Film Noir: The Directors

Noted film noir historians Alain Silver and James Ursini, acting as editors, concentrate in this work on the thirty key directors of the classic noir period. These include well-known luminaries, such as Orson Welles, Billy Wilder, Nicholas Ray, and Joseph Losey as well as lesser-known lights of noir, such as Gerd Oswald, Felix E. Feist, Ida Lupino, and John Brahm. Each article will include a short biography of the director, a list of their major noir films, as well as a deep analysis of the films themselves. The book boasts over two dozen collaborators from the world of film history and criticism. Lavishly illustrated with high-resolution photos illustrating the points made by the authors, this book is a must for any aficionado of the American style of film noir.

With James Ursini, Alain Silver (Santa Monica, CA) wrote and edited The Noir Style, The Vampire Film: From Nosferatu to True Blood; director studies of David Lean, Robert Aldrich, and Roger Corman; Horror Film Reader, Gangster Film Reader, four Film Noir Readers, and Film Noir: The Encyclopedia. Other books include The Samurai Film, Raymond Chandler’s Los Angeles, and James Wong Howe the Camera Eye. His produced screenplays include White Nights (from Dostoyevsky’), ’the Showtime MOW Time at the Top, and Nightcomer (which he also directed). He has also produced a score of independent feature films and forty soundtrack albums. His commentaries may be heard and seen on numerous DVDs discussing Raymond Chandler, the gangster film, and the classic noir period. His PhD in theater arts/motion pictures, critical studies, is from the University of California, Los Angeles.

In addition to the work with Alain Silver, James Ursini (Santa Monica, CA) wrote Directors on the Edge: Outliers in Hollywood and Femme Fatale: Cinema’s Most Unforgettable Lethal Ladies with Dominique Mainon. His early study of Preston Sturges was reprinted in a bilingual edition by the San Sebastián Film Festival. Forthcoming in 2012 is American Neo-Noir, The Movie Never Ends. His film noir DVD commentaries (often with Alain Silver) are numerous. He has been a producer on features and documentaries, and lectured on filmmaking at UCLA and other colleges in the Los Angeles area, where he works as an educator.