In the Coen canon, it's almost the film that wasn't there. Audiences didn't show up for it, but The Man Who Wasn't There remains a favorite among critics and fans of film noir. The Coen Brothers have paid tribute to Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler in the past, but here it's the hard-boiled naturalistic fiction of James M. Cain that inspired the film. It's also the Coen Brothers first black & white film, and it's hard to imagine this movie any other way.

To shine some light in the darkness, we've enlisted the help of the "Czar of Noir" Eddie Muller, host of TCM's "Noir Alley," and author of the book "Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir."

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Music by Nick Shelby and Mike Brenner at CosmicAmericanMusic.com