Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Decharne, a member of the British band the Flaming Stars, tackles some literary noir scenarios and true murder tales as prime inspirations for some of the finest crime films produced in Hollywood. He analyzes the thrill gangsters held for the masses when screenwriters put them into films from the 1930s until the present, producing overnight stars like Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney, and Humphrey Bogart. Although sometimes the book seems like a tame clip job, it does provide the rare eye-opening revelation about the featured films and the real-life or literary events behind their creation: the story of Al Capone behind Little Caesar; the experiences leading Raymond Chandler to write his novel turned movie The Big Sleep; the realities and myths behind the protagonists of Bonnie and Clyde; and the 1950s Los Angeles world of crime and scandal behind the novel and movie L.A. Confidential. Rehashing several familiar Tinseltown tidbits and uncovering very little new material about these landmark offerings, Decharne's work is not an essential reference volume for the entertainment book shelf. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
British band member Decharne (of the Flaming Stars) here looks at 11 crime and detective films from the 1930s through the 1990s: Little Caesar; The Big Sleep; In a Lonely Place; Kiss Me, Deadly; Hell Is a City; Psycho; Point Blank; Bonnie & Clyde; Get Carter; Dillinger; and L.A. Confidential. These aren't all noir films or Hollywood studio pictures, but that doesn't matter. Decharne considers how the real criminals who inspired writers and how the writers' stories were then translated to the big screen. For example, Psycho was based on Ed Gein, a 1940s Wisconsin farmer with a domineering mother, who dug up and cut up corpses and kept the pieces in his home. Decharne does an excellent job of dispelling the myth peddled by the makers of Bonnie & Clyde that the real-life protagonists were harmless and instead shows them as the vicious thugs they were. VERDICT Excellent research, eminently readable; this great book is perfect for both film buffs and hardcore fans of true crime or crime fiction. Highly recommended.-Michael O. Eshleman, Bethel, AK (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
