Rating: 
Summary: Superb Book!
Review: A beautiful book! A must have for any noir fan from an authority on film noir.
Rating: 
Summary: The 'Noirhead''s coffee-table essential
Review: A feast for the eyes! Gorgeous NOIR poster repros and interesting factoids highlight this weighty tome. Fans will swoon, and the casual viewer will have his/her interest tweaked. As a NOIR poster/lobby card collector, this book is an essential library addition, because I need to occasionally check out pictures of posters I'll sadly never be able to afford(!)
Rating:
Summary: The 'Noirhead''s coffee-table essential
Review: A feast for the eyes! Gorgeous NOIR poster repros and interesting factoids highlight this weighty tome. Fans will swoon, and the casual viewer will have his/her interest tweaked. As a NOIR poster/lobby card collector, this book is an essential library addition, because I need to occasionally check out pictures of posters I'll sadly never be able to afford(!)
Rating:
Summary: Noir to knock you out.
Review: A superb showing of 275 color film noir posters in a marvellous (oversize) book. None of the posters are angled or overlap each other and they all have credit and comment captions, all this thanks to book designer Bernard Schleifer who handles this rather garish material in a restrained way, though he did make a mistake with the ridiculously small page numbers. Author Eddie Muller writes just enough to back up the posters without making the book too text heavy and he has come up with some neat ideas, like using posters from other countries, grouping posters according to the director or actor or writer and a chapter that I thought fascinating, `Noir Around The World: Exploring how artists in other cultures rendered a peculiarly American style'. Look through the book and you'll see how tacky so many of the American illustrations look, whereas the artists used in Europe seem technically better (is this a cultural thing?) and in many cases the poster design is more competent, the Spanish version of Dragnet (1954) on page sixty-three is really graphic yet uses all the usual ingredients, painting of the star, smaller illustrations (in this case the New York skyline and a couple of gangsters) bold type for the title yet turn over the page and a huge American version hits you and it looks a mess in comparison. However, all these posters capture the spirit of this American movie genre and the book looks so stunning that I don't think the subject could be covered better. The perfect companion to `The Art of Noir' is `The Noir Style' by Alain Silver and James Ursini (and also beautifully designed by Mr Schleifer) it uses dozens of film stills to explain just what was so special about these movies. I found it fascinating to see the black and white photos the artists used to create the poster art. Both books should be in your `noir' collection.
Rating:
Summary: Noir to knock you out.
Review: A superb showing of 275 color film noir posters in a marvellous (oversize) book. None of the posters are angled or overlap each other and they all have credit and comment captions, all this thanks to book designer Bernard Schleifer who handles this rather garish material in a restrained way, though he did make a mistake with the ridiculously small page numbers. Author Eddie Muller writes just enough to back up the posters without making the book too text heavy and he has come up with some neat ideas, like using posters from other countries, grouping posters according to the director or actor or writer and a chapter that I thought fascinating, 'Noir Around The World: Exploring how artists in other cultures rendered a peculiarly American style'. Look through the book and you'll see how tacky so many of the American illustrations look, whereas the artists used in Europe seem technically better (is this a cultural thing?) and in many cases the poster design is more competent, the Spanish version of Dragnet (1954) on page sixty-three is really graphic yet uses all the usual ingredients, painting of the star, smaller illustrations (in this case the New York skyline and a couple of gangsters) bold type for the title yet turn over the page and a huge American version hits you and it looks a mess in comparison. However, all these posters capture the spirit of this American movie genre and the book looks so stunning that I don't think the subject could be covered better. The perfect companion to 'The Art of Noir' is 'The Noir Style' by Alain Silver and James Ursini (and also beautifully designed by Mr Schleifer) it uses dozens of film stills to explain just what was so special about these movies. I found it fascinating to see the black and white photos the artists used to create the poster art. Both books should be in your 'noir' collection.
Rating:
Summary: Stupendous!
Review: As an admirer of Muller's earlier books on Film Noir, I looked forward to this new effort. I was not disappointed; this is a fabulous book. The posters and graphics depicted are as lively and lurid as you'd expect. But Muller's analysis and way with words makes it fun to read as well as look at. If you have any interest in film noir, you MUST get this book. Superb.
Rating:
Summary: Stupendous!
Review: As an admirer of Muller's earlier books on Film Noir, I looked forward to this new effort. I was not disappointed; this is a fabulous book. The posters and graphics depicted are as lively and lurid as you'd expect. But Muller's analysis and way with words makes it fun to read as well as look at. If you have any interest in film noir, you MUST get this book. Superb.
Rating:
Summary: A Gem of the Field
Review: Film noir is a fascinating field with a deserved faithful and ever widening audience. Eddie Muller scored impressively with "Dark City Dames," a study of the women of film noir with intimate portraits of such notables as Jane Greer, Marie Windsor and Ann Savage. Muller returns to a familiar theme here and achieves mightily in two respects, with glossy pictures which practically jump off the page at you, giving one a feel for time and place, as well as being a part of the scene, along with a text providing valuable information on the memorable films being showcased. San Franciscan Muller is one of the genuine authorities of the genre. He has a real feel for the world of darkness beset by flashing neon lights, smoke-filled bars, detectives in trench coats, and dangerous women.
Rating:
Summary: A Gem of the Field
Review: Film noir is a fascinating field with a deserved faithful and ever widening audience. Eddie Muller scored impressively with "Dark City Dames," a study of the women of film noir with intimate portraits of such notables as Jane Greer, Marie Windsor and Ann Savage. Muller returns to a familiar theme here and achieves mightily in two respects, with glossy pictures which practically jump off the page at you, giving one a feel for time and place, as well as being a part of the scene, along with a text providing valuable information on the memorable films being showcased. San Franciscan Muller is one of the genuine authorities of the genre. He has a real feel for the world of darkness beset by flashing neon lights, smoke-filled bars, detectives in trench coats, and dangerous women.
Rating:
Summary: A Gem of the Field
Review: Film noir is a fascinating field with a deserved faithful and ever widening audience. Eddie Muller scored impressively with "Dark City Dames," a study of the women of film noir with intimate portraits of such notables as Jane Greer, Marie Windsor and Ann Savage. Muller returns to a familiar theme here and achieves mightily in two respects, with glossy pictures which practically jump off the page at you, giving one a feel for time and place, as well as being a part of the scene, along with a text providing valuable information on the memorable films being showcased. San Franciscan Muller is one of the genuine authorities of the genre. He has a real feel for the world of darkness beset by flashing neon lights, smoke-filled bars, detectives in trench coats, and dangerous women.
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