by James Wallace Harris, 7/8/26
Anyone who frequents Noir Alley on Saturday nights on TCM should find Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir by Eddie Muller to be Noir Metropolis. However, a tip about where to place your bet.
I bought the hardback edition because I knew I’d want to linger over the beautiful photos. Noir is very visual. And the book is laid out in landscape to showcase those photos. But when I went to read the book, I discovered that reading a landscape volume was a pain in the ass while sitting in my La-Z-Boy. The tiny type was also a hindrance.
Luckily, the audiobook of Dark City went on sale, and I snagged a copy. Listening to the book is like listening to 12 hours and 19 minutes of Eddie Muller on Noir Alley. Muller is one of the audiobook’s narrators. The book is written in the same style he uses to narrate his introductions on TCM. Muller’s nonfiction prose is like reading Raymond Chandler novels.
I’m glad I got the hardback with pictures, but I wish I had the Kindle edition too, so I could enjoy reading and studying Dark City with my eyes. I have to read Dark City at my desk using a book holder. That’s only comfortable for short periods.
However, I never need to read for long. That’s because when Muller describes a movie, I often jump up to go watch it. I haven’t gotten far in the hardback, but I have with the audiobook. And it might not be a book I can ever finish reading. It makes me want to watch too many noir films.
For example, I read this and immediately wanted to watch it.
After you watch the show, read about the 1947 smallpox outbreak on Wikipedia. While watching the movie, I thought some of the events were too fantastic to believe, but they happened.
Luckily, I found The Killer That Stalked New York (Frightened City) on YouTube right away.
A word of warning. A large percentage of the films Muller mentions are on YouTube. But I’m not sure if everyone can see them for free. I subscribed to the light version of YouTube Premium, which gets rid of commercials, for $8.99 a month. That fee might get me extra movies. Just check. Often, when using the JustWatch app on your phone to see where a movie is playing, it will say it’s not available to stream. Then check YouTube. It often has movies that aren’t streaming anywhere else.
Here’s Muller’s old introduction to the film on Noir Alley.
Muller tends to call every black-and-white movie from the 1940s and 1950s film noir if it involves crime. The Killer That Stalked New York lacks the visual and narrative style of The Maltese Falcon or Double Indemnity. Nor does it have the gonzo edginess of Gun Crazy or Kiss Me Deadly. It’s just a gripping story.
And that’s my problem with film noir. Hundreds of films get the film noir tag, but is that fair? I’ve looked for all kinds of rubrics to categorize a film as noir, and nothing works consistently.
One thing I have noticed is that some of my friends who claim to hate old movies will watch and praise a classic noir film. I’m wondering if most old films just seem hokey to them, and noirs are old movies with a story they can handle. Maybe crime stories just seem more realistic. And is this related to why every TV show on BritBox seems to be a police procedural? Are crime stories some kind of lingua fraca among moviegoers? Or do tales about criminals just have wide appeal?
If you’re not familiar with film noir, look at this list on Rotten Tomatoes. If you watch a few of them and like them, you might want to get Muller’s book to look for all the forgotten films. I’m addicted to them.
JWH
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