Born in Maryland, Dashiell Hammett revolutionized American literature even though his output was relatively scant – five major published novels and a handful of short fiction plus film-related writing. Often called the father of hardboiled fiction, Hammett also pioneered the art form we now call noir, especially in the three great novels that are the focus of this class: The Maltese Falcon, Hammett’s most famous work that was almost line for line and shot for shot adapted into the Humphrey Bogart movie, Hammett’s first novel Red Harvest that Time Magazine listed as one of the 100 best English language novels published between 1923 and 2005, and The Glass Key, sometimes cited as Hammett’s favorite of his novels, also adapted as an Alan Ladd movie and a major influence on today’s filmmaking Coen brothers.

Each of these novels reflects a political vision – though not the politics of the Sunday TV talk shows – and Hammett was a political player in everything from the glories of the Corcoran Museum of Art to the goriest days of McCarthyism that sent “Dash” to prison and the blacklist before as veteran of both World Wars, he earned his gravestone in Arlington Cemetery. Through discussion and lecture, this class will explore those three great noirnovels, along with the politics, American culture, and personal choices they reveal.

Bonjour! check-out the bar and grill where [Dash] Hammett placed his fedora...JOHNSGRILL... and if you want to hear the song "For Sentimental Reasons" in its entirety just check-out my playlist below...Merci, Pierre De Plume...[Beret-tip to you!]

Coming Up: Taking a look at writer Dashiell Hammett...Life and Times at...

Emery-books...beautiful, informative, website...

Mike Humbert's very Informative... website...and

Black Hat Website...

[The Image is copyrighted@ by and courtesy Of DASHIELL HAMMETT'S GREAT POLITICAL NOIR TRIO...OVER THERE AT POLITICS AND PROSE@ ]

In The Spotlight with actor Victor Mature:

Mr. John Garfield...

In The Month Of January Saying Happy Birthday! To Actor Victor John-Joseph Mature...

[Pictured: "In My Darling Clementine" as I look at his life and Times On and Off Screen...Not To Mention a New Book about Mature in the Fall...Entitled "The Films Of Victor [John-Joseph] Mature."]

Visit  actor Victor [John-Joseph] Mature  Over There on Facebook.

In May...Happy Birthday List and Wish To: [Pictured:Actor Glenn Ford,]Follow The Link

Below To:

Film Noir [Star] in The Birthday Spotlight

To View actor Glenn Ford Memorabilia......and writer Dashiell Hammett [Who [both]will be featured the entire month Of May in "The Spotlight..."along with Raymond Burr]

Vincent Price,Orson Welles, Stewart Granger, James Mason, [Brit-Noir] Joseph Cotton, Henry Fonda,

Jeanne Crain, Claude Akins, Harvey Keitel, Jimmy Stewart, Gaston Leroux, Katherine Hepburn, Sir Lawrence Olivier, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

[Paying Hommage To Ty Power on May 05th 2012... too!] Just follow the link...

...MORE STARS BIRTHDAYS IN MAY...

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The Noir Fest Has Ended: NOIR-FEST SANTA MONICA

JANUARY 14-MARCH 28,2012...

However, Still Check-out the website it's very...uber!

[Unfortunately, this film noir fest was just bought to my attention...Well, at least those who are interested want miss the RAYMOND CHANDLER DOUBLE FEATURE Of  Two Films based on his novel...

"The Brasher Doubloon" and "Murder, My Sweet..." which will be screened on February 16th at 7:30pm until 10:00p.m...respectively, at the Aero Theatre]

here goes an interesting article about the Santa Monica...Film Festival...in the SANTA MONICA MIRROR...

THE BRASHER DOUBLOON / MURDER, MY SWEET

Presented as part of NoirFest Santa Monica.

Trailer 

THE NOIR CITY SENTINEL

Beginning with the next issue, the NOIR CITY SENTINEL, the Film Noir Foundation's ever-expanding "newsletter," will officially become NOIR CITY, a quarterly e-magazine featuring the absolute best articles on noir, in a gorgeous new format courtesy of ace designer Michael Kronenberg. The "premiere" issue will feature more than 60 pages of fantastic original material, lined up by editor-in-chief Don Malcolm. Those of you who have donated to the FNF within the past year will receive the revamped NOIR CITY same as usual. Newcomers to the FNF, for a minimum donation of $20, will get four sensational issues of NOIR CITY in 2011, delivered straight to their inbox in PDF form.

