Noir Experts, Authors and Founders of The Film Noir Foundation, Eddie Muller and Alan K. Rode to Host Festival Discussions with In Person Guests, Actors Julie Adams, Richard Erdman, Rhonda Fleming, Karen Sharpe Kramer, Paul Picerni and Author Robert Dix
Plus, Booksignings with Paul Picerni and
Robert Dix (son of Richard Dix)
April 2 - 18, 2010 at the Egyptian Theatre
The Cinematheque's Most Hotly Anticipated Revival Festival: The 12th Annual Festival of Film Noir
These Films are Egyptian Theatre Exclusives!
LUST & LARCENY: NOIR CITY - 12TH ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF FILM NOIR
April 2 - 18, 2010 at the Egyptian Theatre
Presented in collaboration with Film Noir Foundation.
The venerable NOIR CITY film festival returns to the Egyptian Theatre for its 12th year, presenting an astonishing array of rarities available ONLY on the big screen! We've scoured studio archives to assemble a feast of film noir that can only be consumed in its original 35mm format, in the glorious darkness of a vintage movie palace!
The series is co-presented with The Film Noir Foundation, an organization dedicated to rescuing and restoring America's noir heritage.
This year's program features the Los Angeles premiere of the Film Noir Foundation's restoration of CRY DANGER, a must-see for noir fans and lovers of old Los Angeles locales; unearthed gems from William Castle's pre-1950s resume; a queasy quartet of Gothic noirs; a George Raft tribute double bill; two new prints from THE WHISTLER film series; stunning femmes fatales (Rhonda Fleming, Claire Trevor, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Hedy Lamarr, Laraine Day, Cleo Moore, Anne Baxter); an amazing assortment of noir heavies (plenty of pre-Perry Mason Raymond Burr and William Talman); and the long-awaited reappearance of one of the most sought-after "lost" films in the noir canon: NEW YORK CONFIDENTIAL! This may be the last chance to ever see these extraordinary films on a big screen - don't miss a single one!
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Series compiled by Eddie Muller, Alan K. Rode, with the assistance of Gwen Deglise and Grant Moninger. Program notes by Eddie Muller and Alan K. Rode.
Friday, April 2 - 7:30 PM Bill Bowers Tribute Double Feature:
New 35mm Restored Print!
CRY DANGER, 1951, Paramount, 79 min. Dir. Robert Parrish. One of the most wicked and witty revenge yarns of the original film noir era is also an amazing tour of midcentury downtown Los Angeles. Screenplay by Bill Bowers, based on Jerome Cady's story. A new 35mm restoration courtesy of the Film Noir Foundation and the UCLA Film and Television Archive. NOT ON DVD
Trailer
TIGHT SPOT, 1955, Sony Repertory, 97 min. Dir. Phil Karlson. Screenwriter Bill Bowers is back, providing a whip-crack rendition of Leonard Kantor's stage play about a tough dame (Ginger Rogers) being squeezed by the D.A. (Edward G. Robinson) to testify against a mob boss. Rhonda Fleming and Richard Erdman in person! NOT ON DVD
Clip
Saturday, April 3 - 7:30 PM
George Raft Tribute Double Feature:
RED LIGHT, 1949, Warner Bros., 83 min. Dir. Roy Del Ruth. San Francisco truck company owner Johnny Torno (George Raft) seeks revenge on the killers of his priest brother, who left a clue to the culprit's identity in a missing Bible. NOT ON DVD
JOHNNY ANGEL, 1945, Warner Bros., 79 min. Dir. Edwin L. Marin. Ship captain Raft plays straight man to a cast of colorful actors - Claire Trevor, Signe Hasso, Hoagy Carmichael, Marvin Miller and Margaret Wycherly - as he pursues his father's killer through a backlot New Orleans demimonde cunningly photographed by Harry Wild. NOT ON DVD
Sunday, April 4 - 7:30 PM
William Castle Tribute Double Feature:
HOLLYWOOD STORY, 1951, Universal, 76 min. Dir. William Castle. Richard Conte plays a wannabe independent producer who buys a vacant studio lot and gets embroiled in the mystery of a film director murdered there many years before.
NOT ON DVD
UNDERTOW, 1949, Universal, 71 min. Director William Castle brings panache to this impoverished B-production, enlivening a fairly routine tale of a framed ex-con (Scott Brady - Lawrence Tierney's "little" brother) looking for revenge in the Chicago underworld. Hot dishes Dorothy Hart and Peggy Dow complicate matters in time-honored tradition. NOT ON DVD Special guest appearance by actress Julie Adams!
