Book 27

Mildred Pierce

by James M. Cain

Published 12 April 1978

Joan Crawford forged a new and successful screen image in this powerful women's "noir" film; winning her an Academy Award for best actress.
Albert J. LaValley's through and insightful guide to "Mildred Pierce" at once tells us much about the making of this complex film, the problems and process of transferring the story to the screen, the specific and important roles of the producer, director, and set designer, and how the film relates to broad trends within the industry. It is without a doubt the most thorough treatment of this important American motion picture.


Double Indemnity

by James M. Cain

Published 1 May 1950
Walter Huff is an insurance investigator like any other until the day he meets the beautiful and dangerous Phyllis Nirdlinger and falls under her spell. Together they plot to kill her husband and split the insurance. It'll be the perfect murder ...

The novelisation of a film which tells a story of lust, violence, greed and revenge, and the perfect murder. Perfect until a mistaken justice overtakes the murderers. Reissued for the BLOOMSBURY FILM CLASSICS series.

Serenade

by James M. Cain

Published 12 April 1978

'Cain has established a formidable reputation of furious pace, harsh and masterful realism, tough, raw speech right out of the mouths of the people' SATURDAY REVIEW

Serenade is the story of the eternal triangle - with a difference. John Howard Sharp is an American opera singer down on his luck, having just bombed in Rigoletto in Mexico City when he first encounters the beautiful Mexican-Indian prostitute called Juana. Miraculously, she offers him the chance to rebuild his career in Hollywood and New York but then Winston Hawes, the young, rich and well-connected conductor who had first launched Sharp, comes back into his life with terrible consequences.