In the 1930s and ‘40s, novelists Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain wrote masterworks of steamy crime fiction packed with knife-sharp prose, from The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity, to The Big Sleep and Mildred Pierce. But it wasn’t until Hollywood adapted these noir-themed novels into movie classics that Chandler and Cain became global icons. This is the incredible true story of how two writers came to define the Golden Age of noir, on page and onscreen.

Join New York Adventure Club as we travel to sun-drenched California in the 1930s and '40s to explore the sinister origins of Cain and Chandler’s stories, which pitted Hollywood studio chiefs, screenwriters, and censors against one another over how to translate these explosive novels to the screen.

Hosted by documentarian and author Steven C. Smith, our virtual experience covering many of Hollywood’s most thrilling noir dramas will include:

• A deep dive into Cain and Chandler before their works hit the big screen — Cain was a court reporter who turned a spectacular real-life murder case into a scandalous bestseller; Chandler was a hard-drinking former oil executive who created noir’s greatest private eye: Philip Marlowe
• Insights into how filmmakers snuck around strict Hollywood censorship to keep the novels’ most exciting elements intact, and which story points were too steamy for Hollywood
• Cain and Chandler’s involvement in the movies, including Chandler’s stormy collaborations with Billy Wilder and Alfred Hitchcock, and how the films impacted the careers of actors like Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Lana Turner, and Joan Crawford
• How the movies sometimes improved on the books, and where the screen versions pulled their punches

Afterward, we'll have a Q&A with Steven — any and all questions about the stories of Chandler and Cain are welcomed and encouraged!

Can't make it live? Don't worry, you'll have access to the full replay for one week!

See you there, virtually!

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***A full replay of the experience will be available to all registered guests for up to a week

About Steven

Steven C. Smith is an award-winning biographer and four-time Emmy-nominated producer, whose work includes many documentaries on noir classics. These include A&E Biography profiles of Gene Tierney and Richard Widmark; and films on the making of Road House, Trapped, Too Late for Tears, The Prowler and Inferno. Many noir scores are discussed in his two biographies, Music by Max Steiner: The Epic Life of Hollywood’s Most Influential Composer (Oxford) and A Heart at Fire’s Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann (UC Press).

Testimonials

"Steven Smith is an excellent host, who presented an engaging show with fun information I didn't know before. Lots of clips made the show dynamic, and illustrative." -Paul

"Extremely knowledgeable presenter. Devoted sufficient amount of time to each featured author and their novels." -Joe

"Lots of information new to me. Well presented." -Paul

"Steven Smith is so knowledgable, and can answer questions so easily. But, I also really like film noir, the topic." -Barbara

"The presenter was very knowledgeable and was very entertaining. He used film clips very effectively." -Stephen

"The expertise of the speaker, the amount of interesting information shared, and the interspersion of film clips. The whole thing was fascinating!" -Teryne

"Great, clear, compelling storytelling! Steven Smith is a very interesting host." -Rich

"Steven Smith was true to form: an excellent host. His knowledge of the story and the film clips he shared made the time fly." -Michele

"It was so much fun! I have seen some of these movies, not all, so I learned a lot. It was great to see a short clip and then have it explained." -Karen

"The scholarly thoroughness and entertaining anecdotes about a subject I find most interesting." -Richard

"The lecturer was one of the best I have encountered. Huge amount of knowledge presented in an interesting manner." -Alvin

"The film clips went along well with the presentation. I learned many facts I had never been aware of before." -Lin

"Steven Smith was very knowledgeable and a pleasure to listen to. His film clips with the backstories made the evening very enjoyable." -Jay

"Well paced, video host is knowledgeable and well spoken, with humor and lots of interesting facts. Film clips were well chosen and just the right length. Whole presentation excellent." -Wayne

"Steven is so knowledgeable, and such a great speaker, that it's a pleasure to listen to him on the subject of film, whatever the topic. I love film noir and loved his presentation of the writers Cain and Chandler, interwoven with the history of the films based on the books. I enjoyed it thoroughly. More historic Hollywood from Steven Smith, please!" - Anne

"Both Steven's running narrative and the use of film images and clips were very well integrated." -Michael

"Thought it was fun and informative! I now want to see the movies again that were discussed. Thank you!" -Ames

"The speaker was well organized, great clips and slides, good command of the technology and super Duper interesting!" -Juani

"Excellent commentary and good production values." -Kate

"Steven Smith is always a lively, entertaining and knowledgeable host, and, as always, he did justice to his subject." -Dorothy

"The presenter not only knew his information but was able to clearly and concisely communicated it. The media throughout was excellent." -Matthew

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