Eddie Muller
Encyclopedia
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
based in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. He is known for writing books about movies, particularly film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
. Founder and president of the Film Noir Foundation, he is considered a noir expert and is called on to write and talk about the film genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
, notably on wry commentary tracks for Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
's film noir series of DVDs. Novelist James Ellroy
James Ellroy
Lee Earle "James" Ellroy is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a so-called "telegraphic" prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, staccato sentences, and in particular for the novels The Black...
has dubbed him "The Czar of Noir".
Muller is the son of a famed San Francisco boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
writer of the same name, whom he used as the basis for the character of Billy Nichols in his period crime novel The Distance, which was named the Best First Novel of 2002 by the Private Eye Writers of America. Billy Nichols returned in the 2003 novel Shadow Boxer.
Nonfiction
- (with Daniel Faris) Grindhouse: The Forbidden World of "Adults Only" Cinema (1996); ISBN 0312146094
- Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir (1998); ISBN 0312180764
- Dark City Dames: The Wicked Women of Film Noir (2001); ISBN 0060393696
- The Art Of Noir: The Posters & Graphics From The Classical Era Of Film Noir (2004); ISBN 1585676039
- (with Tab HunterTab HunterTab Hunter is an American actor, singer, former teen idol and author who has starred in over forty major films.-Background:...
) Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star (2005); ISBN 1565125487
DVD Commentaries
- Angel Face
- Born to KillBorn to Kill (1947 film)Born to Kill is a 1947 film noir starring Lawrence Tierney and directed by Robert Wise. It was the first film noir to be directed by Wise, who later directed The Set-Up , The Captive City , and Odds Against Tomorrow...
, with audio interview excerpts of director Robert WiseRobert WiseRobert Earl Wise was an American sound effects editor, film editor, film producer and director... - Crime WaveCrime Wave (1954 film)Crime Wave is a 1954 film noir, directed by André De Toth. It was adapted from a short story which originally appeared in The Saturday Evening Post - Criminal Mark by John and Ward Hawkins.-Plot:...
, with crime novelist James EllroyJames EllroyLee Earle "James" Ellroy is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a so-called "telegraphic" prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, staccato sentences, and in particular for the novels The Black... - Fallen AngelFallen Angel (1945 film)Fallen Angel is a 1945 black-and-white film noir directed by Otto Preminger, with cinematography by Joseph LaShelle, who had also worked with Preminger on Laura a year before. The film features Alice Faye, Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell, and Charles Bickford. It was the last film Faye made as a major...
, with Susan Andrews (daughter of actor Dana AndrewsDana AndrewsDana Andrews was an American film actor. He was one of Hollywood's major stars of the 1940s, and continued acting, though generally in less prestigious roles, into the 1980s.-Early life:...
) - The House on 92nd StreetThe House on 92nd StreetThe House on 92nd Street is a 1945 black-and-white spy film directed by Henry Hathaway. The film, shot mainly in New York City, was released shortly after the end of World War II. The House on 92nd Street was made with the full cooperation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation , and its head, J....
- The House on Telegraph HillThe House on Telegraph HillThe House on Telegraph Hill is a film noir starring Richard Basehart, Valentina Cortese, and William Lundigan, directed by Robert Wise, and released by Twentieth Century Fox. Parts of the film were filmed on location in the Telegraph Hill area of San Francisco...
- I Wake Up ScreamingI Wake Up ScreamingI Wake Up Screaming is a 1941 film noir. It is based on the novel of the same name by Steve Fisher, who co-wrote the screenplay with Dwight Taylor...
- The LineupThe Lineup (film)The Lineup is a 1958 American film version of the police procedural series that ran on CBS radio from 1950 through 1953 and on CBS television from 1954 through 1960, directed by Don Siegel...
, with crime novelist James EllroyJames EllroyLee Earle "James" Ellroy is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a so-called "telegraphic" prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, staccato sentences, and in particular for the novels The Black... - MacaoMacao (film)Macao is a 1952 black-and-white film noir adventure film directed by Josef von Sternberg and Nicholas Ray. Producer Howard Hughes fired director von Sternberg during filming and hired Nicholas Ray to finish it...
, with screenwriter Stanley Rubin and actress Jane RussellJane RussellJane Russell was an American film actress and was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s.... - Mau Mau Sex Sex, with director Ted Bonnitt
- No Way OutNo Way Out (1950 film)No Way Out is a black-and-white film noir directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and starring Richard Widmark, Linda Darnell, Stephen McNally, and Sidney Poitier...
- The RacketThe Racket (1951 film)The Racket is a 1951 remake of the the 1928 film The Racket. This film noir-style black-and-white film was directed by John Cromwell with uncredited directing help from Nicholas Ray and Mel Ferrer. The police crime drama is based on a popular Bartlett Cormack play. The Racket is a 1951 remake of...
- Road HouseRoad House (1948 film)For the 1989 film, see Road House .Road House is a film noir drama directed by Jean Negulesco, with cinematography by Joseph LaShelle. The picture features Ida Lupino, Cornel Wilde, Celeste Holm, Richard Widmark, among others....
, with film noir historian Kim Morgan - The SniperThe Sniper (1952 film)The Sniper is a black-and-white film noir, directed by Edward Dmytryk, written by Harry Brown, and based on a story by Edna Anhalt and Edward Anhalt. The film features Adolphe Menjou, Arthur Franz, Gerald Mohr, Marie Windsor, among others....
- Somewhere in the Night
- They Live by NightThey Live by NightThey Live by Night is a film noir, based on Edward Anderson's Depression era novel Thieves Like Us. The film was directed by Nicholas Ray and starred Farley Granger as "Bowie" Bowers and Cathy O'Donnell as "Keechie" Mobley...
, with actor Farley GrangerFarley GrangerFarley Earle Granger was an American actor. In a career spanning several decades, he was perhaps best known for his two collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock, Rope in 1948 and Strangers on a Train in 1951.-Early life:... - Where the Sidewalk EndsWhere the Sidewalk EndsWhere the Sidewalk Ends is a 1950 American film noir directed and produced by Otto Preminger. The screenplay for the film was written by Ben Hecht, and adapted by Robert E. Kent, Frank P. Rosenberg, and Victor Trivas. The screenplay and adaptations were based on the novel Night Cry by William L....