Noir City presented by the Film Noir Foundation

Noir City Chicago

The Second City will become the latest NOIR CITY this summer, as the Film Noir Foundation teams up with Chicago's Music Box Theatre on a weeklong festival of film noir. "Chicago has always been high on our list of cities that need a regular noir festival," said FNF president Eddie Muller, "and it was equally obvious that the Music Box, one of the great remaining movie theaters in the nation, is where NOIR CITY belongs."

This version of NOIR CITY will feature three double bills that pair established noir classics with lesser-known, but thematically linked films: The Lady from Shanghai (1947) and Framed (1947), The Killers (1946) and The Breaking Point (1950), and Double Indemnity (1944) and The Prowler (1951, recently restored by the FNF). Rounding out the series is a double bill of films shot on location in Chicago: Call Northside 777 (1948) and Chicago Syndicate (1955).

The full program will run Friday, July 31, through Monday, August 3. Tthe first three double bills repeat the following Tuesday through Thursday.  ›› FURTHER INFO AND TICKETS HERE.

FNF director Foster Hirsch, who spearheaded the Chicago beachhead, declared, "The Music Box is one of the last truly majestic movie houses in the country, an absolutely perfect venue for NOIR CITY." Hirsch and Muller will be on hand to introduce screenings and meet FNF supporters.

 

Noir City Los Angeles

The 11th annual NOIR CITY: Hollywood festival, held April 2-19 at the legendary Egyptian Theatre, demonstrated once again that vintage noir on the big screen continues to be a big draw in the City of Angels. Patrons of this annual fest (some of whom have been regulars since the event debuted in 1999) repeatedly expressed their gratitude for the rare films presented by the co-programming triumvirate of the American Cinematheque’s Chris D., FNF president Eddie Muller, and FNF director Alan Rode. Of the 22 films screened over 12 days, 14 had never before been viewed on the Egyptian’s big screen . . . or anywhere else in recorded memory.  ›› HIGHLIGHTS ARE HERE.

 

Arlene Dahl with Eddie Muller Opening Night Noir City 7Noir City San Francisco

The San Francisco Film Noir Festival returned to the majestic Castro Theatre in San Francisco, January 23 — February 1, 2009. The theme of this year's festival was Newspaper Noir, with many of the films set in the world of newspapers, or, in some cases, publishing or radio. Programmers Eddie Muller and Anita Monga made a special effort to have NOIR CITY's nightly double bills (and for the first time separate Saturday matinees) reflect the traditional programming of theaters in the 1940s. To that end, they sought out rare, legitimate B films—shorter movies that were intentionally made to fill out the second half of a double bill. "I think this will probably be as close as you're going to get to actually going to the movies in 1948," says Muller.

NOIR CITY guest of honor Arlene Dahl captivated a sell-out crowd of 1,400 enthusiastic movie fans following the Saturday night screening of her 1956 film Wicked as They Come. Arlene was as glamorous as ever and delighted the audience with tales of her professional and private life as she conversed with host Eddie Muller over champagne. No one who was there will soon forget the magical evening. (Photo: David Allen).

 

›› View photo coverage of NOIR CITY 7.

Mike Kepka - The City Exposed: Noir City

The San Francisco Chronicle's Mike Kepka visits NOIR CITY for the Saturday screening of The Unsuspected in his multi-media series, "The City Exposed." ›› Slides and audioclip here.

 

Co-presenting a double bill of films set in San Francisco (D.O.A. and Molly X), San Francisco Film Society executive director Graham Leggat announced that the Film Society (producers of the annual S.F. International Film Festival) will be collaborating with NOIR CITY on a separate festival devoted to "international noir," with representative examples of the form from countries around the globe. Stay tuned for more information as it develops.

Film Noir Foundatino at MySpace
With now more than 600 friends, the Film Noir Foundation has taken up residence in a dark alley of the vast metropolis that is Myspace.com. If you haven't signed up, maybe you should. Maybe you'll meet someone who will betray you and leave you for dead on the internet. At the least, you'll have access to the web's largest repository of noir poster and photos, courtesy the site's maven, Eric Beetner.
›› Click here to visit.

 
Film Noir Foundation
Copyright © 2004. Website design: Ted Whipple/Incite Design; Poster and logo design: Bill Selby; Poster and Noir City 6 photos: David M. Allen
 
 
NOIR CITY 7 - January 23 - February 1, 2009 at the Castro Theatre

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Dream double contest

Visit the FNF homepage to find three terrific complimentary articles from the new NOIR CITY SENTINEL: Alan K. Rode’s in-depth interview with director Arnold Laven, who talks about working on some of the most memorable noir films of the forties; Eddie Muller’s revealing profile of the remarkable Belita, “The Ice Queen of Film Noir,” and Don Malcolm’s clever “Single-Word Double Bills,” in which he programs an entire film festival featuring movies with one-word titles. If you’re inspired by Don’s notion, send us your own “dream double bill.”  The five best pairings will be posted on the site—and earn each contestant a year’s subscription to the NOIR CITY SENTINEL!