Challenging conventional scholarship, which places the origins of film noir in postwar Hollywood, Sheri Chinen Biesen finds the genre's roots firmly planted in the political, social, and historical conditions of Hollywood during the war. After "Pearl Harbor", America and Hollywood experienced a sharp cultural transformation that made horror, shock, and violence not only palatable but preferable. Hard times necessitated cheaper sets, fewer lights, and fresh talent; censors as well as the movie-going public showed a new tolerance for sex and violence; and female producers experienced newfound prominence in the industry. Biesen brings prodigious archival research, accessible prose, and imaginative insights to both the well-known films noir of the wartime period - "The Maltese Falcon", "The Big Sleep", and "Double Indemnity" - and films often overlooked or underrated - "Scarlet Street", "Ministry of Fear", "Phantom Lady", and "Stranger on the Third Floor".
- ISBN10 0801882176
- ISBN13 9780801882173
- Publish Date 6 January 2006
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 15 May 2008
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Johns Hopkins University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 264
- Language English
- URL http://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/ecom/MasterServlet/GetItemDetailsHandler?iN=9780801882173&qty=1&viewMode=1&loggedIN=false&JavaScript=y