In the video program, writer Martin Goldsmith says of the novelist James M. Cain, "He wrote with a meat cleaver." What does Goldsmith mean, not only in terms of Cain himself but of film noir writing in general?
Martin Goldsmith is talking about Cain’s use of strong, colorful language full of American slang. He is also describing the passionate emotions in cain’s novels—found in film noir as well.