American Film Noir Genres, Characters, and Settings

In this book, Harold Hellwig analyzes film noir, outlining the major genres which it includes: the city and the detective; science fiction, the Western; and comedy. Elements of American film noir and its contexts are evaluated within different adaptations in film and television.

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American Film Noir Genres, Characters, and Settings argues that film noir style evolved out of American literature prior to the 1930s and continues to evolve long after the classic films that defined its presence in cinema. While many critics suggest that the film noir tradition ceased after the mid-1950s, labeling similar films produced later as ‘neo-noir’, Harold Hellwig contends that film noir itself has continued to evolve beyond cinema to include television series such as CSI, Have Gun Will Travel, and Seinfeld, among others. Hellwig posits that, rather than being a single genre in and of itself, film noir comprises several genres, including detective procedurals, science fiction, the Western, and even comedy. This book examines different elements of American film noir – including the characters and settings it is often defined by – and its contexts within different adaptations in both film and television. Scholars of film studies, American literature, and media studies will find this book of particular interest.