If You Would Like To Receive The Current Noir City Magazine Just Donate via PayPal…By Going To My Sidebar [On My Blog]and Tapping The Picture Of Dana Andrews.Here...

To Make A Contribution To The Film Noir Foundation Just Follow The Link...

on of $20 or moreto the FNF. Below are PDFs of three articles from the current issue.

CONT...THE FILM NOIR FOUNDATION...

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[A POSTER THAT WAS RECENTLY, LINEN BACKED BY ORIGINAL VINTAGE POSTERS...IF YOU LOOK VERY CLOSELY BEHIND THE SIDES OF THE POSTER YOU CAN SEE THE FACTORY IN THE BACKGROUND...]

THE RAGING TIDE 1951. Original 1 Sheet Movie Poster starring Shelley Winters and Richard Conte, directed by George Sherman. Condition C7 – Linen Backed. Price $165.00...BELOW IS TWO QUESTIONS THAT ORIGINAL VINTAGE MOVIE POSTERS ANSWERED BEFORE I COULD ASK THEM...

THANK-YOU!

WHY BOTHER?

Linen backing is first and foremost a preservation technique. It preserves the integrity of old and valuable paper and assures the poster can be safely handled and displayed. As time rolls on movie posters are becoming more and more rare, and more and more valuable. For the majority of collectors Linen backing improves the aesthetics of the poster and will generally increase its overall value. Linen backing is an essential step for older posters which are especially fragile and subject to damage when handled.

TO RESTORE OR NOT TO RESTORE?

[Oh! Yes, That Is The Question...]

Restoration is usually performed in conjunction with linen backing a poster and can be as simple as filling in a staple hole or repairing a small tear or as complex as filling missing pieces and removing stains. The decision is usually based on the aesthetics of how a poster looks un-restored and whether the value and/or rarity of the poster warrants the cost of the restoration. To help understand restoration and the associated costs more fully please click here.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: THE POSTER IS FROM THE 1951 FILM "THE RAGING TIDE" STARRING R.CONTE, S,WINTERS, C.BICKFORD AND S.McNALLY.I NEVER NOTICED THIS BEFORE, BUT ACTRESS SHELLEY WINTERS, RECEIVED TOP BILLING EVEN THOUGH THE STORY MORE OR LESS FOCUS ON ACTOR RICHARD CONTE AND CHARLES BICKFORD...]

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[Julie Rivett...Granddaughter Of Dashiell Hammett]

Question? What do the city of San Francisco, a long lost manuscript, and a Mediterranean bird of prey have in common? Well, they’re all part of the legend of Dashiell Hammett. Fifty years after his death, the famed crime fiction writer is poised to thrill a new generation of readers. Reporter Max Pringle has the story....In Order To Read The Entire Story Just Follow The Links To...]

1.HAMMETT'S LOST MANUSCRIPT...

2.DASHIELL HAMMETT'S SCRIPT FOR THE "MALTESE FALCON..."

3.An Article From The S.F. Gate That Features, Muller, and Dashiell Hammett Apartment...

Thank-You!

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Here at...Darkness To Light...

UP COMING FESTIVALS AND EVENTS...

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Up Coming Festival:

The Million Dollar Theater...Present "The Big Combo" and "The Pitfall..."

DARK PAST:FILM NOIR BY GERMAN Emigrés ...From March 01-April 15, 2012...

Dark Past: Film Noir by German EmigrésAs Hitler’s influence grew in 1930s Germany, artists and intellectuals fled the country; whether because they were Jewish or held contrary political views, they saw their lives or livelihoods threatened by the emerging fascist reign.

The German film industry was not immune to this flight and the decade witnessed the exodus of a host of important filmmakers—directors, cinematographers, screenwriters, and others. Hollywood became a haven for these hasty émigrés—by the early forties tinsel town had a thriving contingent of German-speaking filmmakers, including:

Otto Preminger, Max Ophuls, Douglas Sirk, Billy Wilder, Robert Siodmak, Fritz Lang, Edgar G. Ulmer, and many others. Grateful for any assignment, these veteran directors took on low-budget B-movies, turning them into highly effective, emotionally resonant, darkly dramatized mysteries and crime stories, later to be known as [Film] noirs.

It’s said that the greatest contribution of this group of directors was the shadow-laden mise-en-scène with its brooding urban cityscapes distilled from German Expressionism. But as you shall see from these eight noirs by eight directors, much more than rain-spattered streets and crepuscular lighting links them.

