Checking in with
If it’s said that Eddie Muller wrote the book on film noir, that’s not merely a figure of speech.
Turner Classic Movies’ wry host of the Sunday and Saturday “Noir Alley” series has revised and expanded his 1998 book “Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir,” now that his weekly television presence is giving new life to – and building a bigger following for – the genre known for often darkly lit mysteries, murders and romances.
“I had to get the rights to the book back from the original publisher,” the San Franciscobased Muller explains about releasing the updated “Dark City” edition. “I’m very happy with the way it all worked out, because if I had done that five years ago, I wouldn’t have had this gig on TCM then and I don’t think it would have reached as many people.”
Muller notes “Dark City” now includes “three chapters I originally wanted to put in the book, but were eliminated because of space. For this go-round, I was able to streamline some things, particularly discussing plots of movies. When I wrote the book originally, I honestly didn’t think a lot of these movies were going to be seen again, so I was a little too enthusiastic in recounting plots. Now, I know better.”
With TCM colleague Ben Mankiewicz, Muller hosted a July series of neo-noir movies, showcasing more-contemporary variations such as “Blade Runner” and “Body Heat.” He hopes to do that again, citing the overall genre’s appeal: “I don’t know that there are passionate groups of screwball-comedy-lovers or Western-lovers. I’m sure there are, but it just seems like the noir stuff has connected.”
Birthdate:
Birthplace and current residence: San Francisco
Marital status: Married
Other book credits include: “The Distance,” “Shadow Boxer,” “Dark City Dames,” “The Art of Noir,” “Gun Crazy: The Origin of American Outlaw Cinema,”
“Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star” (co-written with Hunter himself)
On being known as a film-noir expert: “Almost every day, I’ll get an e-mail from somebody who says something ike, ‘There was a movie, and all I remember is that a guy was on a railroad track at night and he got his leg caught and a train was coming. What was the movie?’I get those all the time, and it’s usually about a death scene. ‘A guy fell into a vat of molten copper. What’s that movie?’ ”
Favorite movie: “Even though I always say ‘In a Dark Place,’ because it’s a noir film and that’s what people expect, it’s really ‘Chinatown.’ I could argue that ‘Chinatown’ fits the noir bill, but I don’t want to have that argument all the time.”
Favorite television series you’re not on: “‘Better Call Saul,’ but I also love ‘Babylon Berlin.’ That’s a great show.”
Favorite singer: “I’m going to say Frank Sinatra, but there are so many different styles, I also love Dinah Washington, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say
Bruce Springsteen ... but I think of him more as a rock star than a singer.”
Oct. 15, 1958