Wednesday, April 7 - 7:30 PM
Andrew L. Stone Tribute Double Feature: JULIE, 1956, Warner Bros., 99 min. Dir. Andrew L. Stone. The husband-and-wife team of Andrew and Virginia Stone created this suspenseful 1950s version of GASLIGHT as a vehicle for Doris Day. Here, the vehicle is a jet airliner in which stewardess Day is trapped by her psychotic husband (a truly scary Louis Jourdan). A wild "woman in jeopardy" film, nominated for an Original Screenplay Oscar! NOT ON DVD
BLUEPRINT FOR MURDER, 1953, 20th Century Fox, 77 min. Dir. Andrew L. Stone. When his niece dies, Whitney Cameron (Joseph Cotten) suspects the widow (Jean Peters) of his late brother is bumping off family members for financial gain. A deadly cat-and-mouse game ensues, climaxing with all the players on an ocean liner.
Trailer
Thursday, April 8 - 7:30 PM
Gothic Noir Double Feature:
SO EVIL MY LOVE, 1948, Universal, 112 min. Dir. Lewis Allen. A widowed missionary (Ann Todd) is befriended aboard-ship by a charming rogue (Ray Milland) whom she takes in as a boarder. Gorgeous Geraldine Fitzgerald costars in this perverse and disturbing melodrama of mind-control and madness. NOT ON DVD
EXPERIMENT PERILOUS, 1944, Warner Bros., 91 min. Dir. Jacques Tourneur. Fresh off his stunning work for Val Lewton, Tourneur (I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, CAT PEOPLE) directed this challenging tale of a woman (the incandescent Hedy Lamarr) who believes her husband (Paul Lukas) is plotting to drive her mad.
Clip
Friday, April 9 - 7:30 PM
Double Feature:
THE LOCKET, 1946, Warner Bros., 85 min. Dir. John Brahm. On his wedding day, a groom (Brian Aherne) is told stunning tales regarding the troubled past of his bride-to-be (Laraine Day), including her destructive affair with a tortured artist (Robert Mitchum). This dazzling and dizzying psychodrama uses a web of interlocking flashbacks to show how a woman's childhood obsession with a prized locket dictates the course of her life. NOT ON DVD
BODYGUARD, 1948, Warner Bros., 62 min. Dir. Richard Fleischer. Lawrence Tierney is an insubordinate copper who gets framed, turns in his badge and goes undercover to expose corruption and murder in the meat-packing industry. Helping him is beautiful Priscilla Lane. This early Richard Fleischer programmer boasts a breakneck pace and a screenplay by Robert Altman! NOT ON DVD
Saturday, April 10 - 7:30 PM
Broderick Crawford Double Feature:
NEW YORK CONFIDENTIAL, 1955, Kit Parker Films, 87 min. Dir. Russell Rouse. A mob kingpin (Broderick Crawford) runs the syndicate from a Manhattan high-rise, assisted by a crew of plug-uglies (J. Carrol Naish, Onslow Stevens, Barry Kelley and Mike Mazurki). Complicating matters: a newly imported hit man (Richard Conte), a restless mistress (Marilyn Maxwell) and Brod's beautifully fragile daughter (Anne Bancroft). NOT ON DVD
HUMAN DESIRE, 1954, Sony Repertory, 91 min. Dir. Fritz Lang. You can't really call this a re-do of THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE because it's based on Emile Zola's 1890 novel La Bete Humaine - but then, tales of tortured lovers tempted to commit murder are timeless, aren't they? Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame rekindle their flame from Lang's 1953 smash THE BIG HEAT, and Broderick Crawford plays the loutish cuckold they want to be rid of. Do we need to note that things don't go according to plan? Burnett Guffey supplies the wonderfully atmospheric cinematography. NOT ON DVD
Sunday, April 11 - 7:30 PM
It's a Crooked World Double Feature:
DRIVE A CROOKED ROAD, 1954, Sony Repertory, 83 min. Dir. Richard Quine. Mickey Rooney is cast against type as a car mechanic whose craving for fast cars and faster women steers him into a blind alley in which there are no pit stops. Blake Edwards' crackerjack script is given vivid life by Rooney's compelling characterization and a stellar supporting cast (Dianne Foster, Kevin McCarthy, Jack Kelly).
NOT ON DVD
WALK A CROOKED MILE, 1948, Sony Repertory, 91 min. Dir. Gordon Douglas. When a security leak at an atomic energy plant threatens the safety of the free world, an FBI agent (Dennis O'Keefe) and a Scotland Yard inspector (Louis Hayward) track the spy ring to - where else? - Commie-infested San Francisco. Hint to the feds: Look for the big, shifty guy (Raymond Burr) with the Lenin look-alike goatee. Discussion with Paul Picerni, plus book signing of his memoir Steps to Stardom.
