Hollywood showed its dark side in the 1940s and 50s with a wave of highly stylized movies featuring sinister plots, shady characters, sexual tension, chaos and confusion. These films have fascinated critics, students, moviegoers, and moviemakers ever since. Classics including THE MALTESE FALCON, THE BIG SLEEP, and THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE are analysed, with iconic actors, such as Robert Mitchum and legendary directors including Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick and Orson Welles profiled.