Noir City, the annual San Francisco film noir festival has announced the line up for their 6th year festivities and it is a doozy. Full schedule after the jump, highlights include:
+A tribute to Joan Leslie (with on-stage interview).
+Three films starring Ida Lupino that are practically lost to the world.
+Two Anthony Mann films including the never available on dvd Reign of Terror.
+Hangover Square which features a score by Bernard Herrmann.
+D.O.A. which was lensed by the famed cinematographer Ernest Laszlo.
+A screening of the Coen brothers' black and white noir the Man Who Wasn't There followed by Q&A with the former Mr. Angelina Jolie, Billy Bob Thornton.
The festival is hosted by the Castro Theatre and takes places January 25th - Feb 3rd.
THE COMPLETE NOIR CITY 6 SCHEDULE
Friday, January 25-Opening Night Tribute to Joan Leslie
Repeat Performance
d. Alfred Werker, Eagle-Lion, 1947, 93 min. RARITY! NOT ON DVD
Think of it as the noir version of It's a Wonderful Life.
On New Year's Eve, a young woman (Leslie) is given the chance to relive
the previous year, leading up to the moment when she murdered her
husband (Louis Hayward). Will there be a “repeat performance?” This was
Leslie's breakout role, in which the ingénue became a full-grown woman.
Richard Basehart is stunning in his movie debut. (There are no playable
35mm prints of this film; we are presenting it here in 16mm, courtesy
of Films Around the World). 7:00
ONSTAGE INTERVIEW WITH JOAN LESLIE FOLLOWING THE FILM
The Hard Way
d. Vincent Sherman, Warner Bros., 1943, 109 min. NOT ON DVD
This backstage melodrama, featuring a blistering screenplay by Daniel
Fuchs and Peter Viertel, is so dark and nasty we're granting it
honorary “noir” status so it can be appreciated on the big screen in
all its mean-spirited glory. Joan Leslie plays a young woman steered
into a show biz career by the Big Sister From Hell-Ida Lupino in an
Oscar-nominated performance! Legendary producer Jerry Wald gives it the
full Warner Bros. “dark drama” treatment, including stunning
cinematography by the great James Wong Howe. 9:30
Saturday, January 26-Honoring Screenwriter Dalton Trumbo
The Prowler
d. Joseph Losey, United Artists, 1951, 92 min. NOT ON DVD
BRAND NEW RESTORED 35MM PRINT!
Don't miss the “re-premiere” of a nearly forgotten masterpiece! Joseph
Losey's greatest American-made film-written by legendary blacklisted
screenwriter Dalton Trumbo-has been fully restored to its original
bleak splendor by the Film Noir Foundation and the UCLA Film and
Television Archive. Crazed cop Webb Garwood (Van Heflin) stalks a
lonely Los Angeles housewife (Evelyn Keyes) and eventually decides to
win her in time-honored noir tradition: by knocking off her husband.
3:00, 7:00
Gun Crazy
d. Joseph H. Lewis, 1950, 86 min.
Dalton Trumbo was the uncredited screenwriter of this “B” masterwork.
No picture before or since has more deliriously used side arms as
sexual symbols. Loopy, corny, overheated-and one stunning adrenaline
rush of creative moviemaking from start to finish, highlighted by
several of the most exciting action sequences ever filmed. 1:00, 9:40
SPECIAL LITERARY EVENT
“A Hell of a Woman” Booksigning
6:00 - 7:00 on the mezzanine
Be here for the San Francisco launch of the mostly eagerly anticipated crime fiction event of 2008! A Hell of a Woman: An Anthology of Female Noir,
edited by Megan Abbott, is a collection of 26 short stories (and a
dazzling array of “appreciations”) by the crème de la crème of
contemporary crime writers-many of whom will be at the Castro to sign
what's already being hailed as the best noir anthology in years. Book
sales and signing sponsored by M Is for Mystery bookstore.
NOIR CITY EXTRA! WORLD PREMIERE SCREENING!
The Grand Inquisitor
scr/dir. Eddie Muller, 2008, 20 min.
