Film Noir Fatal Women
by Alain Silver, and James Ursini

This book is a solid survey of the imagery and actresses that brought the femme fatale to life. The impressive collection of stills that make up the majority of the book’s space are both beautiful and informative. A newcomer to noir could gain an understanding of the femme fatale character and her importance to the genre quite well. The experienced film noir fan can reminiscence about beloved movies, find some titles they have missed, and make connections between movies and actresses they may not have made before.

Unsurprisingly, authors Alan Silver and James Ursini whose “Film Noir the Encyclopedia” (1979), Film Noir Reader series, and book “The Noir Style” predated and set the template for American books on the subject do an excellent and concise job of tracing the fatal woman in culture and pre-noir films that set the stage for the rise of noir’s femme fatales trope in their preface, “Deadly Precursors” and “Motif-Exotic Costuming” sections.

The main meat of the book is broken into two parts, “Themes and Styles” and “Roll Call”. The former is smartly confined to primarily imagery to illuminate the different themes and styles of noir with sections on “Sirens-Dressed to Kill”, my favorite, “Criminal, Killers and Sociopaths”, “Motif-Light Me” to name a few.

The “Roll Call” divides actresses from noir into three categories, “The A List”, “The B List”, and “What Else You Got”. To clarify, the A and B list refers to how much the actresses were associated with noir rather than if they were “A” or “B” film actresses, for example Cleo Moore is on the “A” list while “Beverly Michaels” is on the “B” list despite both of their careers being mostly confined to”poverty row” productions”. There are brief overviews of each actresses’ contributions to noir in addition to stills from their films. Actresses covered include greats like Barbara Stanwyck, Ida Lupino, and Gloria Grahame and the lesser known like Barbara Payton and Jan Sterling.

It is rare to see a paperback with this high of a quality in terms of layout and stills. Beyond how the book looks, it is also an illuminating journey through the world of film noir, suitable for new and old fans of the genre.