The crime film genre consists of detective films, gangster films, suspense thrillers, film noir, and caper films and is produced throughout the world. Crime film was there at the birth of cinema, and it has accompanied cinema over more than a century of history, passing from silent films to talkies, from black-and-white to color. The genre includes such classics as The Maltese Falcon, The Godfather, Gaslight, The French Connection, and Serpico, as well as more recent successes like Seven, Drive, and L.A. Confidential. The Historical Dictionary of Crime Films covers the history of this genre through a chronology, an introductory essay, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 300 cross-referenced entries on key films, directors, performers, and studios. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about crime cinema.

"Really refreshing...treated with perception and intelligence " Barry Forshaw, Crime Time 2005 No 43 This book traces the career of Roy Ward Baker, one of the great survivors of the British film and television industry. He directed the landmark British film Morning Departure (1949), worked at Twentieth Century Fox in Hollywood in the early 1950s where he directed Marilyn Monroe's 'breakthrough' film (Don't Bother to Knock), and followed this with a succession of fine films for Rank, culminating in the best version of the Titanic disaster, A Night to Remember in 1958. Yet within three years he was unable to secure a job in the British film industry and he moved to television series such as The Avengers, The Saint and Minder. Later Baker re-emerged as a major director of science-fiction (Quatermass and the Pit) and horror films (Asylum). Geoff Mayer provides an industrial and aesthetic context in which to understand the interrelationship between a skilled classical director and the transformation of the British film industry in the 1950s

When viewers think of film noir, they often picture actors like Humphrey Bogart playing characters like Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon, the film based on the book by Dashiell Hammett. Yet film noir is a genre much richer. The authors first examine the debate surrounding the parameters of the genre and the many different ways it is defined. They discuss the Noir City, its setting and backdrop, and also the cultural (WWII) and institutional (the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, and the Production Code Administration) influences on the subgenres. An analysis of the low budget and series film noirs provides information on those cult classics. With over 200 entries on films, directors, and actors, the Encyclopedia of Film Noir is the most complete resource for film fans, students, and scholars. Each entry includes: BLDirector BLProducer BLCinematography BLScript BLMusic BLCast BLPlot description BLCritical analysis

Scholarly and popular interest in British cinema has never been stronger, with films ranging from the Merchant/Ivory pictures through Notting Hill finding both critical and commercial success in America. As such, The Guide to British Cinema represents an invaluable guide to the nation's cinematic output, including entries on major British actors, directors, and films from 1929 through the present day. The volume also highlights both major cycles such as the Gainsborough melodrama, the Ealing comedy, and the British new wave; as well as less well-defined cycles including the vein of dark melodramas that characterized the British cinema from 1945 to 1950. Such figures as Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean, and Dirk Bogarde are covered in detail, as well as Christopher Lee, Roy Ward Baker, Ray Winstone, and other long-serving but less well-known artists. The Guide pays close attention to films including The Third Man and Brief Encounter as well as genre pieces such as Brighton Rock. In all, the volume represents the first full-length examination of its subject, providing an irreplaceable resource for both film scholars and historians of British culture.

The institutions and products of the Australian film industry have been extensively surveyed, yet few analyses consider the sources of the film revival that took place in the 1970s and 1980s. This book represents a body of thinking about Australian cinema that asks where the origins of films lie. The book begins by tracing the indebtedness of Australian cinema to the classical narrative style of Hollywood film-making, with its firm grasp of melodrama. It continues by comparing the problems faced by the 'high' British cinema of the 1940s and 1950s with those faced by Australia in the 1970s and 1980s in the attempts by both countries to establish national film industries. New Australian Cinema will increase the scope of the discussion about the revival of Australian cinema and help us to make cultural sense of the films themselves.

From "The Story of the Kelly Gang" in 1906 to the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, Australia and New Zealand have made a unique impact on international cinema. This book celebrates the commercially successful narrative feature films produced by these cultures as well as key documentaries, shorts, and independent films. It also invokes issues involving national identity, race, history, and the ability of two small film cultures to survive the economic and cultural threat of Hollywood. Chapters on well known films and directors, such as "The Year of Living Dangerously" (Peter Weir, 1982), "The Piano" (Jane Campion, 1993), "Fellowship of the Ring" (Peter Jackson, 2001), and "Rabbit Proof Fence" (Philip Noyce, 2002), are included with less popular but equally important films and filmmakers, such as "Jedda" (Charles Chauvel, 1955), "They're a Weird Mob" (Michael Powell, 1966), "Vigil" (Vincent Ward, 1984), and "The Goddess of 1967" (Clara Law, 2000).

From "The Story of the Kelly Gang" in 1906 to the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, Australia and New Zealand have made a unique impact on international cinema. This book celebrates the commercially successful narrative feature films produced by these cultures as well as key documentaries, shorts, and independent films. It also invokes issues involving national identity, race, history, and the ability of two small film cultures to survive the economic and cultural threat of Hollywood. Chapters on well known films and directors, such as "The Year of Living Dangerously" (Peter Weir, 1982), "The Piano" (Jane Campion, 1993), "Fellowship of the Ring" (Peter Jackson, 2001), and "Rabbit Proof Fence" (Philip Noyce, 2002), are included with less popular but equally important films and filmmakers, such as "Jedda" (Charles Chauvel, 1955), "They're a Weird Mob" (Michael Powell, 1966), "Vigil" (Vincent Ward, 1984), and "The Goddess of 1967" (Clara Law, 2000).

This book traces the career of Roy Ward Baker, one of the great survivors of the British film and television industry. He directed the landmark British film "Morning Departure "(1949), worked at Twentieth Century Fox in Hollywood in the early 1950s where he directed Marilyn Monroe, and the best version of the Titanic disaster, "A Night to Remember" in 1958. He then moved to television series such as "The Avengers," "The Saint" and "Minder." Later Baker re-emerged as a major director of science-fiction ("Quatermass and The P"it) and horror films ("Asylum"). Geoff Mayer provides an industrial and aesthetic context in which to understand the interrelationship between a skilled classical director and the transformation of the British film industry in the 1950s.