The Little Black and White Book of Film Noir: Quotations from Films of the '40s and '50s

Trevor S. Raymond is a teacher and librarian with the Peel Board of Education and editor of Canadian Holmes.

“Little” certainly describes this vest-pocket-sized compilation. A
four-paragraph introduction defines film noir, and lines of dialogue
subdivided into categories such as “The Sweet Talk” or “The Dress
Code” are quoted from some 100 movies from 1931 to 1957. A sample from
“The Tough Talk”: Richard Widmark in Pickup on South Street says,
“You open that window again, I’ll throw you out of it.” An index
to the movies is supplied but no dates are given for any of them. The
Big Sleep is quoted more than any other. But what does one do with this
book? Perhaps one could enclose it in an envelope with a greeting card
to provide a few moments’ diversion to a movie fan—one who likes the
late, late show.