Historical dictionary of film noir

"Film noir - literally "black cinema"--Is the label customarily given to a group of black-and-white American films, mostly crime thrillers, made between 1940 and 1959. Today, many dispute what classifies a noir film and which films should be included in this category. These problems are partly caused because film noir is a retrospective label that was not used in the 1940s or 1950s by the film industry as a production category. Consequently, its existence and features cannot be established through reference to trade documents." "This Historical Dictionary of Film Noir is a comprehensive guide of the film-noir genre from 1940 to present-day neo-noir. It consists of a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, a filmography, and more than 400 cross-referenced dictionary entries on every aspect of film noir and neo-noir, including key film personnel (actors, cinematographers, composers, directors, producers, set designers, and writers), themes, issues, influences, visual style, cycles of films (e.g., amnesiac noirs), the representation of city and gender, other forms (comics/graphic novels, television, and video games), and noir's presence in world cinema. It is an essential reference work for all those interested in this important cultural phenomenon."--Jacket.