Noir City: Chicago 2
August 13 - 19, 2010
The Music Box and the Film Noir Foundation proudly present a festival of noir double bills in their original 35mm splendor!
Over the past fifty years, film noir has been recognized as a unique example of an organic cinematic movement, one that produced many of the best and most time-tested Hollywood films of the forties and fifties. These tough-as-nails crime stories, told in a distinctly American vernacular but informed by a darkly romantic European visual sensibility, continue to entrance audiences in each successive generation.
The Music Box and the Film Noir Foundation proudly present a festival of noir double bills in their original 35mm splendor. Noted Film Noir experts and Film Noir Foundation board members Alan K. Rode and Foster Hirsch will be on hand to introduce the screenings and lead post-film discussions.
The Film Noir Foundation, created by writer and film historian Eddie Muller, is committed to rescuing and restoring America’s noir heritage. All FNF proceeds from NOIR CITY festivals go to finding and restoring films in danger of being lost or permanently damaged. For information on how you can join the FNF’s campaign, and receive its bimonthly magazine, visit FilmNoirFoundation.org.
Ticket Information
Ticketing Information
Single feature: $10 available day-of, at the theater box office
Double feature: $12 (both films must be seen on the same day) available day-of, at the box office
All Noir Pass (includes all 10 films):
$40.00 in advance, available through http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/123218
$50.00 day-of, available at the theater box office only, while supplies last
See showtimes for all currently schedule films.
Films Include:
Cry Danger August 13, 5:15pm; August 13, 9:30pm
Robert Parrish, 1951, 79m
We’re thrilled to present this terrific film, one of the most wicked and witty revenge yarns of the original film noir era, in a brand new restoration courtesy of the Film Noir Foundation and the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Dick Powell stars as Rocky Malloy, an ex-con who returns to Los Angeles looking to square up with the gangsters who framed him for a robbery he didn’t commit. Not on DVD! Restored 35mm Print!
City That Never Sleeps August 13, 7:30pm
John Auer, 1953, 90m
Director John Auer brings to life the tale of a tempted young cop (Gig Young) tangled in a wed of corruption and vice. When an illegal job offer comes across his desk, all of his dreams finally seem within reach. Shot on location in Chicago during the bitter winter of 1952, this unique film is one of Martin Scorsese’s favorite “guilty pleasures.” Ultra-Rare Chicago Noir! Not on DVD!
Nightmare Alley August 14, 2:00pm; August 14, 6:15pm; August 17, 5:00pm; August 17, 9:00pm
Edmund Goulding, 1947, 110m
Tyrone Power has the meatiest role of his career as a carny roustabout who connives his way to the big-time as a “mentalist,” preying on the hopes and fears of gullible rubes. Based on the legendary cult novel by William Lindsey Gresham, this prescient tale has assumed ever greater critical status as Gresham’s notions about the cynical exploitation of human nature have become more true, and more televised, than ever before.
Gun Crazy August 14, 4:15pm; August 14, 8:45pm; August 16, 7:30pm
Joseph H. Lewis, 1950, 86m
John Dall stars as a gun-obsessed young man whose aimless existence snaps into deadly focus when he meets carnival sharp-shooter Annie Laurie Starr (Peggy Cummins). Loopy, corny, overheated— and a stunning adrenaline rush of creative moviemaking from start to finish, highlighted by several of the most brilliantly directed action sequences ever filmed.
He Ran All the Way August 15, 2:00pm; August 15, 5:45pm; August 15, 9:30pm; August 17, 7:30pm
John Berry, 1951, 77m
Small-time hood Nick (John Garfield) reluctantly pulls a stick-up, but when he shoots a cop his life spins out of control. On the run, he cajoles a neighborhood girl (Shelley Winters) into bringing him home — only to take her family hostage. A blistering film created by a cadre of talents on the verge of losing their careers to the blacklist. Not on DVD!
Drive a Crooked Road August 15, 3:45pm; August 15, 7:30pm; August 16, 5:30pm; August 16, 9:30pm
Richard Quine, 1954, 83m
Before becoming famous for creating Peter Gunn and the Pink Panther movies, Blake Edwards penned this extraordinary film noir, which casts a fully-grown Mickey Rooney against type as a lovelorn mechanic whose craving for fast cars and a faster woman drives him to sign on as wheelman in a bank robbery. Not on DVD!
Don’t Bother to Knock August 18, 5:15pm; August 18, 9:30pm
Roy Ward Baker, 1952, 71m
Marilyn Monroe moved from glamorous ingénue to serious actress with this claustrophobic psychological drama. Richard Widmark plays a jilted airline pilot, killing time in a New York hotel, who answers the come-on of a sexy young babysitter (Monroe). He gets far more than he bargained for.
Sudden Fear August 18, 7:00pm
David Miller, 1952, 110m
A playwright (Joan Crawford) falls in love with and marries an actor (Jack Palance) she rejected for one of her plays. Little does she realize he and his girlfriend (Gloria Grahame) are planning to drop the final curtain on her. One of the most suspenseful films of the fifties, featuring Charles Lang’s shadowy on-location cinematography of San Francisco.
Cry of the City August 19, 5:30pm; August 19, 9:14pm
Robert Siodmak, 1948, 96m
Perhaps the most perfectly realized of Siodmak’s classic American noir films, CRY OF THE CITY tells the story of neighborhood pals who tread divergent paths. Victor Mature stays to the right, while buddy Richard Conte runs outside the law. Shot on location in New York, Siodmak creates avividly expressionistic urban nightscape for his operatic tale of “good” and “evil.” Not on DVD!
Fly by Night August 19, 7:30pm
Robert Siodmak, 1942, 74m
Shifting with Hitchcockian aplomb between risque romantic comedy and shadowy suspense, Siodmak stuffs two features’ worth of set pieces into the sprightly 74-minute running time. A team of talented writers keep things brisk and clever, and the chemistry between stars Richard Carlson and Nancy Kelly is more than a little sexy. More screwball than noir, but a delight from start to finish! Not on DVD!