Monday, January 29, 2018
CONFLICT
7:30 PM
One of Humphrey Bogart's rarest films has the legendary actor as a scheming wife-killer (Rose Hobart stands in for Bogart's real-life ball-and-chain, Mayo Methot) playing cat-and-mouse with family friend Sidney Greenstreet—a psychiatrist with expertise in the criminal mind. It's fascinating to see, for the first-and-only time, Bogart and Greenstreet trade places as hero and villain. Robert Siodmak was originally intended to direct, but Curt Bernhardt ably orchestrates the evocative affair.
1945, Warner Bros. 86 minutes
Scr. Arthur T. Horman and Dwight Taylor; story by Alfred Neumann and Robert Siodmak. Dir. Curtis Bernhardt
JEALOUSY
9:30 PM
A perky female cabbie (Jane Randolph) gets embroiled in a dangerous triangle involving her suicidal Czech boyfriend (Nils Asther) and a rakish doctor (John Loder) who's taken a shine to her. Director Machatý, known for the infamous 1933 sex film Ecstasy, concocts a dreamy tale that touches all the tropes of "B" mysteries while depicting the displacement of European artists adrift in sun-baked Hollywood. As close to an art film as ever emerged from Poverty Row—and, not surprisingly, the last film the experimentally inclined Machatý made in America. 35mm print courtesy of the British Film Institute
1945, Republic. 71 minutes
Scr. Arnold Lipp (Phillips), story by Dalton Trumbo. Dir. Gustav Machatý
Tuesday, January 30
THE BLUE DAHLIA
7:30 PM
The only original screenplay penned by the legendary detective story writer was crafted under both deadline pressure (star Alan Ladd was leaving for military duty) and "the influence" (the script was banged out in a drunken fervor). No matter—it was a huge hit for Paramount, and the most famous pairing of Ladd and Veronica Lake, the most popular screen team of the 1940s. Ladd plays a returning vet suspected of murdering his unfaithful wife. Amazingly, this marks the first screening ever of The Blue Dahlia at the NOIR CITY film festival!
1946, Paramount [Universal]. 96 minutes
Scr. Raymond Chandler. Dir. George Marshall
NIGHT EDITOR
9:30 PM
A cop and his married socialite lover witness a brutal murder while necking in Lovers' Lane. Afraid to intervene, he's wracked by a guilty conscience. She gets totally turned on by the violence. These two are sooooo doomed. One of the raunchiest and most memorable "B" noirs ever, featuring several strange and unforgettable set pieces. Redoubtable gravel-voiced William Gargan stars as the libidinous lawman, with hot-to-trot Janis Carter portraying one of the frostiest femme fatales of the 1940s.
1946, Columbia [Sony]. 68 minutes
Scr. Harold Jacob Smith, from the radio program by Hal Burdick. Dir. Henry Levin
Wednesday, January 31
THE UNSUSPECTED
7:30 PM
When the secretary of a popular radio personality (Claude Rains) commits suicide, the commentator uses his considerable storytelling gifts to suggest Murder! and flush the culprit from a rat's nest of suspects. This clever and complex murder mystery—chock full of terrific character actors (including a sexy and savage Audrey Totter)—gets the deluxe noir treatment from director Curtiz and ace cameraman Woody (The Killers) Bredell. Presented by Alan K. Rode, author of Michael Curtiz: A Life in Film, with a book signing on the mezzanine!
1947, Warner Bros. 103 minutes
Scr. Ranald MacDougall, from the novel by Charlotte Armstrong. Dir. Michael Curtiz
HIGH TIDE
9:35 PM
A crusading newspaper editor (motor-mouthed Lee Tracy) gets more than he bargained for when he hires a private dick (tight-lipped Don Castle) to protect him from riled-up gangsters. Featuring one of the greatest flashback set-ups ever, this is as witty and moody as any "B" noir of the era—finally back in circulation thanks to a glorious 35mm restoration funded by the Film Noir Foundation in 2012.
Preservation funded by the Film Noir Foundation and The Packard Humanities Institute. Special thanks to UCLA Film & Television Archive, the British Film Institute, Nigel Algar, and Katrina Stokes.
1947, Monogram [UCLA/FNF]. 74 minutes
Scr. Robert Presnell, Sr., from a story by Raoul Whitfield. Dir. John Reinhardt
Thursday, February 1
I WALK ALONE
7:30 PM
A true rarity! Never on home video or DVD! Burt Lancaster plays a Prohibition-era bootlegger who gets out of prison to find that his former partner (Kirk Douglas) has gone legitimate, is enjoying the spoils of their criminal enterprise, and has no intention of sharing. Can torch singer Lizabeth Scott douse the flames of retribution? A seminal noir, long thought lost, revived in a new digital restoration courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
1948, Paramount. 97 minutes
Scr. Charles Schnee, from a play by Theodore Reeves. Dir. Byron Haskin
BODYGUARD
9:30 PM
Hollywood's biggest badass is back! Legendary lawbreaker Lawrence Tierney is ironically cast as an insubordinate lawman who gets framed off the force and goes undercover to expose corruption and murder in the meat-packing industry! Perky Priscilla Lane provides spunky support. This early Richard Fleischer programmer moves at a breakneck pace with the story co-credited to—yes, that Robert Altman!
1948, RKO [Warner Bros.] 62 minutes
Scr. Fred Niblo Jr. and Harry Essex, story by Robert Altman and George W. George. Dir. Richard Fleischer
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