1. Future quotes without page numbers were obtained from the film version.

2. Some essays by William James are notable exceptions. But James emphasizes the positive characteristics associated with existentialism, and hard-boiled fiction and film noir emphasize the negative. I will say more about these distinctions in what follows.

3. A case can be made that Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) is actually the first film of the cycle and Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) is actually the last film of the cycle.

4. The first (and for many years the only) book-length study of the films, Panorama du Film Noir Americain, was published by French authors Raymond Borde and Etienne Chaumeton in 1955.

5. There are very few noir titles between 1941 and 1944.

6. In 2001 the Library of America published hardcover editions (in four volumes) of Hammett’s and Chandler’s work.

7. The Big Sleep was actually filmed during 1944, but its release was delayed until 1946 so that certain scenes between Bogart and Bacall could be reshot.

8. In some cases “happy” romantic endings do not undermine the noir effect. Either the romantic subplot is overwhelmed by the atmosphere, or the ending is so unconvincingly tacked on that it can be ignored.

9. In More than Night, James Naremore makes a compelling case that film noir cannot be satisfactorily defined. Nevertheless, I feel compelled to offer a working definition for readers.