Film Forum

In the 1920s and 30s, a group of pulp novelists led by DASHIELL HAMMETT (1894-1961), RAYMOND CHANDLER (1888-1959), CORNELL WOOLRICH (1903-1968), and JAMES M. CAIN (1892-1977) forged a new style of American prose: terse and harshly realistic, with bitingly colloquial dialogue, their worlds peopled with tough private eyes, two-timing spouses, strong-arming goons, shifty politicos, and dangerous blondes. Their distinctive milieu provided the jumping-off point for one of Hollywood’s most durable genres: Film Noir. 

Special thanks to Nicole Woods, Kristie Nakamura (Warner Bros.), Paul Ginsburg (Universal), Todd Wiener, Steven Hill (UCLA Film Archive), Eddie Muller (The Film Noir Foundation), Mark McElhattan (Sikelia Productions), Anne Morra, Mary Keene (Museum of Modern Art), Daniel Bish (George Eastman House), Chris Chouinard, Nick Varley (Park Circus), and Jake Perlin (The Film Desk). 

Two new books, The World of Raymond Chandler: In His Own Words, edited by Barry Day (published by Knopf), and Dashiell Hammett and the Movies by William Mooney (published by Rutgers University Press), will be on sale at our concession during the festival.

Click here to read Richard Brody's New Yorker feature on the "Two Cuts of Howard Hawks' THE BIG SLEEP."

Click here to read Mike Hale's New York Times feature "Robert Altman's THE LONG GOODBYE Is Popular Again."

Click here to read Bruce Chadwick's feature on the festival at the History News Network

Films in this Series