Film Noir and Los Angeles: Urban History and the Dark Imaginary (Routledge Advances in Film Studies)

This book combines film studies with urban theory in a spatial exploration of twentieth century Los Angeles. Configured through the dark lens of noir, the author examines an alternate urban history of Los Angeles forged by the fictional modes of detective fiction, film noir and neo noir. Dark portrayals of the city are analyzed in Raymond Chandler’s crime fiction through to key films like __Double Indemnity__ (1944) and __The End of Violence__ (1997). By employing these fictional elements as the basis for historicising the city’s unrivalled urban form, the analysis demonstrates an innovative approach to urban historiography. Revealing some of the earliest tendencies of postmodern expression in Hollywood cinema, this book will be of great relevance to students and researchers working in the fields of film, literature, cultural and urban studies. It will also be of interest to scholars researching histories of Los Angeles and the American noir imagination. This book combines urban theory with film studies and cultural theory to explore how twentieth century Los Angeles is configured through the lens of film noir. The author examines how an alternate spatial and urban history of Los Angeles is forged through the fictional modes of detective fiction, film noir and neo noir. These depictions are analyzed decade by decade, from the 1940s to the new millennium, through the leitmotif of noir and key titles ranging from Double Indemnity in 1944 to in Inherent Vice in 2015. By employing these fictional elements as the basis for historicising the city's unrivalled urban form, the analysis demonstrates an innovative form of urban historiography, and reveals some of the earliest characteristics of postmodern expression and representation in Hollywood cinema. This book will be of great relevance to students and researchers working in the fields of film, literature, cultural and urban studies. It will also be of interest to scholars researching the twentieth century history of Los Angeles and the city's place in crime fiction, classical film noir and neo noir Cover Half Title Series Title Copyright Contents Acknowledgements Los Angeles Noirscapes Part I Approaching the Metropolis 1 From Modern Metropolis to Postmodern Urbanism 2 Hard-Boiled Boulevards Part II Los Angeles – Between the Screen and the Streets 3 City of Silhouettes 4 Noirscapes of Motion 5 Neo Noirscape of Nostalgia 6 Through a Glass Darkly: Global Los Angeles and Postmodern Noirscapes at the End of the Twentieth Century Conclusion Appendix I: Classic Film Noirs (1940–1960) Featuring Bunker Hill in Location Cinematography Index