"Film noir - literally "black cinema"--Is the label customarily given to a group of black-and-white American films, mostly crime thrillers, made between 1940 and 1959. Today, many dispute what classifies a noir film and which films should be included in this category. These problems are partly caused because film noir is a retrospective label that was not used in the 1940s or 1950s by the film industry as a production category. Consequently, its existence and features cannot be established through reference to trade documents. " "This Historical Dictionary of Film Noir is a comprehensive guide of the film-noir genre from 1940 to present-day neo-noir. It consists of a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, a filmography, and more than 400 cross-referenced dictionary entries on every aspect of film noir and neo-noir, including key film personnel (actors, cinematographers, composers, directors, producers, set designers, and writers), themes, issues, influences, visual style, cycles of films (e. g. , amnesiac noirs), the representation of city and gender, other forms (comics/graphic novels, television, and video games), and noir's presence in world cinema. It is an essential reference work for all those interested in this important cultural phenomenon. "--Jacket.