From America's leading mystery authority, this informative guide is packed with plot twists, cast lists, delectable bits of fun, and often scandalous trivia. The finest Hitchcockian suspense movies, the toughest gangster flicks, the wittiest "Thin Man" titles, the bleakest noir films, and the best of the '80s and '90s. This survey is enhanced by the extensive knowledge and sharp style of Otto Penzler, who "Booklist" calls "a mystery superbuff."

"A must-have for discriminating film buffs and mystery lovers alike, this informative guide is packed with plot twists, cast lists, delectable bits of fun, and often scandalous trivia. Organized chronologically, the contents include the finest Hitchcockian suspense movies, the toughest gangster flicks, the wittiest Thin Man titles, the bleakest noir films, and much much more."--Book cover

Providing an overview of the entire thriller genre, this book examines over 160 movies from classic Hollywood and British studios, including such essential film noir entries as "Murder, My Sweet," "The Dark Corner," "The Maltese Falcon" and "Afraid To Talk." Great cinema detectives are represented by William Powell (all six of his Thin Man pictures are detailed and discussed), Basil Rathbone (Sherlock Holmes), Warner Oland (Charlie Chan), Sidney Toler (Charlie Chan), Peter Ustinov (Hercule Poirot), Margaret Rutherford (all four of her Miss Marple films are covered), and others including the Saint, the Falcon, Bulldog Drummond and Philo Vance. From director Alfred Hitchock comes "Notorious," "Saboteur," "Number 17" and "Rich and Strange." A few comedies and spoofs, such as "Satan Met a Lady" (an amazing re-make of the original "Maltese Falcon" with Bette Davis and Warren William) and "Who Done It?" (with Abbott and Costello) round out the survey.

This remains one of the more important volumes in this series of 24 books. This revised edition looks at the lives of 101 successful men & women in their respective fields:*Social Reformers: Nana Saheb Karve & Kabir *Revolutionaries: Vir Savarkar & Rasbehari Bose*Statesmen: Disraeli & Bismarck*Scientists: Madam Curie & Dr. M.S. Swaminathan*Artists & Scholars: Birju Maharaj, Allauddin Khan, Venkatesh Aiyyer, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee & Amrita Pritam*Heads of States: Charles De Gaulle & Anwar Sadat*Sport stars: Martina Navaratilova & P.K. Banerjee.Infact, these mini-biographies in all offer the life-sketches of 101 famous personalities in a nutshell.

With several well-chosen booklists, practical programming ideas, and a brand new compendium of print and web-based resources, your only crime would be not adding this guide to your collection!