Film Noir Production: The Whodunit of the Classic American Mystery Film by David Landau (review)

Before the French critics André Bazin and Roger Leenhardt even codified the central idea in the 1940s and before the American critic Andrew Sarris labeled the concept as the "auteur theory" in the 1960s, the incredibly incorrect notion that the director of a film is its sole, true author was common parlance. The now ubiquitous credit "A Film By" can be attributed to the preposterous perception that despite the hundreds of people who are almost always involved in the production of any given motion picture, including the writer, producer, cast, composer, and editor, it is the director and only the director who truly matters in the critical evaluation of said film. It is therefore not surprising that most critical analyses of the vast majority of films, whatever their period, audience, genre, or nation of origin, usually focus primarily on the films' directors, with all other creative participants meriting second, third, or fourth attention or even no evaluation at all. In this regard, the film noir genre is no different in this encumbered and inaccurate analytical approach, which is perhaps even more pronounced than many others when one peruses the many books that analyze this fascinating subject. Almost all of them focus exclusively on the director as the principal creative god of these many astonishing projects.

It is therefore truly refreshing, even shocking, to read author David Landau's book Film Noir Production: The Whodunit of the Classic American Mystery Film, which focuses on not only the director but also the screenwriters, literary source material, art directors, music composers, costume designers, and talented studio cinematographers who assembled these intriguing movies. In this exhaustively researched book, Landau examines many, if not all, of the best film noirs within the context of the time period in which they were produced while also explaining how their dark and engrossing themes, ideas, and production techniques drew dependable audiences from their day to the present, providing thoughtful and appealing entertainment within the context of a genre that was usually shot, seen, and/or distributed as low-budget "B" pictures.

Landau's chapter headings and the movies that are their focus read like a list of every conceivable key aspect of all the usual suspects in film noir: "Noir Comes to Light" (The Maltese Falcon); "The Noir Hero" (Murder, My Sweet); "The Noir Anti-Hero" (This Gun for Hire); "The Femmes of Noir: They Aren't Always Fatale" (Double Indemnity); "Directors and Studios: A Noir Relationship" (Laura); "The Noir Cast" (The Big Sleep); "Noir Themes" (Macao); "Noir Style: Music, Costumes and Art Direction" (My Favorite Brunette); "Noir Imagery: Lighting and Cinematography" (The Big Combo); "Noir Speak: Dialog and First-Person Narrative" (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang); "Noir's Rebirth and Neo-Noir" (House of Games); and finally, "Cross-Genre Noir and Noir Influence" (Brick).

Landau is so complete in his intention that he even refers to the actual production parameters—backlot locations, executive management, budgets, schedules, casting issues, technical innovations, and other key resources or elements—that often shaped these films as much as if not more than their directors, writers, casts, or producers. This level of detailed and practical examination is rare to not only film noir but film criticism in general, no matter the genre, and one wishes more critics would approach their subjects in such a detailed and logical way that gives proper attention and respect to all the key creative people who so vitally contribute to every film project. This book not only is a testament to the many authentic "authors" of every film noir but also is a profound and utter repudiation of the absurd credit "A Film By."