Cornell Woolrich from Pulp Noir to Film Noir

Extremely popular and prolific in the 1930s and 1940s, Cornell Woolrich still has diehard fans who thrive on his densely packed descriptions and his spellbinding premises. A contemporary of Hammett and Chandler, he competed with them for notoriety in the pulps and became the single most adapted writer for films of the noir period. Perhaps the most famous film adaptation of a Woolrich story is Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954). Even today, his work is still onscreen; Michael Cristofer’s Original Sin (2001) is based on one of his tales. This book offers a detailed analysis of many of Woolrich’s novels and short stories; examines films adapted from these works; and shows how Woolrich’s techniques and themes influenced the noir genre. Twenty-two stories and 30 films compose the bulk of the study, though many other additions of films noirs are also considered because of their relevance to Woolrich’s plots, themes and characters. The introduction includes a biographical sketch of Woolrich and his relationship to the noir era, and the book is illustrated with stills from Woolrich’s noir classics.

Thomas C. Renzi is an administrator and instructor at Buffalo State College in Buffalo, New York.

Thomas C. Renzi

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 368
Bibliographic Info: 32 photos, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2006
pISBN: 978-0-7864-2351-4
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8281-8
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vi
Preface      1
Introduction      3

“The Corpse Next Door” (January 23, 1937)      25
Union City (1979)      27
“Face Work” (October 1937)      31
Convicted (1938)      34
“I’m Dangerous Tonight” (November 1937)      39
I’m Dangerous Tonight (1990)      42
“I Wouldn’t Be in Your Shoes” (March 12, 1938)      47
I Wouldn’t Be in Your Shoes (1948)      51
“All at Once, No Alice” (March 20, 1940)      57
The Return of the Whistler (1948)      60
“C-Jag” (October 1940)      67
Fall Guy (1947)      71
The Bride Wore Black (1940)      78
The Bride Wore Black (1967)      84
“He Looked Like Murder” (February 8, 1941)      93
The Guilty (1947)      97
“Nightmare” (March 1941)      107
Fear in the Night (1947)      114
Nightmare (1956)      122
The Black Curtain (1941)      130
Street of Chance (1942)      134
“Rear Window” (February 1942)      143
Rear Window (1954)      150
Rear Window (Television, 1998)      170
Black Alibi (1942)      175
The Leopard Man (1943)      179
“Dormant Account” (May 1942)      190
The Mark of the Whistler (1944)      196
Phantom Lady (1942)      200
Phantom Lady (1944)      205
The Black Angel (1943)      213
Black Angel (1946)      219
Deadline at Dawn (1944)      230
Deadline at Dawn (1946)      234
The Black Path of Fear (1944)      242
The Chase (1946)      249
Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1945)      261
Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948)      266
Waltz into Darkness (1947)      276
Mississippi Mermaid (1969)      285
Original Sin (2001)      295
“The Boy Cried Murder” (March 1947)      303
The Window (1949)      307
The Boy Cried Murder (1966)      318
Cloak & Dagger (1984)      322
I Married a Dead Man (1948)      324
No Man of Her Own (1950)      328
J’ai épousé une ombre (1982)      337
Mrs. Winterbourne (1996)      340
She’s No Angel (Television, 2003)      343
“For the Rest of Her Life” (May 1968)      345
Martha (German television, 1973)      349

Bibliography      355
Index      359

• “This volume is tops, and it is my hope that Thomas C. Renzi writes more of the same…excellent…intelligent and interesting reading…a meticulous evaluation of the films and the author proves that he really knows his noir and Woolrich. Highly recommended”—Classic Images
• “In-depth examination…detailed analysis…‘must-read’…excellent…meticulously researched…highly readable…recommended”—Midwest Book Review