Connects anxieties about citizenship and national belonging in midcentury America to the sense of alienation conveyed by American film noir

Dark Borders connects anxieties about citizenship and national belonging in midcentury America to the sense of alienation conveyed by American film noir. Jonathan Auerbach provides in-depth interpretations of more than a dozen of these dark crime thrillers, considering them in relation to U.S. national security measures enacted from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s. The growth of a domestic intelligence-gathering apparatus before, during, and after the Second World War raised unsettling questions about who was American and who was not, and how to tell the difference. Auerbach shows how politics and aesthetics merge in these noirs, whose oft-noted uncanniness betrays the fear that “un-American” foes lurk within the homeland. This tone of dispossession was reflected in well-known films, including Double Indemnity, Out of the Past, and Pickup on South Street, and less familiar noirs such as Stranger on the Third Floor, The Chase, and Ride the Pink Horse. Whether tracing the consequences of the Gestapo in America, or the uncertain borderlines that separate the United States from Cuba and Mexico, these movies blur boundaries; inside and outside become confused as (presumed) foreigners take over domestic space. To feel like a stranger in your own home: this is the peculiar affective condition of citizenship intensified by wartime and Cold War security measures, as well as a primary mood driving many midcentury noir films.

"“Auerbach evokes the ever-present sense of fear existing in an early Cold War American public through his analysis of these films. Both insightful and unique in its undertaking, this book speaks openly and convincingly to the relationship between political agenda, disenfranchisement and art.”" - Media International Australia

"“This insightful study wisely ranges beyond the genre’s usual suspects. Recommended. All readers.”" - Choice

"“Auerbach provides unique close readings of a select group of films that assist us in seeing film noir in relation to concerns over citizenship and Cold War paranoia. It provides a valuable starting point from which we can hope future scholarship will further delve into such connections.”" - Journal of American History

"“[A] wholly original, ground-level reconsideration of noir's cultural setting. . . . Auerbach's book augurs . . .a theory-to-come of U.S. film that can leam to disable those old tropes and inspire truly fresh lines of aesthetic and political questioning.”" - Film Criticism

"“[I]f you have an abiding interest in film noir . . . you will find Dark Borders has a lot to offer. While most books on film noir take a rather broad approach in their examination of the genre, Auerbach chose a core of films to study in order to link the book’s overriding theme. By concentrating on a handful of films, he provides a comprehensive insight to each one, and therein lies the strength of the book.”" - American Film Noir

"“]Auerbach’s] rigorous and creative readings of these films will prove indispensable for serious students of noir. . . . some of the most exciting moments to be noted in Auerbach’s compelling book demonstrate nuanced uses of cultural history to inform his film analysis. Such exciting subjects include Lucky Luciano and the Second World War, Hemingway’s annoyance over inefficient government help during the 1935 hurricane, and the emergence of corporate and managerial structures of power and identity.”" - American Literature

"“Auerbach offers some significant fresh insights into territory one would have thought to now be fully excavated.“" - Screening the Past

"“The book as a whole is exemplary in its analysis of the interrelation between film noir and the social and political history of the 1940s and early 50s.”" - Film Quarterly