SEATTLE - June 3, 2016 - NOIR CITY, the most popular and far-reaching festival of classic film noir in the world, will return to Seattle July 22 through 28, finding a new home at the legendary and historic SIFF Cinema Egyptian. Presented by SIFF in partnership with the Film Noir Foundation, the latest edition of NOIR CITY will feature 18 films from the classic noir era, programmed and hosted by Eddie Muller, the "Czar of Noir." Since his last appearance in Seattle in 2014, Muller has presented classic film noir programs at the Smithsonian Institution and New York's Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, and programmed and hosted the immensely popular "Summer of Darkness," a nine-week noir series for Turner Classic Movies, in 2015.
"We are excited for NOIR CITY to be hosted for the first time at our flagship SIFF Cinema Egyptian venue," says SIFF Chief Curator Carl Spence. "The 1915 Masonic Temple building that houses the Egyptian has some dark shadows of its own. There's definitely no better or more atmospheric movie palace to host NOIR CITY in Seattle, one of the greatest movie-going cities in the nation."
"I'm thrilled to be bringing NOIR CITY back to Seattle, which has some of the most loyal and dedicated fans in the nation," says Muller. "It'll be great to see many of the diehards again."
The latest edition of NOIR CITY is called "Film Noir: A to B" and it comprises 18 films representing a chronological excursion through the classic noir era, with themed pairs of "A" and "B" titles from the years between 1942 and 1950. "We want to simulate the classic movie-going experience of the 1940s as much as possible," says Muller, "while also providing an entertaining crash-course in the development of Hollywood's greatest organic artistic movement. It won't be purely academic, however. It'll be a blast. We've got a few additional surprises in store for the audience."
Among the gems being screened is Woman on the Run (1950), a once-lost title restored by the Film Noir Foundation and recently celebrated at screenings in San Francisco, Manhattan, Paris, and Bologna. Following it that same evening of Thursday, July 28 is another 1950 classic, Gun Crazy. Muller will be on site to sign copies of his latest book, Gun Crazy: The Origin of American Outlaw Cinema, an in-depth examination of the film's creation and influence.
An unlikely pairing of Desert Fury (which Muller calls "the gayest film in Hollywood's Golden Era") and the classic thriller Sorry, Wrong Number pays tribute to legendary costume designer Edith Head, who created the wardrobes for both films. At this special evening, slated for Tuesday, July 26, Seattle author Renee Patrick will be signing copies of her new novel Design for Dying, in which Head helps solve a murder in 1930s Hollywood.
Passes for NOIR CITY 2016 are on sale now at http://www.siff.net/cinema/noir-city-2016. Full schedule and individual tickets available soon.
NOIR CITY 2016 LINEUP
FRIDAY, JULY 22
I Wake Up Screaming
Victor Mature stars as sports promoter Frankie Christopher, who after being wrongly accused of murdering an up-and-coming model escapes from custody (and a police inspector with a bone to pick) and hits the New York streets in search of the truth. Featuring Betty Grable in one of her few dramatic roles as the victim's sweet sister.(d: Bruce Humberstone c: Betty Grable, Victor Mature, Carole Landis, USA 1941, 82 min)
Stranger on the Third Floor
Filled with shadowy twists and turns, this crime thriller (widely considered the first American noir) places us in the haunted mind of a young reporter who may or may not have sent an innocent man to the electric chair for murder. When his next-door neighbor is killed in the same way as the executed prisoner's victim, the reporter realizes the real maniac is still on the loose...and may be closer than he thinks. (d: Boris Ingster c: Peter Lorre, John McGuire, Margaret Tallichet, USA 1940, 64 min)
SATURDAY, JULY 23
This Gun for Hire
Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake shine in this revenge film. After being paid off in marked bills, hit man Raven (Ladd) vows vengeance on his two-faced boss and nightclub executive. Raven soon meets the beautiful Ellen, an employee of the nightclub and fiancée to the police lieutenant, and that's when things get complicated. (d: Frank Tuttle c: Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, USA 1947, 81 min)
Dr. Broadway
Anthony Mann (The Naked Spur) made his directorial debut with this fast and furious potboiler set under the neon lights of Times Square, in which a local general practitioner finds himself "halfway between the hot foot and the hot seat" after being framed for murder. Co-starring Jean Phillips, best known as Ginger Rogers' stand-in. (d: Anthony Mann c: Macdonald Carey, Jean Phillips, Eduardo Ciannelli, Richard Lane, USA 1942, 68 min)
Phantom Lady
In this eerie atmospheric thriller, Scott Henderson leaves his home after a fight with his wife and picks up a random beautiful woman on the street, impulsively taking her to a show. When he returns home, he finds his wife murdered with one of his neckties, and the police need his alibi. Only no one remembers seeing the "phantom lady" Scott supposedly was with all night. (d: Robert Siodmak c: Franchot Tone, Ella Raines, Alan Curtis, Aurora Miranda, USA 1946, 87 min)
The 7th Victim
