Although rarely discussed in its totality, Joan Crawford's contribution to film noir during the 1940s and 1950s is one of her most impressive and far-reaching career achievements. Several of her noir and noir-tinged efforts contain what may very well be her best acting work, and in all of them her personal stamp is very much in evidence. These aren't conventional film noirs, they are Joan Crawford noirs: highly distinctive films that, because of their distinctiveness, actually extended the boundaries of noir content and brought added depth and dimension to the noir style. The way she accomplished this is also very distinctive. Unlike most actors who routinely adapted to the needs of particular film projects and directors, she approached each film, first and foremost, as a Joan Crawford vehicle, often exerting great control over multiple production functions and at times operating as a de facto producer.

This book demonstrates that by examining these films as a collective and relatively cohesive body of work, we can better understand what Crawford aspired to achieve in her art, how--when the circumstances were right--she could deliver superb results, how she helped expand the possibilities for noir, and why the best of her efforts speak across the decades with such intensity and authority.