NOT ON DVD
Wednesday, April 14 - 7:30 PM
Los Angeles Premiere! New Noir!
EVE'S NECKLACE, 2009, Erickson Films, 80 min. Film noir is a road regularly traveled by filmmakers, but never has a film noir exclusively starred... mannequins! Director Daniel Erickson made the highly unusual and cost-effective decision to shoot the film, originally conceived as live-action, with store-front "dummies," for which he held an extensive eBay casting call. As dread builds in the film, the impressive feat is achieved of turning an all-mannequin cast into a sympathetic group of characters. "A killer bizarre mannequin film noir movie...one of the strangest movies you'll ever have the likelihood of ever seeing... a fascinating experiment gone right." - Harry Knowles, Ain't It Cool News. Discussion following with director Daniel Erickson.
Offical Website
Thursday, April 15 - 7:30 PM
Gothic Noir Double Feature:
AMONG THE LIVING, 1941, Universal, 67 min. Dir. Stuart Heisler. Albert Dekker stars as identical twins who stir up a Gothic whirlwind of insanity, family skeletons and murder in a small town paralyzed by fear. Penned by Lester Cole of Hollywood Ten notoriety and costarring a youthfully lush Susan Hayward, venerable Harry Carey and pre-tragedy Frances Farmer.
DARK WATERS, 1944, Films Around the World, 90 min. Dir. Andre de Toth. Travel down a dark Southern road of perversity as a distraught shipwreck survivor (Merle Oberon) returns to her family's estate near the Big Easy. Can she trust the earnest doctor (Franchot Tone) who tries to shield her from some exceedingly strange relatives (Fay Bainter, Thomas Mitchell and Elisha Cook Jr.)?
Friday, April 16 - 7:30 PM
Double Feature:
CRASHOUT, 1955, Paramount, 89 min. Dir. Lewis R. Foster. William Bendix, Arthur Kennedy, Luther Adler, Gene Evans, Marshall Thompson and William Talman (as a knife-chucking religious fanatic) break out of the pen in pursuit of a stashed robbery payroll. Distracting from their quest are leggy farm girl Beverly Michaels, wholesome Gloria Talbott and noir favorite Percy Helton. NOT ON DVD
CRY VENGEANCE, 1954, Paramount, 82 min. Mark Stevens (THE DARK CORNER) stars in and directs this brutal revenge melodrama in which a psychically and physically scarred ex-cop (Stevens) hunts the killer of his family to the wilds of Ketchikan, Alaska. NOT ON DVD
Saturday, April 17
EGYPTIAN THEATRE HISTORIC TOUR & FOREVER HOLLYWOOD
10:30 AM Behind the Scenes Tour
11:40 AM FOREVER HOLLYWOOD
Saturday, April 17 - 7:30 PM
Co presented with the Roxie Theater: The Whistler Series Double Feature: New Print!
THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER, 1945, Sony Repertory, 66 min. Dir. Lew Landers. From radio to the silver screen and then television, "The Whistler" was the only episodic mystery series that can accurately be labeled as film noir. Richard Dix stars as a man suffering noir's version of the common cold: amnesia. NOT ON DVD
New Print! VOICE OF THE WHISTLER, 1945, Sony Repertory, 60 min. Richard Dix is a terminally ill man lured into marriage by a gold digger (Lynn Merrick) with fatal consequences for all concerned. Written and directed by William Castle, this is a must-see in a new 35mm print! Discussion in between films with actor Robert Dix, son of Richard Dix. Robert Dix also will sign his book Out of Hollywood: Two Generations of Actors in the lobby at 6:45 PM. NOT ON DVD
Sunday, April 18
EGYPTIAN THEATRE HISTORIC TOUR & FOREVER HOLLYWOOD
10:30 AM Behind the Scenes Tour
11:40 AM FOREVER HOLLYWOOD
Sunday, April 18 - 7:30 PM
Femme Fatale Double Feature:
STRANGE FASCINATION 1952, Sony Repertory, 80 min. The first of seven features produced, written and directed by low-rent auteur Hugo Haas stars his fatale muse Cleo Moore. Haas plays a concert pianist led down the road to perdition by bad girl Moore, with typically painful results. NOT ON DVD.
THE COME ON, 1956, Paramount, 83 min. Dir. Russell Birdwell. Anne Baxter pulls out all the stops in her performance as a fetching grifter tying chump Sterling Hayden into knots in a complex affair involving her abusive "husband," the suave but scary John Hoyt. NOT ON DVD Discussion in between films with actress Karen Sharpe Kramer (STRANGE FASCINATION).