Many of these bristling features, from Max Ophuls’s Caught to Curtis Bernhardt’s High Wall, from William Dieterle’s Dark City to Otto Preminger’s Where the Sidewalk Ends, share a belief that authority is necessarily corrupt, that institutions are to be mistrusted, that what is worst in us will come to light, and, finally, that no one can shake their dark past.

March 1, 2012 - April 15, 2012

Thursday, March 1, 2012
7:00 p.m. The Dark Past
Rudolph Maté (U.S., 1948). Held hostage in a lakeside cabin by

pathological thug

(William Holden),

Dr. Collins (Lee J. Cobb) overwhelms his captor using a single weapon, a book entitled The Criminal Mind and Insanity, in this taut siege story by director Maté, the lensman behind The Passion of Joan of Arc. (75 mins)

bampfa/PFA...

BOTH HAS ENDED...STAY TUNE FOR UPCOMING FILM NOIR FESTIVALS.

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Louise discuss the 1950  film "Woman On The Run" and the original Vintage half-sheet From the 1950 Film Noir "Woman On The Run"...

...In Order To Watch the entire Film "Woman On The Run..." Just follow this Link To You-Tube... and to read Louise's spot-on, Semi-humourous(Sp) review Of "Woman On The Run" in its' entirety... Starring  A. Sheridan,  D.O'Keeffe, and B.Keith...

...Just follow this link to Louise's More Noir Posters...

Taking a Look at difference posters, lobby cards and books Of Noir Stars...

[This Month it's actress Ida Lupino...]

[pictured actress Ida Lupino and Dane Clark in "Deep-Valley..." in order to visit actress Ida Lupino official website just follow this link to....Ida Lupino Official Website]

[pictured: a lobby card from the 1940 film ..."High Sierra..."]

The "Jewel in the Crown" The Main Title Card From The Film "Raging Tide..."

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Here at...Darkness To Light...

ON GOING FEATURES...

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ON GOING FEATURES...

1. My writer Andrew Katsis' writings...

2. The Film Noir Foundation News Sentinel Releases...Quarterly

3.IN THE [BIRTHDAY] SPOTLIGHT WITH ACTOR VICTOR MATURE: ACTRESS IDA LUPINO...

4.[MY TENTATIVE ] FILM NOIR WEEKLY SCHEDULE:

Mondays--MY FAVORITE FILM NOIR [STAR] MONDAYS...

Tuesdays--MY FAVORITE FOREIGN POSTERS TUESDAYS...

Wednesdays--MY GUEST POST BY ANDREW KATSIS...

Thursdays--RANDOM SUBJECT/BOOK REVIEWS

Fridays--THE WEEKLY LOBBY CARDS

Saturdays AND SUNDAYS--WEEK-END WATCHING

[NOTE: WHEN ADDITIONAL FEATURES ARE ADDED I PLAN TO POST THEM IN THIS SPACE...Tks...]

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[Pictured actress Julie Garfield, with her father wallet and standing in front of a picture of her famous father and actress Lana Turner, in the classic 1946 film "The Postman Always Ring Twice."] My administrator [Malcolm James'] friend Julie Garfield, daughter of one of the great film noir actors... John Garfield,

[Pictured Below: To Find Out Information about actor John Garfield, just visit the sidebar...]

Julie Garfield, is an admirer of Film Noir and Malcolm's Film Noir Lives Here Too site in particular.

Malcolm said, "Thank you Julie for allowing this photograph of you and a "rare" private photograph...to be used Of actor John Garfield

[Pictured: a rare photograph of actor John Garfield @Copyrighted... This photograph Is Courtesy Of John Garfield's Daughter Julie Garfield and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada License Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at MALCOLM JAMES' "FILM NOIR LIVES HERE..."...Which Is Courtesy Of his [JOHN GARFIELD'S ]daughter's Julie Garfield's private collection.

[Postscript: Please Contact the administrator Of "Film Noir Lives Here..." Malcolm James here at...Malcolm James' Film Noir Ning if you would like to use actor John Garfield's photograph.

Once again,

Thank-you, Julie Garfield and Malcolm James...deedee]

Julie Garfield's...

Date of Birth: 10 January...

