Description

Book Synopsis

Our of print for years and newly retitled and expanded, this deluxe new edition of Gifford''s celebrated handbook unlocks the secrets of noir movies and their relevance today

For a tour of noir cinema, No Daylight in this Face 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 more: 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 collaboratively applaud Gifford''s selections and his insights: “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.

No Daylight in That Face

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    Order before 4pm today for delivery by Wed 10 Jun 2026.

    A Hardback by Barry Gifford

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      View other formats and editions of No Daylight in That Face by Barry Gifford

      Publisher: Rare Bird Books
      Publication Date: 1/20/2025
      ISBN13: 9781644284605, 978-1644284605
      ISBN10: 164428460X
      Also in:
      Entertainment Film history, theory or criticism

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      Our of print for years and newly retitled and expanded, this deluxe new edition of Gifford''s celebrated handbook unlocks the secrets of noir movies and their relevance today

      For a tour of noir cinema, No Daylight in this Face 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 more: 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 collaboratively applaud Gifford''s selections and his insights: “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.

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