1948, Regal Films. 86 min.
Scr. Karl Kamb, William Bowers (uncredited) Dir. Andre de Toth

7:30 PM

This independently produced gem is the most realistic exploration of adultery produced in 1940s Hollywood. Bored suburbanite Dick Powell drifts into a dalliance with hard-luck model Lizabeth Scott, only to find his life and family threatened by an obsessive private eye and a jealous ex-con. Director de Toth had the gifted Bill Bowers rewrite the script. The result is truly believable noir -- a wrenching tale of repressed lust and suburban ennui. Restored print courtesy the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

NOT ON DVD!

TICKETS FOR DOUBLE FEATURE

1948, Universal. 89 min.
Scr. William Bowers, Herb Margolis, Lou Morheim. Dir. George Sherman

9:30 PM

John Payne and Dan Duryea play dandy grifters bent on bilking a wealthy war widow (Joan Caulfield). Both are tangled up with saucy Shelley Winters, who’s more dangerous than a loaded .38. The cast has a field day firing Bowers’s one-liners faster than speeding bullets. We screened this riotously entertaining, little-known gem in 16mm at NOIR CITY 4, and now it’s back for an encore . . . in a BRAND NEW 35mm print courtesy Universal Pictures!

NOT ON DVD!

1942, Paramount. 74 min.
Scr. Jay Dratler, Hugh Herbert
Dir. Robert Siodmak

1:00, 4:20 PM MATINEE

This engaging B film, one of Siodmak’s first Hollywood efforts, was his ticket to the big time. Shifting with Hitchcockian aplomb between risque romantic comedy and shadowy suspense, he stuffs two features’ worth of set pieces into the sprightly 74-minute running time. A team of talented writers (including Sidney Sheldon) keep things brisk and clever, and the chemistry between stars Richard Carlson and Nancy Kelly is charming and more than a little sexy. More screwball than noir, but a complete delight from start to finish!

NOT ON DVD!

$10 double feature shows start at 1:00 and 2:30.PM

TICKETS FOR DOUBLE FEATURE

1950, Universal. 89 min.
Scr. Robert Buckner. Dir. Robert Siodmak

2:30 PM MATINEE

For one of his last Hollywood assignments, the great Siodmak (Phantom Lady, Criss Cross) ventured to Italy — with Oscar-winning director of photography William Daniels — to film this thinly veiled tale of mobster Lucky Luciano’s enforced return to his roots. Jeff Chandler plays “Vic Smith” in this ultra-rarity, the hardest to find of Siodmak’s American films. Luciano, a big fan of Siodmak’s classic noir The Killers, reportedly demanded a cameo role in the film!

NOT ON DVD!

1951, Olympic Films [Paramount]. 79 min. Scr. William Bowers. Dir. Robert Parrish

7:30 PM

One of the most wicked and witty revenge yarns of the original film noir era. When we showed it in 2007 we had to screen star Dick Powell’s personal 16mm print; no 35mm copies existed. We’re thrilled to “re-premiere” this terrific film — Parrish’s debut as a director — in a brand-new restoration, courtesy the Film Noir Foundation and the UCLA Film and Television Archive. It costars the ravishing Rhonda Fleming and the redoubtable Richard Erdman, one of the great wisecrackers of all time. Thanks to all the NOIR CITY supporters and Film Noir Foundation donors who made this restoration possible!

NOT ON DVD!

TICKETS FOR DOUBLE FEATURE

1951, Columbia. 89 min. Scr. William Bowers. Dir. Robert Parrish

9:30 PM

On the heels of their Cry Danger success, Bowers and Parrish were contracted by Columbia Pictures to craft a hard-hitting crime picture for Oscar-winner Broderick (Born Yesterday) Crawford. The tale of an undercover cop (Crawford) infiltrating a waterfront labor racket was a huge hit and a forerunner to 1950s crime exposes, subsequently overshadowed by the higher-pedigreed On the Waterfront (1954). The Mob stands as a terrific film in its own right, featuring early work from actors Charles Bronson, Neville Brand, and Ernest Borgnine.

NOT ON DVD!

1953, 20th Century-Fox. 92 min.
Scr. Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch Dir. Henry Hathaway.

1:00, 5:10, 9:30 PM

“Niagara Falls and Marilyn Monroe—The Two Most Electrifying Sights in the World!” screamed the studio’s ads for this sexually charged Technicolor noir. Monroe is a too-hot-to-handle wife who enflames her husband’s jealousy during a vacation at the famous falls . . . with murderous results. Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters, and one of the world’s majestic natural wonders all play second fiddle to Marilyn, whose larger-than-life allure still leaps off the screen 56 years after this film was originally released.

1950, MGM. 112 min.
Scr. Ben Maddow. Dir. John Huston

2:50, 7:15 PM

The gold standard of “caper” films. John Huston brings a neorealist feel to his version of W. R. Burnett’s classic crime novel, and a remarkable cast vividly brings to life the book’s rogues’ gallery of crooked characters. It stars Sterling Hayden and Jean Hagen and a trio of the finest supporting performances ever from Louis Calhern, Sam Jaffe, and Marc Lawrence. Huston also gets credit for being the first to exploit the extraordinary on-screen sex appeal of Marilyn Monroe; this was the film that launched her meteoric rise to stardom.