I am approaching this post on In a Lonely Place as a page-to-screen piece, where I’ll compare notes on the novel of that title and the movie that goes by the same name. But really, there’s little in common between Dorothy B. Hughes’s 1947 book and the 1950 film directed by Nicholas Ray. Let’s talk…
We know about the appreciation of, and contributions to, noir film and fiction by the French. We know that they celebrated the likes of Jim Thompson when the now-revered American noir author was kicked to the curb in his home country. And in 1960 another striking example of U.S. noir being recognized by the French…
When I read Scott Adlerberg’s excellent appreciation of the gangster film Performance on Criminal Element last summer, I thought, “At some point I should do a piece about that other Rolling Stones-related crime movie I like so much, A Degree of Murder.” So, nine months or so later, here I am doing that. A Degree…
In spring, is there anywhere more seductive than France? In case you're itching for some armchair travel, here are links with something to fill any francophile crime fan with joie de vivre: Looking for a simply huge list of reading recommendations? From different styles and eras, here's an assortment of thirty different books set in…
My husband is in love with Fanny Ardant. But I don’t mind. I’m in love with her too. She’s the beguiling actress who plays the female lead in François Truffaut’s Confidentially Yours (Vivement Dimanche!, or“Finally Sunday”in the original). It was Truffaut’s last film, made in 1983—an homage to Hitchcock. Julien Vercel (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is a…