Los Angeles, California, USA

Birth Name: Julie Roberta Garfield Biography: One of three children of the actor John Garfield and Roberta Seidman Garfield, Julie began acting in off-Broadway plays and has worked regularly in movies and television since 1969. She was 6 when her father died of heart problems.In Order to read actress Julie Garfield's entire biography just follow the link to...Film Noir Lives Here and So Do Memories... Film Noir Lives Here and So Do Memories

[Pictured: Last Year Summer Under The Stars Recreated Or Re Invented Poster By TCM Of The 1953 Film "The Big Heat" Starring Glenn Ford, Gloria Graham (G.G.) and Lee Marvin...] author Eddie Muller...Discuss Film Noir Over There at GreenCine...Just Follow The Link

THE BIG HEAT(1953) Blowing up cop Glenn Ford’s wife proves a tactical error for kingpin Alexander Scourby, in Lang’s hard-hitting crime classic. Hood Lee Marvin, good-hearted moll Gloria Grahame (“dumb, sullen, devoted, available, steamy” – Foster Hirsch), and a pot of scalding hot coffee add sizzling support. 2:45, 6:00, 9:15 “A definitive Film Noir, with a few stunningly choreographed nasty scenes.” – Pauline Kael

[Below: A Scene [A Girl, A gun and a mink coat...all wrapped up in actress Gloria Graham...]

From Director Fritz Lang's 1953 Film"The Big Heat" Starring Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame and Lee Marvin...]

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Soon...Zazzle Film Noir Products...

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[WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT ACTOR ROBERT MITCHUM?...MISS GREER WITH A GUN...SHE JUST SHOT A MAN?...]

Dryden Eastman House...Film Noir Essential...

What Is This Ning all About? On This Ning... Film Noir Lives Here Too...Therefore, Here On Ténèbres à la lumière...Translation: Darkness To Light...I Don't Plan To Let No Light in this Ning...Whatsoever...Because Noir Wears No Sunglasses and has No Friends!...If You Don't Believe Me...Just Read My Friend and writer Andrew Katsis' writings and What Paul Schrader, Spencer Selby and Eddie Muller, have to say about Film Noir...
..."Film noir is not a genre....It is not defined, as are the western and gangster genres, by conventions of setting and conflict, but rather by the more subtle qualities of tone and mood. It is a film "noir," as opposed to the possible variants of film gray and off white." - Paul Schrader, Notes on Film Noir, Film Comment, 1972

"Film Noir is the flip side of the all-American success story. It's about people who realize that following the program will never get them what they crave. So they cross the line, commit a crime and reap the consequences. Or, they're tales about seemingly innocent people tortured by paranoia and ass-kicked by Fate. Either way, they depict a world that's merciless and unforgiving." - Eddie Muller ("Dark City:The Lost World Of Film Noir," "Dark City Dames:The Wicked Women Of Film Noir," and "The Art Of Noir: Posters and Graphics From The Classic Film Noir Era...")

"Film Noir is a historical, stylistic and thematic trend that took place primarily, but not exclusively, within the generic complex of the American crime film of the forties and fifties. The term was first introduced by French cinéaste Nino Frank in 1946. For many years it was known only to the French, who seemed to be the only ones equipped (critically or otherwise) to grapple with its definition and/or historical implications." - Spencer Selby (Dark City: The Film Noir; 1984)

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I Also Plan To Focus On My Writer Andrew Katsis' Film Noir Writings and a Film Noir Star Monthly...Their Films and Private Life Too...I Also Plan To Promote The Film Noir Foundation...A Foundation Whose Mission It Is To Preserve Film Noir From Being Lost To Nitrate...Forever.

According To Chris Garcia..."Is Film Noir Really a Movie Genre, or Just a Fancy Way of Saying "Dark Cinema"? Before we answer the question posed above, let's define what a movie genre is. A genre is a category in the arts, such as Impressionism in painting or romance in fiction. Your local Blockbuster?!? [Netflix] splinters its video stock into the prominent movie genres, often with alarming laxity. There are sections for westerns, comedies, war films, horror films, and musicals, to name a few. These are relatively strict groupings, and the movies in each category, bound by similar qualities, would have a hard time wriggling out of their respective genres. Not so with noir. Though the bulk of noirs can safely be indexed in crime, mystery, or thriller genres, noir is really a style of movie, not a circumscribed genre that jealously holds its subjects captive. What's the difference between style and genre? Style reflects flavor, look, tone, and theme. Noirs invariably share some or most of these qualities. Genre denotes the inflexible content of a movie, the type of story being told. If it has gunslingers, horses, and cacti, and it's set in Tombstone, Arizona, it's a western. Spontaneous song and dance in embarrassingly public arenas should tip you off that you're watching a musical. And so on.

