L.A. Noir: The City as Character

by : Alain Silver 

This book includes dark films and a dark side for the city of angels. At once a paean to the city's place in cinema history and a unique reference for movie and film noir buffs, L.A. Noir is a comprehensive guide to noir movies and their locations. A collection of articles, photographs, reproduction posters, essays and stories examining and surrounding the influence of Los Angeles on the film noir genre. Silver and Ursino illustrate how these films use L.A.'s diverse cityscape and architecture - not to mention it's outlying suburbs - to convey a unique vision of urban corruption and existential fatalism. Dozens of noir and neo-noir films are featured, including Crimson Kimono ; Double indemnity ; Kiss Me Deadly ; Sunset Boulevard and Touch of Evil , as well as more recent additions to the canon like Mulholland Drive and Pulp Fiction . More than 150 photographs - many never before published - further illustrate the rich and constantly-changing backdrop of the films.