Film buffs explore the world of noir cinema in a Los Angeles context with this guide to noir films and their California settings. This book illustrates how these films use L.A.'s diverse cityscape and architecture to convey a unique vision of urban corruption and existential fatalism, in both the gritty downtown area and the outlying affluent communities like Malibu and Beverly Hills. Dozens of noir and neo-noir films are featured including classics such as Double Indemnity , Kiss Me Deadly , Sunset Boulevard , and Touch of Evil and more recent films such as Mulholland Drive and Pulp Fiction . More than 150 photographs—many never before published—further illustrate the rich and constantly changing backdrop of these movies.