Hollywood Noir's Women Performers

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by Julie Grossman and R. Barton Palmer

Type

Studies

Subject

Genre > Film Noir

Keywords

film noir, women, actresses

Publishing date

2026 (August 31, 2026)

Publisher

Edinburgh University Press

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Hardcover • 304 pages
6 x 9 ¼ inches (15.5 x 23.5 cm)

ISBN

978-1-4744-2808-8

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Book Presentation:
Hollywood Noir’s Women Performers explores the meaning of performance through an analysis of the unfolding oeuvres of women performers in film noir. The case studies aim to illuminate classic noir films through the lens of performance by women. Shifting the usual emphasis in studies of film noir from genre, character patterns and socio-historical context to performance, each chapter addresses the defining contributions of the women who appeared in these films.

The volume builds on scholarship in recent decades that focuses on the centrality of women in film noir, adding material evidence for that approach in fresh readings of films and Hollywood production practices. Hollywood Noir’s Women Performers not only explores how women dominate in the narrative, style or influence of these films through their dynamic performances, but also considers these women’s distinct positions in Hollywood, their roles in the industry and their multiple and mutually informing portrayals in classic noir.

About the authors:
Julie Grossman is professor of English and Communication at Le Moyne College. Her books include Rethinking the Femme Fatale: Ready for Her Close-Up (2009, 2012); Twin Peaks (with Will Scheibel, 2020); The Femme Fatale (2020); Penny Dreadful and Adaptation: Reanimating and Transforming the Monster (co-edited with Will Scheibel, 2023); and Screening Contemporary Irish Fiction and Drama (co-edited with R. Barton Palmer and Marc C. Conner, 2022). An updated edition of her book Ida Lupino, Director: Her Art and Resilience in Times of Transition (with Therese Grisham) was just published in 2026. She is (with R. Barton Palmer) the founding co-editor of the Palgrave Studies in Adaptation and Visual Culture book series. Her book Hollywood Noir’s Women Performers (with Barton Palmer) will be published in 2026 by EUP.R. Barton Palmer is Calhoun Lemon Professor of Literature Emeritus at Clemson University. He is the author, editor, or general editor of many books including Hollywood’s Dark Cinema: The American Film Noir (1994), After Hitchcock: Influence, Imitation, and Intertextuality (2006), and A Little Solitaire: John Frankenheimer and American Film (2011). He is the series editor for EUP’s traditions in World Cinema, Traditions in American Cinema and International Film Stars series, and he is co-editor of five recent EUP books: Michael Mann, George Cukor, Film Noir, International Noir and The Other Hollywood Renaissance.

See the publisher website: Edinburgh University Press