Introduction -- Jews in Germany : torn between two worlds -- Jews and expressionism : "performing high and low" -- The father of film noir : Fritz Lang -- Fritz Lang in Hollywood -- The French connection : Robert Siodmak -- Viennese twins : Billy and Willy Wilder -- The ABZs of film noir : Otto Preminger and Edgar G. Ulmer -- Woman's directors : Curtis Bernhardt and Max Ophuls -- Pathological noir, populist noir, and an act of violence : John Brahm, Anatole Litvak, Fred Zinnemann.