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Out of the Past: Adventures in Film Noir
For a tour of noir cinema, this handbook is the perfect companion and Barry Gifford is an ideal guide. His choice selection of films exposes the menacing, moody, and oftentimes violent underbelly of this dark movie genre that occupies a favorite niche in American popular culture.
Some are classics, some are little known and seldom seen, but all, once viewed, are deeply remembered by aficionados of noir . Gifford's roll call of unforgettables includes these, and The Asphalt Jungle , Body and Soul , Body Heat , Charley Varrick , Chinatown , The Devil Thumbs a Ride , D.O.A. , Double Indemnity , High Sierra , Key Largo , Kiss of Death , Mean Streets , Mildred Pierce , Mr. Majestyk , Out of the Past , The Strange Love of Martha Ivers , Strangers on a Train , White Heat , along with several noir classics from Europe― Repulsion , The Hidden Room , Shoot the Piano Player , The 400 Blows , Odd Man Out .
Gifford identifies the directors and names the many noir stars, the greats and not-so-greats who were cast in the indelible roles of hoods, B-girls, psychopaths, grifters, gumshoes, waifs, tarts, femme fatales, mobsters, molls, and ex-cons.
In an introduction, novelists Edward Gorman and Dow Mossman applaud Gifford's selections and his “The movies discussed here range from the lowest of the B's to the biggest of the A's, and this book is going to make you want to run out and locate every one of them (and good luck to you; finding The Devil Thumbs a Ride could take you a lifetime). Through Barry Gifford's eyes, we begin to see their similarities and their value. What Andrew Sarris did for the mainstream film in The American Cinema , Barry does here for the crime film.”
With a connoisseur's insight and an offbeat sensitivity perfectly tailored to his subjects, Gifford's brief essays cover a hundred of the noir buff's favorites. His highly polished impressions take the reader through five decades of noir to find both the heart and the art of the plotline.
Some are classics, some are little known and seldom seen, but all, once viewed, are deeply remembered by aficionados of noir . Gifford's roll call of unforgettables includes these, and The Asphalt Jungle , Body and Soul , Body Heat , Charley Varrick , Chinatown , The Devil Thumbs a Ride , D.O.A. , Double Indemnity , High Sierra , Key Largo , Kiss of Death , Mean Streets , Mildred Pierce , Mr. Majestyk , Out of the Past , The Strange Love of Martha Ivers , Strangers on a Train , White Heat , along with several noir classics from Europe― Repulsion , The Hidden Room , Shoot the Piano Player , The 400 Blows , Odd Man Out .
Gifford identifies the directors and names the many noir stars, the greats and not-so-greats who were cast in the indelible roles of hoods, B-girls, psychopaths, grifters, gumshoes, waifs, tarts, femme fatales, mobsters, molls, and ex-cons.
In an introduction, novelists Edward Gorman and Dow Mossman applaud Gifford's selections and his “The movies discussed here range from the lowest of the B's to the biggest of the A's, and this book is going to make you want to run out and locate every one of them (and good luck to you; finding The Devil Thumbs a Ride could take you a lifetime). Through Barry Gifford's eyes, we begin to see their similarities and their value. What Andrew Sarris did for the mainstream film in The American Cinema , Barry does here for the crime film.”
With a connoisseur's insight and an offbeat sensitivity perfectly tailored to his subjects, Gifford's brief essays cover a hundred of the noir buff's favorites. His highly polished impressions take the reader through five decades of noir to find both the heart and the art of the plotline.
196 pages, Paperback
First published December 8, 2000
105 people want to read
About the author
Barry Gifford
142 books205 followersBarry Gifford is an American author, poet, and screenwriter known for his distinctive mix of American landscapes and film noir- and Beat Generation-influenced literary madness.
He is described by Patrick Beach as being "like if John Updike had an evil twin that grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and wrote funny..."He is best known for his series of novels about Sailor and Lula, two sex-driven, star-crossed protagonists on the road. The first of the series, Wild at Heart, was adapted by director David Lynch for the 1990 film of the same title. Gifford went on to write the screenplay for Lost Highway with Lynch. Much of Gifford's work is nonfiction.
He is described by Patrick Beach as being "like if John Updike had an evil twin that grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and wrote funny..."He is best known for his series of novels about Sailor and Lula, two sex-driven, star-crossed protagonists on the road. The first of the series, Wild at Heart, was adapted by director David Lynch for the 1990 film of the same title. Gifford went on to write the screenplay for Lost Highway with Lynch. Much of Gifford's work is nonfiction.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 4, 2015
This is not just one of the best books about film noir, it's one of the best books about film period. And it's a measure of how devoted I am to the genre that, of the 131 films Gifford discusses, I've not seen only 13 of them. Gifford is a wonderful companion at the flicks. About 'Gun Crazy' he says, "All in all, a remarkable little movie: sexy, violent, stupid, sad, pretty, tense, strange. More than enough."
