Noir City: Street of Chance
February 16, 2024
The first case of amnesia in the classic noir era. Frank Thompson (Burgess Meredith) survives an accident only to have the shock restore his memory! He learns he’s been living the past several years as someone else! With girlfriend Ruth (Claire Trevor), Frank embarks on a quest to determine his true identity. Presented on 35mm.
Individual Tickets: $16 | $11 SIFF Members - Select showtime to purchase
Passes: $150 | $125 SIFF Members
SIFF year-round passes and vouchers are not valid for this screening.
The first case of amnesia in the film noir era comes with a typically intriguing Woolrichian twist. Frank Thompson survives a near fatal accident only to have the shock partially RESTORE his memory! He realizes he’s lived the past several years as someone other than his true self. With the help of his incredulous girlfriend Ruth, Frank embarks on a nocturnal quest to determine his true identity. This modest offering from the B-unit at Paramount benefits from some A-list contributors, principally stars Burgess Meredith and Claire Trevor, and director of photography Theodor Sparkuhl, whose contributions to the look of early ’40s noir have gone largely unheralded. A wonderful gallery of supporting characters skitter and sneak through Frank’s waking nightmare, well rendered by journeyman director Jack Hively who had previously helmed many entries in RKO’s mystery series The Saint. —Film synopsis courtesy of Noir City
- Director: Jack Hively
- Principal Cast: Burgess Meredith, Claire Trevor, Louise Platt, Sheldon Leonard, Frieda Inescort
- Country: USA
- Year: 1942
- Running Time: 74 min.
- Producer: Burt Kelly
- Screenplay: Garrett Fort
- Cinematographers: Theodor Sparkuhl
- Editors: Arthur Schmidt
- Music: David Buttolph
- Filmography: They Met in Argentina (1941), The Saint’s Double Trouble (1940), They Made Her a Spy (1939)
- Language: English
- Format: 35mm