certainly something right in Muller’s claim, and other studies (e.g., the classic A Panorama of American Film Noir by Borde and Chaumeton) make similar claims about the historical background of noir. But Muller’s suggestion, and it really is more suggestion than argument, that noir is also born of the Hollywood studio system is provocative and fresh, to me at least. Something to think about.
If there’s one thing missing from Muller’s tour, it’s a tour stop with the audience itself. How do we experience noir? Why are we drawn to it? What does it “mean”? For that I would recommend Geoffrey O’Brien’s The Phantom Empire, also cited by Muller.
Muller actually drops out of character in the Afterward. It’s a little startling to read his words as a “normal” person recounting his own story, how he came to film noir and to the leading role he has in it now. It’s jarring to realize that he isn’t always “inside” the noir world.
June 3, 2024
This is more interesting for the cultural context this provides about midcentury America and how it relates to the film noir movement. As a guide to the films themselves, this is just okay. In typical movie guide fashion, Muller is opinionated about the genre, but thankfully this manifests largely as praise for the movies he thinks are underappreciated. The only crank opinion he wields is contempt for Orson Welles, which is more funny than annoying. This also means that certain titles get overlooked - it's surprising that there's no mention of "The Sweet Smell of Success" at any point in the book - but again, the critical review parts are the least interesting part so it's not a big deal.
Anyway, my big takeaway is how much the noir movement was shaped by disillusionment with American society post-WWII. I'd always been peripherally aware of the whole communist witch hunt era of Hollywood, but this book helps put it into perspective by illustrating how the careers of various people in Hollywood were derailed and how certain aspects of films had to be curtailed to avoid running afoul of communist allegations. It's also interesting from a trivia standpoint to read about how the lives of many key players in the film noir movement had sordid personal lives that mirror many of the themes and events of the films in which they participated. All in all, this is about what I expected and I left with an enhanced appreciation of the movies covered so it's a thumbs up from me.
Anyway, my big takeaway is how much the noir movement was shaped by disillusionment with American society post-WWII. I'd always been peripherally aware of the whole communist witch hunt era of Hollywood, but this book helps put it into perspective by illustrating how the careers of various people in Hollywood were derailed and how certain aspects of films had to be curtailed to avoid running afoul of communist allegations. It's also interesting from a trivia standpoint to read about how the lives of many key players in the film noir movement had sordid personal lives that mirror many of the themes and events of the films in which they participated. All in all, this is about what I expected and I left with an enhanced appreciation of the movies covered so it's a thumbs up from me.
December 30, 2024
It’s like reading an anniversary issue of a great pulp magazine—double the usual pages and packed with contributors of every kind, each bringing their own unique style to columns or interviews.
Noir is one of my favorite genres, so that alone was reason enough for me to pick up a book about it. I actually had another one lined up, but since this was published first, I figured I’d give it a shot.
I was expecting a straightforward recounting of facts, maybe a basic retelling of Noir film history. But to my surprise, the writing matched the subject—dark, moody, and utterly captivating. Even if I’d gone in with high expectations, I couldn’t have imagined it would be this good. Eddie Muller did a fantastic job.
Here’s a taste of the writing from the introduction to the chapter "Vixenville":
Don't bother looking for A Church in this part of town. The air's too hot And heavy for hymns. Not that you can't find houses of worship. Check out the windows, flickering in the night like offertory candles. Within the rooms are supplicatory men, on their knees, praying for a different kind of salvation. They bring to the altar gifts of fragrances and lace, hoping they'll be judged worthy. Most will end up crucified, for believing that holiness comes wrapped in seamed silk, redemption stretched sheer around a shapely calf.
Noir is one of my favorite genres, so that alone was reason enough for me to pick up a book about it. I actually had another one lined up, but since this was published first, I figured I’d give it a shot.
I was expecting a straightforward recounting of facts, maybe a basic retelling of Noir film history. But to my surprise, the writing matched the subject—dark, moody, and utterly captivating. Even if I’d gone in with high expectations, I couldn’t have imagined it would be this good. Eddie Muller did a fantastic job.
Here’s a taste of the writing from the introduction to the chapter "Vixenville":
Don't bother looking for A Church in this part of town. The air's too hot And heavy for hymns. Not that you can't find houses of worship. Check out the windows, flickering in the night like offertory candles. Within the rooms are supplicatory men, on their knees, praying for a different kind of salvation. They bring to the altar gifts of fragrances and lace, hoping they'll be judged worthy. Most will end up crucified, for believing that holiness comes wrapped in seamed silk, redemption stretched sheer around a shapely calf.
February 25, 2025
Eddie Muller’s “Dark City” predated his hosting on TCM’s “Noir Alley”. It kick started a career which ultimately led his path towards cable television expert.
Its premise is a tour through the noir genre.
If you enjoy Muller on TCM, you’ll be right at home with this book. You can almost hear his voice as you read it. Clearly this is an author who truly loves his subject.
The book opens in the style of Raymond Chandler.
It continues with the descriptions of the films and their back stories. Featured actors and topics form the chapters, while stills and colorful movie posters pepper the pages.
With much excitement I jotted down a long account of the movies to see and books to read based on Muller’s recommendations. I didn’t always agree with his very opinionated choices, but it was certainly interesting to hear his POV.
I have two quibbles. The size of the book is a bit clumsy. Not a huge deal, it’s just a little awkward. But my bigger regret is that there’s no rundown of the mentioned movies in the back. After reading “Noir City” you’ll want to watch the films it mentioned and such a list would be a help.
Its premise is a tour through the noir genre.
If you enjoy Muller on TCM, you’ll be right at home with this book. You can almost hear his voice as you read it. Clearly this is an author who truly loves his subject.
The book opens in the style of Raymond Chandler.
It continues with the descriptions of the films and their back stories. Featured actors and topics form the chapters, while stills and colorful movie posters pepper the pages.
With much excitement I jotted down a long account of the movies to see and books to read based on Muller’s recommendations. I didn’t always agree with his very opinionated choices, but it was certainly interesting to hear his POV.
I have two quibbles. The size of the book is a bit clumsy. Not a huge deal, it’s just a little awkward. But my bigger regret is that there’s no rundown of the mentioned movies in the back. After reading “Noir City” you’ll want to watch the films it mentioned and such a list would be a help.
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