Recommended reading - The Film Noir Encyclopedia (2010):

The Film Noir Encyclopedia

Edited by Alain Silver, Elizabeth Ward, James Ursini, Robert Porfirio.

Published by Harry N. Abrams.

Published 2010.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 1590201442

ISBN-13: 978-1590201442

Description:

Meet the cynical and obsessive heroes of film noir portrayed by actors like Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, James Cagney, Joan Crawford, and Bette Davis. You may encounter a gun-toting gangster, a femme fatale wrapped in fur, a detective with the brim of his hat turned down, or a desperate murderer lurking in the shadows of a doorway. It's a world we all know – the seedy underbelly of the American Dream, and every bit as much a part of our culture. This wonderfully exhaustive text – tallying more than three hundred thousand words with hundreds of film stills and photos new to the work – distills everything about the movement into one volume from movies to stars to themes and motifs and brings us up to date with contemporary contributions to the movement. Now completely revised, expanded, and redesigned, this classic pioneering work is the final word on a dark subject.