Description
Book SynopsisAmerican Film Noir Genres, Characters, and Settings argues that film noir style evolved out of American literature prior to the 1930s and continues to evolve long after the classic films that defined its presence in cinema. While many critics suggest that the film noir tradition ceased after the mid-1950s, labeling similar films produced later as ‘neo-noir’, Harold Hellwig contends that film noir itself has continued to evolve beyond cinema to include television series such as CSI, Have Gun Will Travel, and Seinfeld, among others. Hellwig posits that, rather than being a single genre in and of itself, film noir comprises several genres, including detective procedurals, science fiction, the Western, and even comedy. This book examines different elements of American film noir – including the characters and settings it is often defined by – and its contexts within different adaptations in both film and television. Scholars of film studies, American literature, and media studies will find this book of particular interest.
Table of ContentsTable of Contents
List of Figures
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Genre and Foundation in Film Noir Adaptations from American Culture
Chapter 3: William Blake’s Jerusalem and the Los Angeles of Film Noir
Chapter 4: The Film Noir City and the Detective
Chapter 5: Travel in Film Noir
Chapter 6: The Genre of Women as Controlling Figures: Deception and Redemption
Chapter 7: Science Fiction in Film Noir
Chapter 8: The Western as a Film Noir Genre
Chapter 9: Comedy as a Film Noir Genre
Works Cited
About the Author
