Dark City Dames

Description

"Film noir was the dark side of the movies' happily-ever-after mythology. Sinister and sexy, it forged a new icon: the tough, independent, take-no-guff dame. Determined, desirable, dangerous when cornered, she could handle trouble - or deal out some of her own.". "If you thought these women were something special onscreen, wait till you meet the genuine articles. In Dark City Dames, acclaimed film historian Eddie Muller profiles six women who made a lasting impression in this cinematic terrain - from veteran "bad girls" Audrey Totter, Marie Windsor and Jane Greer to unexpected genre fixtures Evelyn Keyes, Coleen Gray and Ann Savage. The book surveys the lives of these formidable women during the height of their careers circa 1950, as they balanced love and career, struggled against typecasting, and sought fulfillment in a ruthless business. Their personal stories - teeming with larger-than-life characters like Howard Hughes, L. B. Mayer, Robert Mitchum, Otto Preminger and John Huston - offer an illuminating counterpoint to their movies, such as Out of the Past, Detour, The Lady in the Lake, and The Killing. Then Dark City Dames revisits each one of these women today, fifty years on, to witness their hard-won - and triumphant - survival. On every page their own voices ring through, reflecting on their lives with as much passion, pain, intelligence, energy and humor as any movie script."--BOOK JACKET.

First Sentence

From the dim recesses of cocktail lounges they beckoned, shimmering like irresistible lures.

Subjects

Other Editions

• Dark City Dames: The Wicked Women of Film NoirHarperEntertainment2002-07-01
• Dark City DamesHardcoverHarper2001-05-22
• Dark City DamesHarper2001-05-22
• Dark City DamesPaperbackHarperEntertainment2002-07-01
• Dark City DamesRunning Press2025-01-01
• Dark City DamesRunning Press2025-01-01