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Man Of A Thousand Fails: Film Noir of Elisha Cook Jr.
Paperback
Series: Classic Hollywood Snapshots
Entertainment & Performing ArtsTelevisionFilm Studies
Publisher Price: $12.99
ISBN13: 9781763810051
Publisher: Bent Banana Books
Published: Mar 4 2026
Pages: 128
Weight: 0.44
Height: 0.27 Width: 6.28 Depth: 9.43
Language: English
If you love classic Hollywood crime films and the iconic character actors who made them unforgettable, this book is for you.
- Award-winning Film Noir cultural analyst Bernie Dowling introduces a new series, Classic Hollywood Snapshots, bringing you picture-rich books at economical prices.
- The debut volume kicks off with a deep dive into the legendary career of Elisha Cook Jr.-the man of a thousand fails who defined the perpetual loser for generations of film fanatics.
What you'll find inside:
- 250+ Eye-catching Photographs: A stunning collection of Elisha, behind-the-scenes glimpses, and the creators of classic Hollywood.
- Deep-Dive Film History: From The Maltese Falcon to The Big Sleep, discover the history of the actors who built the genre.
- A Cinematic Journey: Expert analysis of 25 seminal films, including the criminally overlooked proto-noir classic They Won't Forget 1937, as well as essential titles like Stranger on the Third Floor 1940, Born to Kill 1947, and Stanley Kubrick's The Killing 1956.
Throughout, Dowling's sharp cultural analysis and sly humor make this a reverential applause for the actor named after a miracle worker. A treat for cinephiles who understand the essence of the bit player in noir, this serves as an entry through a different door of perception for cinema students and is essential reading on the journey into the heart of noir.
[Book Two in the Classic Hollywood Snapshots series, TY, Thel, is available now, exploring the legendary career of Thelma Ritter.]Also from
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