James M. Cain
1) Serenade
Series
Description
"A rising opera star's life is as turbulent as the on-stage roles he plays in this emotion-swept musical drama based on a James M. Cain novel and filmed almost entirely in Mexico. As the young vocalist who emerges from the obscurity of the vineyards, Mario Lana impressively hoists the lead role onto his wide shoulders. In a dazzling display of the power that made him a sensation of the musical screen, the renowned tenor signs Ave Maria, excerpts from...
Description
Frank Chambers (Jack Nicholson) is a drifter who lands at a roadside gas station owned by jolly old Nick Papadakis (John Colicos) and his young, blonde wife Cora (Jessica Lange). Frank and Cora quickly fall in love, and plot Nick's murder. Waiting for wedding bells to ring, the body count rises, the gavel slams--of course, nothing ever goes as planned--and their plans are derailed one by one.
Description
Frank Chambers (John Garfield) is a drifter who lands at a roadside gas station owned by jolly old Nick Smith (Cecil Kellaway) and his young, blonde wife Cora (Lana Turner). In a matter of minutes, Frank and Cora fall in love, and plot to murder Nick. Eventually wedding bells ring, the body count rises, and the gavel slams-of course, nothing ever goes as planned. Part of what makes the film noir is watching the characters react, as their plans are...
Description
An intimate portrait of a uniquely independent woman who finds herself newly divorced during the Depression years and struggles to carve out a new life for herself and her family. The story explores Mildred's unreasonable devotion to her insatiable daughter Veda, as well as the complex relationship she shares with the indolent men in her life, including her polo-playing lover Monty Beragon and ex-husband Bert Pierce.
Series
Description
"A calculating wife encourages her wealthy husband to sign a double indemnity policy proposed by smitten insurance agent Walter Neff. As the would-be lovers plot the unsuspecting husband's murder, they are pursued by a suspicious claims manager. It's a race against time to get away with the perfect crime in this heart-pounding Academy Award-nominated masterpiece"--Container.
Series
Library of America volume 94
Description
"This adventurous volume, with its companion devoted to the 1950s, presents a rich vein of modern American writing too often neglected in mainstream literary histories. Evolving out of the terse and violent hardboiled style of the pulp magazines, noir fiction expanded over the decades into a varied and innovative body of writing. Tapping deep roots in the American literary imagination, the novels in this volume explore themes of crime, guilt, deception,...
Description
Mildred Pierce is a happily married woman with two kids, living in the suburbs of sunny California. She secretly takes a job as a waitress so that she can pay for piano lessons and expensive clothes for her eldest daughter, Veda. Her growing financial independence permits her to open her own restaurant, and eventually a chain of eateries. She has divorced her intolerant first husband, and married well-connected Monte in order to get Veda into high...