An elegant production with chapters on: styles of the Hollywood system; noir around the world; thematic and iconographic elements of film noir; noir's most familiar faces; prominent & prolific noir writers; noir's most acclaimed (and some neglected) directors. Includes over 250 posters, graphics, lobby cards, and other promotional material from the classic era of film noir.

An especially fun chapter is the one on `Noir Around The World: Exploring how artists in other cultures rendered a peculiarly American style.' Is it just me, or are the renditions from other cultures even more compelling than their supposedly more authentic American counterparts? (My favorite is the Belgian take on Three Strangers). In any case, author, noir buff and DVD commentator Eddie Muller provides an insightful text, which, combined with the book's gorgeous illustrations, is sure to be nothing short of catnip for lovers of the cinema of damp streets, neon lights, smoke-filled bars, cool detectives in trench coats, and ever-duplicitous femme fatales.