You know film noir when you see it: the shadowed setting; the cynical
detective; the femme fatale; and the twist of fate. Into the Dark
captures this alluring genre with a cavalcade of compelling photographs
and a guide to 82 of its best films.
Into the Dark is the first book to tell the story of film noir in its
own voice. Author Mark A. Vieira quotes the artists who made these
movies and the journalists and critics who wrote about them, taking
readers on a year-by-year tour of the exciting nights when movies like
Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce, and Sunset Boulevard were sprung
on an unsuspecting public. For the first time, we hear the voices of
film noir artists speak from the sets and offices of the studios,
explaining the dark genre, even before it had a name. Those voices tell
how the genre was born and how it thrived in an industry devoted to
sweetness and light.
Into the Dark is a ticket to a smoky, glamorous world. You enter a
story conference with Raymond Chandler, visit the set of Laura, and
watch Detour with a Midwest audience. This volume recreates the
environment that spawned film noir. It also displays the wit and warmth
of the genre's artists. Hedda Hopper reports on Citizen Kane, calling
Orson Welles Little Orson Annie. Lauren Bacall says she enjoys playing a
bad girl in To Have and Have Not. Bosley Crowther calls Joan Crawford
in Possessed a ghost wailing for a demon lover beneath a waning moon.
An Indiana exhibitor rates the classic Murder, My Sweet a passable
program picture. Illustrated by hundreds of rare still photographs,
Into the Dark conveys the mystery, glamour, and irony that make film
noir surpassingly popular.
About TCM:
Turner Classic Movies is the definitive resource for the greatest movies
of all time. It engages, entertains, and enlightens to show how the
entire spectrum of classic movies, movie history, and movie-making
touches us all and influences how we think and live today.
