Often forgotten among the actors, directors, producers and others associated with filmmaking, art directors are responsible for making movies visually appealing to audiences. As such they sometimes make the difference between a hit and a bomb.This biographical dictionary includes not only the world's great and almost-great artists, but the unjustly neglected film designers of the past and present. Among the more than 300 art directors and designers are pioneers from silent films, designers from Hollywood and Europe's Golden Ages, Asian figures, post - Golden Age personalities, leaders of the European and American New Waves, and many contemporary designers. Each entry consists of biographical information, an analysis of the director's career and important films, and an extensive filmography including mentions of Academy Award nominations and winners.

The conventions of gangster movies have become well known: the gum-chewing moll, the kiss of death, incorruptible G-men and well-dressed gangsters toting machine guns. The genre was first popularized in the silent era and has continued with such contemporary releases as ""Billy Bathgate"" and ""Bugsy"".Films, actors, directors, producers, cinematographers, plot devices, themes and more are included in this encyclopedic reference work to gangster films. For people, there are biographical sketches that focus on their work in gangster films. The film entries include year of release, distributor, cast and production credits, and a brief synopsis. Terms are placed in context of the genre, with relevant examples form gangster films given.

Film noir is a uniquely American genre that has stylistic links to the German expressionist cinema of the 1920s and thematic links to the hard-boiled crime fiction that emerged in the 1930s. Generally the milieu is urban and middle class, and the overall feel is one of repression and fatalism. Whether shot in black and white or color, the style reinforces the overall feel. Films, directors, actors, producers, screenwriters, art directors, themes, plot devices and many other elements are contained in this encyclopedic reference work. Each movie entry includes full filmographic data (studio, running time, production and cast credits, and plot synopsis) along with an analysis of its place in the genre. Biographical entries focus on the person's role in noir and provide a complete filmography of their film noir work. Terms are placed in the context of the genre and relevant examples from films are given.