Arouses memories of black-and-white movies from the 1940s and '50s - melodramas about private eyes, femmes fatales, criminal gangs, and lovers on the run. This book discusses these pictures, and also shows that the central term is more complex and paradoxical than we realize. It also includes a chapter on film noir in the twenty-first century.

"Supplies the first study of film noir that achieves the sort of intellectual seriousness, depth of research, degree of critical insight, and level of writing that this group of films deserves."—Tom Gunning, Modernism and Modernity

"Film Noir" evokes memories of stylish, cynical, black-and-white movies from the 1940s and '50s - melodramas about private eyes, femmes fatales, criminal gangs, and lovers on the run. James Naremore's prize-winning book discusses these pictures, but also shows that the central term is more complex and paradoxical than we realize. It treats noir as a term in criticism, as an expression of artistic modernism, as a symptom of Hollywood censorship and politics, as a market strategy, as an evolving style, and as an idea that circulates through all the media. This new and expanded edition of "More Than Night" contains an additional chapter on film noir in the twenty-first century.