Since the earliest days of cinema, filmgoers have delighted in the depiction of violence, criminality, and sudden death. Evil, whether it is portrayed in psychological, social or spiritual terms, has long held a fascination for our culture. This wide-ranging study of film noir analyses the peculiar French contribution to the crime thriller/gangster movie genres inspired as they were by American crime films of the thirties and forties.

The author shows how such directors as Melville, Becker, Godard, Truffaut, Chabrol and Corneau have responded to the demand for films that are satisfying as fiction while at the same time preserving a plausible background of French life and society. From the German Occupation to the present day, Buss relates these films to French, American and British traditions of crime fiction, and shows how the genre has been used for pure entertainment and political and social comment.