Midnight In America: The Film Noir of John Reinhardt

The new issue of NOIR CITY is out and it features the first installment of a new series by Yours Truly called Poverty Row Professionals. Faithful reader know that I have a weakness for the down and dirty world of B-films. I'm talking here about the cheapest of the cheap stuff that rolled out of Gower Gulch in the forties and early fifties. I'm talking Cheapsville.

First up, I examine the career of director John Reinhardt. Though he's been largely forgotten today, Reinhardt made some of the darkest, most cynical noirs of the classic period including THE GUILTY, HIGH TIDE, OPEN SECRET, and CHICAGO CALLING. Great stuff. In my research, I found some interesting bits about Reinhardt's life: he was next door neighbors with Bogart, who used to crash on Reinhardt's couch when he was on the outs with Mayo Methot (which was often); he served under John Ford in WWII and did recon missions in Mexico; and more. But the best part of writing the article was spending all that time looking at Reinhardt's work. He was the perfect candidate to kick off a series on the professionals of Poverty Row.

This issue of NOIR CITY (Summer 2014) has a ton of great material, including pieces by Dennis Lehane, Duane Swierczynski, Vince Kennan, Steve Kronenberg, Eddie Muller, and more. It's fantastic and I'm pleased as hell to be in it.

Learn how to get a copy of NOIR CITY here.