Tom Neal: The Broken Man

I have an essay on Tom Neal in the new issue of NOIRCITY. Neal, of course, is best known as the star of of the essential 1945 noir DETOUR. While the film has long been acknowledged as gritty masterpiece, Neal has never been given his due. I aim to fix that oversight. My essay looks at his early life, his career, his contribution to DETOUR, and the events surrounding his imprisonment in 1965 for lethally shooting his third wife. Neal's life was as dark as any noir, and no fan of the genre will want to miss it.

This issue also contains my interview with scholar Edgardo Krebs about the making and rediscovery of the 1950 film version of Richard Wright's NATIVE SON. Steve Kronenberg writes about director Edgar G. Ulmer's plans to remake DETOUR in the 1960s, Eddie Muller writes about the silent film THE DOCKS OF NEW YORK, John McElwee writes about the long overlooked director Hugo Haas. And, as they say, there is much much more. Go check it out at the Film Noir Foundation.