Teenaged orphan Mary (Kim Hunter in her film debut) heads to Greenwich Village in search of her missing sister, only to uncover an underground society of devil worshippers. Will Mary and her sister make it out with their sanity intact, or will they become slaves to Satan?! The film favors a haunting sense of dread instead of shocks, a signature element of producer Val Lewton's oeuvre. (d: Mark Robson c: Kim Hunter, Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Isabel Jewell, USA 1943, 71 min)
SUNDAY, JULY 24
Scarlet Street
On the night of his retirement, aging, mild-mannered cashier Christopher Cross (Edward G. Robinson) becomes an accidental hero-rescuing a gorgeous young woman, Kitty March (Joan Bennett), from a would-be attacker. The poor sap doesn't realize he's stumbled upon a dust-up between a hooker and her pimp (Dan Duryea), and before long the devious duo is playing him for a prize chump, selling to tony galleries the paintings the love-struck Cross bestows on Kitty. This roundelay can only end in tragedy. (d: Fritz Lang c: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Dan Duryea, Margaret Lindsey, Jess Barker, USA 1945, 103 min)
My Name Is Julia Ross
One of Joseph H. Lewis' breakthrough films, My Name is Julia Ross tells the story of a young live-in assistant for a twisted older woman and her disturbed son Ralph-hired because of her similar appearance to Ralph's dead wife. Before she knows what's happening, the young woman is trapped in the mansion and everyone around her is trying to convince her that she in fact is the deceased wife. (d: Joseph H. Lewis c: Nina Foch, Dame May Whitty, George Macready, USA 1945, 65 min)
The Dark Corner
A man killed is a man silenced. Newly arrived in New York City after serving two years for vehicular manslaughter, well-named private eye Bradford Galt (Mark Stevens, "Big Town") is framed for the murder of his former partner. Now, he and his acid-tongued secretary (Lucille Ball) must go on the run and track down the true culprit. (d: Henry Hathaway c: Lucille Ball, Clifton Webb, William Bendix, Mark Stevens, USA 1946, 99 min)
The Guilty
"One led men to love; the other drove them to kill!" When the nice half of a pair of comely identical twins (both played by Bonita Granville) winds up dead, two roommates suspect each other of the crime in this gritty, brain-teasing thriller that shares DNA with Robert Siodmak's The Dark Mirror. (d: John Reinhardt c: Bonita Granville, don Castle, Regis Toomey, John Litel, Wally Cassel, USA 1947, 71 min)
MONDAY, JULY 25
Dead Reckoning
When his sergeant friend goes AWOL en route to receiving the Medal of Honor, Captain Rip Murdock (Humphrey Bogart) is assigned to track him down in this savage melodrama of murder, fake identities, charred corpses, and the warm embrace of a hot-blooded dame (Lizabeth Scott, Too Late for Tears). (d: John Cromwell c: Humphrey Bogart, Lizabeth Scott, Morris Carnovsky, Charles Kane, USA 1947, 100 min)
Night Editor
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! (d: Henry Levin c: William Gargan, Janis Carter, Jeff Donnell, Coulter Irwin, USA 1946, 66 min)
TUESDAY, JULY 26
Desert Fury
Mary Astor hikes up her slacks as the owner of the Purple Sage casino, home to lowlife gamblers, duplicitous deputies, and rebellious kin in this smoldering love triangle set against the vast Nevada desert in blazing Technicolor. NOIR CITY curator Eddie Muller describes it as "the gayest movie ever produced in Hollywood's golden era." (d: Lewis Allen c: John Hodiak, Lizabeth Scott, Burt Lancaster, Wendell Corey, Mary Astor, USA 1947, 96 min)
Sorry, Wrong Number
Barbara Stanwyck plays a rich, wheelchair-bound heiress who overhears a plotted murder through some crossed telephone lines. The more she listens, the deeper she's pulled into the mystery. And who's the intended victim? Why, she is, of course. (d: Anatole Litvak c: Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster, Ann Richards, Wendell Corey, Ed Begley, USA 1948, 89 min)
WEDNESDAY, JULY 27
The Reckless Moment
Mother knows best in this Max Ophüls-directed melodrama about the lengths one woman will go to in order to protect her daughter from a scheming blackmailer (James Mason)-and how she scrambles to hide the bodies that pile up. (d: Max Ophüls c: James Mason, Joan Bennett, Geraldine Brooks, Henry O'Neill, USA 1949, 82 min)
Woman on the Run
Frank Johnson flees police after becoming an eyewitness to murder. He is pursued around scenic San Francisco by his wife, a reporter, the police, and... the real murderer. (d: Norman Foster c: Ann Sheridan, Dennis O'Keefe, Robert Keith, Ross Elliott, Frank Jenks, USA 1950, 77 min)
THURSDAY, JULY 28
Gun Crazy
No picture before or since has more deliriously used side arms as sexual symbols. Loopy, corny, overheated, but one big adrenaline rush of creative moviemaking from start to finish. Another stunning Trumbo script, albeit uncredited. (d: Joseph H. Lewis c: Peggy Cummins, John Dall, Berry Kroeger, Morris Carnovsky, USA 1950, 86 min)
Southside 1-1000
Slam-bang crime drama courtesy of the King Brothers is highlighted by downtown L.A., Hollywood and San Quentin prison locations as Don DeFore goes undercover to smash up a counterfeiting ring. Sultry Andrea King, George Tobias, Barry Kelley and Morris Ankrum co-star. (d: Boris Ingster c: Don DeFore, Andrea King, Geprge Toblas, Barry Kelley, Morris Ankrum, USA 1950, 73 min) |
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