Cynical detectives, femmes fatales, rain-washed streets, and a single streetlamp shining in an otherwise pitch-black night. That's the beauty of film noir, a genre that portrays humanity's dark side—and one that's now enjoying revived popularity. Fans will find in this treasure-trove of noir facts all the information they could desire: a definition of the style and its roots; the classics and the turkeys; the key directors; the iconic characters and the stars who played them; and the authors (from Dashiell Hammett to Jim Thompson) whose novels inspired many of these movies.