Legendary blacklisted actress Marsha Hunt, 90, returns to the screen in
“a noir fairy tale, based on actual events.” A cache of used books
leads an intrepid young “investigator” to the home of a woman who may,
or may not, be the widow of America's most notorious unapprehended
serial killer. 9:00
Sunday, January 27-Remembering Gail Russell
Moonrise
d. Frank Borzage, Republic, 1948, 90 min. Archival Print! NOT ON DVD
Relentlessly romantic optimist Frank Borzage is the last director you'd
expect to turn out an effective film noir, but this brilliantly
directed drama was his sound era masterpiece. Dane Clark gives a
bruised and brooding performance as a young man convinced that his
father's "bad blood" has sealed his miserable fate. Can he be saved by
the love of “good girl” Gail Russell? Print courtesy of UCLA Film and
Television Archive. 1:40, 5:10, 8:50
Night Has a Thousand Eyes
d. John Farrow, 1948, 81 min. New 35mm Print! NOT ON DVD
A lost noir returns to the big screen! Edward G. Robinson stars as a
man cursed with the ability to predict the future. John Farrow, a
director at his most stylish in noir terrain, adapts from the novel by
master of suspense Cornell Woolrich. Co-starring Gail Russell and John
Lund. Universal Pictures struck this new print exclusively for Noir
City! 3:30, 7:00
Monday, January 28-Dames Tough as Nails!
Woman in Hiding
d. Michael Gordon, Universal, 1950, 92 min.
Noir City favorite Ida Lupino gives another superb performance, playing
a successful career woman who marries Mr. Wrong (Steven McNally) and
finds herself desperately trying to evade his plans to dispose of her
and take over the business. A long-missing (and underrated) thriller,
presented in a gloriously pristine print from Universal Pictures! 7:30
Jeopardy
d. John Sturges, 1953, 69 min.
That's right: 69 minutes.
And it's as simple and compelling as suspense films get: a vacationing
man (Barry Sullivan) is trapped beneath a pier in Mexico, the tide
steadily rising. His wife (Barbara Stanwyck) desperately seeks help. It
comes in the surly form of a fugitive (Ralph Meeker) who expects his
payment upfront (and in something more than cash) if he's going to play
hero. Stanwyck and Meeker are electrifying as comrades and combatants.
9:00
Tuesday, January 29-20th Century Fox Film Noir
A special evening celebrating Fox Home Entertainment's DVD Film Noir Collection!
Hangover Square
d. John Brahm, 1945, 77 min.
Laird Cregar, one of the most memorable film actors of the forties,
makes his final screen appearance (he died at 29 years of age!) in this
stark and haunting tale of a Victorian era composer driven by the
sounds in his head to create masterful concertos-and beautiful corpses.
New to DVD, but there's nothing like seeing Joseph LaShelle's stunning
cinematography on massive scale, or hearing Bernard Herrmann's
thrilling “Concerto Macabre” through majestic theater speakers. 7:30
Dangerous Crossing
d. Joseph M. Newman, 1953, 75 min.
Legendary “locked room” mystery writer John Dickson Carr (on whose
novel this film based) isn't exactly the definition of noir-but we're
thrilled by any chance to bring actress Jeanne Crain back to the big
screen. Here she plays a bride whose husband mysteriously vanishes from
the ocean liner on which they're taking their honeymoon. Directed by
Joe Newman (711 Ocean Drive, Abandoned, The Human Jungle). 9:00
Wednesday, January 30-Tribute to Tough Guy Charles McGraw
6:00 - 7:00 Charles McGraw Booksigning!
Author Alan Rode will be signing copies of his book, Charles McGraw: Biography of a Film Noir Tough Guy, on the mezzanine. Book sales and signing sponsored by M Is for Mystery bookstore.
Reign of Terror
d. Anthony Mann, Eagle-Lion, 1949, 89 min.
Director Mann and cinematographer John Alton, using the full-bore noir
treatment, turn the French Revolution into a crime saga dripping with
greed, deceit and betrayal. With Robert Cummings as Charles D'Aubigny
and Richard Basehart as Robespierre. All of the elements are
here-atmospheric camerawork, taut script, a beautiful spy (Arlene
Dahl), and fearsome Charles McGraw (looking like the leader of French
biker gang!) as Robespierre's sadistic henchman. 7:00
Border Incident
d. Anthony Mann, MGM, 1949, 94 min.
Spectacular cinematography by noir master John Alton transforms this
procedural exposé of illegal farm workers on the Texas-Mexico border
into a noir fever dream, starring Ricardo Montalban and George Murphy
as undercover agents trying to break up an illegal labor racket. An
intense and surprisingly violent "docu-drama" written by crime
specialist John C. Higgins and featuring Charles McGraw at his most
mercilessly cold-blooded. 9:00
Thursday, January 31-San Francisco Noir!
D.O.A.
d. Rudolph Mate, United Artists, 1950, 83 min.