November 18, 2019
3.5 stars
July 23, 2021
Barry Gifford writes film criticism like a noir private eye: sometimes his hard-boiled, opinionated and character-driven reviews are probably more fun to read than the films would be to watch. He's digressive, preferring to tell stories sometimes rather than discuss the films at hand. But that's part of the fun- reading Gifford doesn't just teach you what noir is, it's an exercise in the noir genre itself. I definitely have a short list of must-see films added to my queue thanks to Gifford's recommendations.
April 25, 2023
In a review of a favourite book or a film the most important thing is to answer the question, ‘why is this good?’.
This book, of 120 film noirs that have been significant in the author’s life, has an additional attraction, as it addresses the more specific question of ‘why does Barry Gifford think it’s good?’, and the effect it had on his life and his writing.
He begins with..
Read it with a notebook to hand, as you will pick up many recommendations of films, and the books they were adapted from, or influenced by. Like no other in the genre of film noir actually. There are many of the most recognised pillars of the genre, but a greater number of what you won’t be aware of.
But, it’s far more than a reference book, and that’s why it is good (as far as I’m concerned at least). It’s Gifford’s anecdotes that make it so fascinating. Even a film like Double Indemnity, which I’ve seen several times, demands a rewatch after reading Gifford’s essay on it.
I’ve enjoyed much of Gifford’s fiction, and I’m less than a half of the way through it, but probably most of all, The Roy Stories, based around his own childhood. Here, the influences on Gifford as a young writer, about his own experience, soon become evident.
And, most importantly, the impact that good cinema has in forming character.
This book, of 120 film noirs that have been significant in the author’s life, has an additional attraction, as it addresses the more specific question of ‘why does Barry Gifford think it’s good?’, and the effect it had on his life and his writing.
He begins with..
Even though life isn’t black and white, it often looks better that way.
Read it with a notebook to hand, as you will pick up many recommendations of films, and the books they were adapted from, or influenced by. Like no other in the genre of film noir actually. There are many of the most recognised pillars of the genre, but a greater number of what you won’t be aware of.
But, it’s far more than a reference book, and that’s why it is good (as far as I’m concerned at least). It’s Gifford’s anecdotes that make it so fascinating. Even a film like Double Indemnity, which I’ve seen several times, demands a rewatch after reading Gifford’s essay on it.
I’ve enjoyed much of Gifford’s fiction, and I’m less than a half of the way through it, but probably most of all, The Roy Stories, based around his own childhood. Here, the influences on Gifford as a young writer, about his own experience, soon become evident.
And, most importantly, the impact that good cinema has in forming character.
March 5, 2017
Actually read the screenplay, but recall looking at this book too.
April 30, 2008
Sometimes Barry Gifford's prose gets a bit high falutin for it's own good (He reviews Ace In The Hole entirely in Metaphor for some damn reason). Gifford also plays fast and loose with the definition of Noir including everything from Melodrama's to Westerns, his only requirement seeming to be that the films are downbeat.
Still the man clearly knows his stuff, his analysis if fun but substantial, and the book even introduced me to a few chestnuts, something that usually doesn't happen.
All in all an extremely worthwhile book, even if the original title was better.
Still the man clearly knows his stuff, his analysis if fun but substantial, and the book even introduced me to a few chestnuts, something that usually doesn't happen.
All in all an extremely worthwhile book, even if the original title was better.
August 11, 2013
Noir films are surveyed and examined according to classifications of subtypes of noir protagonists and antagonists. The existential, the criminal, love gone wrong, malice and so forth. The author obviously loves these films. A few facts are off but overall the reader can jump in to the author's love affair with noir.
I don't agree that every dark story about being trapped by love or money or a character defect makes a movie neo noir. Ok life's hard and filled with malevolence does that make Shakespeare a noir writer?
I don't agree that every dark story about being trapped by love or money or a character defect makes a movie neo noir. Ok life's hard and filled with malevolence does that make Shakespeare a noir writer?
July 29, 2010
This was in interesting little book but somewhat inconsistent in style. There were some films included that I wouldn't consider as "noir" but since he is the expert, I guess I can't quibble. I could swear that he had not seen a couple of the films he reviewed since the information was a bit at odds with the film's content. Again, I won't quibble since I thoroughly enjoyed the content and some of the "insider" information he presented.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews