Friday, Feb 1— 3D NOIR!
MAN IN THE DARK
D: Lew Landers. 1953, Colombia [Sony], 70 min.
7:30 PM
Strap yourselves in as NOIR CITY presents the first screening in decades of this long-lost noir, in fully restored 3-D and glorious black-and-white! Pinched by the cops after pulling off a big heist, crook Steve Rawley (Edmond O'Brien) undergoes an experimental operation to eliminate his criminal urges. It also makes him forget where he hid the loot — much to the consternation of his old gang and his itchy-fingered girlfriend (Audrey Totter). Fortunately, clues pop up (literally!) in Rawley's dreams, and soon he's leading the crooks and cops on a careening hunt for the money, culminating in a spectacular chase through Santa Monica's creepy old Pacific Ocean Amusement Park!
PREMIERE 4K DIGITAL RESTORATION!!
NOT ON DVD
INFERNO
D: Roy Ward Baker. 1953, 20th Century-Fox [Ray Zone], 83 min.
9:00 PM
It's the essential NOIR CITY plot: illicit lovers hatch a "foolproof" scheme to bump off the woman's rich, domineering husband. But what if the husband, left for dead in the scorching desert, doesn't die? What if that husband, crippled but hell-bent on revenge, is played by the indomitable Robert Ryan? Watch as unmerciful nature takes on unbreakable man in amazing 3-D and stereophonic sound! Toss in titantic, titian-tressed Rhonda Fleming as the deceitful, voluptuous vixen, and you've got perhaps the best 3-D movie of the original Hollywood stereo-optic craze!
BRAND NEW DIGITAL RESTORATION!!
NOT ON DVD
Saturday, Jan 25 MEXICO — MATINEE TRIPLE BILL
Border Incident
Scr. John C. Higgins. Dir. Anthony Mann United States, 1949. 94 min.
12:00 PM
Agents of both countries go undercover to bust a gang exploiting migrant workers on the U.S.-Mexico border. Mann's rugged direction and John Alton's stunning cinematography enhance this powerful crime drama. With Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, Howard da Silva..
Victims of Sin (Víctimas del pecado)
Scr. Emilio Fernandez and Mauricio Magdelano. Dir. Emilio Fernandez. Mexico, 1951. 90 min.
4:00 PM
A dancer-prostitute (the fabulous Niñon Sevilla) rescues a baby from the garbage and is determined to raise it, despite her poverty and the threats of her pachuco pimp. The apotheosis of the Mexican "cabaretera" film, a combustible combo of music, dance and noir melodrama.
In the Palm of Your Hand (En la palma de tu mano)
Scr. José Revueltas and Roberto Gavaldón, from a story by Luis Spota. Dir. Roberto Gavaldón. Mexico, 1951. 90 min.
2:00 PM
A con artist seduces the widow of a millionaire, only to learn she'd plotted with her lover to murder the late husband. A tense game of cat-and-mouse ensures—but who's the cat? Perhaps the greatest thriller ever made in Mexico, starring Arturo de Cordova and Leticia Palma..
Saturday, Jan 25 Evening Show
Too Late for Tears
Scr. Roy Huggins, from his novel. Dir. Byron Haskin. NEW FNF RESTORATION! U.S., 1949. 99 min.
7:30 PM
A ruthless housewife is determined to keep an ill-gotten satchel of cash, even if it means murder. One of the great noirs of the classic era, long thought lost but now returned to the big screen in a completely restored 35mm print! Starring Lizabeth Scott, Dan Duryea, Arthur Kennedy.
NEW FNF RESTORATION!
The Hitch-hiker
Scr. Collier Young and Ida Lupino, adapted by Robert Joseph. Dir. Ida Lupino. U.S., 1953. 71 min. 35MM RESTORATION!
2:35, 7:30
Two buddies on a fishing trip are hijacked by a nomadic killer who plans to murder them after they deliver him to safety. The only American noir directed by a woman is a nerve-jangling thriller featuring a trio of terrific actors: Edmond O'Brien, Frank Lovejoy and William Talman.
35MM RESTORATION!
Sunday, Feb 26 — JAPAN
SMOOTH AS SILK
D: Charles Barton. 1946, [Universal, 64 min.
12:30 PM
Actress Paula Marlowe (Virginia Grey) is thrilled when her attorney fiancé (Kent Smith) helps an affluent playboy beat a manslaughter rap . . . since the defendant's uncle is bankrolling her new show. But when Miss Marlowe gets cozy with any man who furthers her career, her fiancé has a final curtain planned for her.
NOT ON DVD!
MARY RYAN, DETECTIVE
D: Abby Berlin. 1949, Columbia [Sony], 68 min.
1:50
NOIR CITY favorite Marsha Hunt is a scrappy (but always stylish) policewoman sent undercover to infiltrate a ring of jewel thieves and fences in this sly and fast-paced cop-caper. The first in a proposed series of adventures for the resourceful Mary Ryan, aborted when Hunt ran afoul of the red-baiters. Presented in a sparkling new 35mm print!
NOT ON DVD!
STRANGE IMPERSONATION
D: Anthony Mann. 1946, Republic [UCLA], 68 min.
3:20 PM
There's no point in trying to summarize the plot. More craziness is stuffed into these 68 minutes than would fit in a dozen features. Scientists in love. Sexy extortionists. Laboratory explosions. Plastic surgery. Confused identities. Hysteria. Sunglasses. B-movie insanity marshaled crisply and evocatively by director Anthony Mann.
FLY BY NIGHT
D: Robert Siodmak. 1942, Paramount [Universal], 74 min.
4:45 PM
An encore screening of a berserkly fun B-movie. A man suspected of murder goes on the run with the sexy artist (Nancy Kelly) who's his only alibi. This lighthearted B-budget variation on Hitchcock's The 39 Steps shows Robert Siodmak as a fledgling master in his own right.
NOT ON DVD!
SEPARATE EVENING ADMISSION
Sunday Night, Feb 3 — MORE B-NOIR
NIGHT EDITOR
D: Henry Levin. 1946, Columbia [Sony], 66 min
7:30 PM
A cop (William Gargan) and his married socialite lover (Janis Carter) witness a brutal murder while necking in Lover's Lane. He gets a guilty conscience. She gets turned on. They're doomed. One of the raunchiest and best B movies of the 1940s!
HIGH TIDE
D: John Reinhardt. 1947, Monogram [UCLA/FNF], 74 min.
9:00 PM
NOIR CITY 11 concludes with the resurrection of a lost B classic, featuring one of the wildest flashback devices ever! A crusading newspaper editor (Lee Tracy) gets more than he bargained for when he hires a private dick (Don Castle) to protect him from riled-up gangsters. As witty and moody as any B-noir of the era, now finally back in circulation in glorious 35mm thanks to the Film Noir Foundation!
WORLD PREMIERE 35mm FNF RESTORATION!!
Copyright © 2012. Website design: Ted Whipple/Incite Design; poster and logo design: Bill Selby; poster and NOIRCITY photos: David M. Allen