[Pictured Actress Ava Gardner in the ultimate film noir taken from or based upon author Ernest Hemingway's "The Killer..."]

...Noir, on the other hand, is acutely fluid. The style's unmistakable traits -- ominous shadows, claustrophobic atmosphere, murder, danger, alienation, corruption,guns, cigarettes,femme-fatales, Venetian blinds, cars, greed, rain-slick street,double dealing, [sometimes] bleak endings -- flow indiscriminately, frequently bubbling up in movies that don't neatly fit the crime or gangster genres..."

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The ICP MUSEUM...UPCOMING EXHIBITION: WEEGEE MURDER IS MY BUSINESS...

[Pictured: Weegee and director Stanley Kubrick with the tool Of his trade a camera...]

The ICP MUSEUM...UPCOMING EXHIBITION: WEEGEE MURDER IS MY BUSINESS...
For an intense decade between 1935 and 1946, Weegee (1899–1968) was one of the most relentlessly inventive figures in American photography. His graphically dramatic and often lurid photographs of New York crimes and news events set the standard for what has become known as tabloid journalism.
[Pictured: Anthony Esposito, booked on suspicion Of killing a policeman...January 16, 1941
The photograph was taken by Weegee and is Copyrighted@...by Weegee estate.]

Freelancing for a variety of New York newspapers and photo agencies, and later working as a stringer for the short-lived liberal daily PM (1940–48), Weegee established a way of combining photographs and texts that was distinctly different from that promoted by other picture magazines, such as LIFE. Utilizing other distribution venues, Weegee also wrote extensively (including his autobiographical Naked City, published in 1945) and organized his own exhibitions at the Photo League.

This exhibition draws upon the extensive Weegee Archive at ICP and includes environmental recreations of Weegee's apartment and exhibitions. The exhibition is organized by ICP Chief Curator Brian Wallis.
This exhibition was made possible with support from the ICP Exhibitions Committee, The David Berg Foundation, an Anonymous donor, and with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. The touch screen content was produced by Documentary Arts in association with Octothorp Studio.

MUSEUM

1133 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036
Phone: 212.857.0000
Email: visit@icp.org

Direction...

Hours:
Tuesday–Wednesday: 10:00 am–6:00 pm
Thursday–Friday: 10:00 am–8:00 pm
Saturday–Sunday: 10:00 am–6:00 pm
Closed: Mondays
Closed: New Year's Day, January 1;
Independence Day, July 4; Thanksgiving Day; Christmas, December 25.

GALLERIES ARE CLOSED JANUARY 9–19 FOR INSTALLATION...

Admission
General Admission: $12
Students and Seniors (with valid ID): $8
ICP Members: Free
Children under 12: Free
Voluntary Contribution Fridays 5:00–8:00 pm

Free Friday night programs in the Museum are made possible, in part, by public funds from City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

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THE PAINTING [BELOW] IS BY ARTIST CHRIS STOTT...IN THE UPCOMING MONTHS...I PLAN TO TAKE A LOOK AT ARTIST CHRISTOPHER STOTT'S HOPPER INSPIRED PAINTINGS.

[AS I TAKE A LOOK AT PHOTOGRAPHER WEEGEE'S THOUGHT-PROVOKING PHOTOGRAPHS...I ALSO DECIDED TO TAKE A LOOK AT ARTIST CHRIS STOTT'S VERY BEAUTIFUL PAINTING ENTITLED "THREE VINTAGE CAMERAS..." @COPYRIGHTED

The Title Of artist Chris Stott's painting is... Three Vintage Cameras
12" x 16"  |  Oil/Canvas  |  2009
Private Collection...

According To artist Chris Stott...

If you take a look at Edward Hopper's painting Office at Night you might get a better understanding about why I paint the subjects I do. It's the personality of the subject, the sophisticated clean lines and shiny, polished appearance.

I've painted these telephones several times. I did a receiver not to long ago and felt the need to do the entire telephone. Hopefully they get better as I go along, you're witnessing my journey here. I have a great temptation to paint this large and make a real statement.

Finally, if you click on the above painting you'll get a larger view so you can scrutinize my technique (or lack of). I realize that the tiny images I've provided on the this blog prior to today are a bit annoying. I even find myself visiting other artists blogs wishing I could see large images just so I could get a better feel for the work.

Chris Stott~

This work by Artist Christopher Stott is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada License Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at Chris Stott's Copyright Notice Create a playlist at MixPod.com