Is it the greatest noir premise of all-time? Edmond O'Brien plays a man
given a slow-acting poison who has only hours to figure out who has
killed him, and why. Ernest Laszlo's inventive camerawork gives viewers
a breathless tour of noir-era San Francisco before zooming to Los
Angeles for the nail-biting climax. A terrific supporting cast brings
to life an insanely inspired script by Russell Rouse and Clarence
Greene. (16mm print courtesy of Wade Williams) 7:10
The Story of Molly X
d. Crane Wilbur, Universal, 1949, 82 min. NEW 35MM PRINT!
RARITY! NOT ON DVD
Writer-director Wilbur had an obsession with making prison movies, but
this ultra-rarity has a twist: the protagonist is a brass-knuckled dame
(June Havoc) who takes over her boyfriend's Frisco gang after he's
killed. After murdering the culprit in cold blood, she winds up in
women's prison-and you know what happens in those places…
9:00
Friday, February 1-Murderous Husbands!
Conflict
d. Curtis Bernhardt, Warner Bros., 1945, 86 min.
RARITY! NOT ON DVD
One of Humphrey Bogart's most rarely screened films features the
legendary actor playing a scheming wife-killer (Alexis Smith stands in
for Bogart's real-life ball-and-chain, Mayo Methot) who gets into a
cat-and-mouse game with family friend Sidney Greenstreet-a psychiatrist
with an expertise in the workings of the criminal mind. Director Robert
Siodmak wrote the original story, “The Pentagram,” which he originally
intended to direct. 7:00
The Suspect
d. Robert Siodmak, Universal, 1944, 85 min. RARITY! NOT ON DVD
Purists might argue that the Edwardian setting isn't noir. Listen:
whenever a lovelorn sap murders his wife to pursue a feckless young
filly-that's noir, whatever era provides the backdrop. Charles Laughton
is trapped in the loveless marriage, and gorgeous Ella Raines looks
like his ticket out. This unjustly overlooked suspense classic is
comparable to the best of Hitchcock. 9:00
Saturday, February 2-Darkness In the Afternoon
The 3rd Voice
d. Hubert Cornfield, 20th Century-Fox, 1960, 80 min.
RARITY! NOT ON DVD
This sensational, brain-teasing murder yarn (based on the novel 'All
the Way” by Charles Williams) features noir stalwart Edmond O'Brien as
an anonymous chump hired by scheming secretary Laraine Day to kill her
boss/lover-and assume his identity at a Mexican fishing resort. The
appearance of sexy songbird Julie London complicated matters, of
course. Featuring breathtaking black-and-white Cinemascope
cinematography by Ernest Haller. 1:00, 4:10
The Face Behind the Mask
d. Robert Florey, Columbia, 1941, 69 min. RARITY! NOT ON DVD
Peter Lorre stars as an immigrant watchmaker, horribly disfigured in a
fire, whose despair and alienation lead him into a life of crime. A
friendship with a young blind woman (Evelyn Keyes) offers him a shot at
love and redemption. But … this is a noir film festival. Screenplay by Paul Jarrico. 2:40, 5:45
The Man Who Wasn't There-Neo-Noir Classic
d. Joel Coen, Gramercy Pictures, 2001, 116 min.
Billy Bob Thornton stars as an existentially disengaged barber whose
plans to open a dry cleaning business involve blackmail and
(unintentional) murder. A brilliantly crafted homage to classic film
noir and the novels of James M. Cain, featuring vivid performance by
Frances McDormand, James Gandolfini, John Polito, Tony Shaloub, Michael
Badalucco, and Scarlett Johansson. 7:30
ONSTAGE INTERVIEW FOLLOWING FILM WITH BILLY BOB THORNTON (schedule permitting)
Sunday, February 3-Last Man Standing: Richard Widmark
Roadhouse
d. Jean Negulesco, 20th Century-Fox, 1948, 95 min. NOT ON DVD
A star-powered face-off between two film noir icons: sassy Ida Lupino
and psychotic Richard Widmark. Sparks fly when Ida takes a job crooning
in Widmark's rural roadhouse, but when she throws him over for his
boyhood chum (Cornel Wilde) the joint really starts jumping. 3:00, 7:00
Night and the City
d. Jules Dassin, 20th Century-Fox, 1950, 96 min.
We close out Noir City 6 with a stunning print of the most baroque and
bleak film noir of them all. The greatness of this film-besides Richard
Widmark's devastating portrayal of the maniacal and pathetic Harry
Fabian-is its stubborn refusal to allow even the tiniest ray of light
into Harry's headlong descent in hell. Featuring Gene Tierney, Googie
Withers, Herbert Lom, Francis X. Sullivan-and perhaps the ultimate film
noir finale. 1:00, 5:00, 9:10
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