I Wake Up Dreaming: The Haunted World of the B Film Noir

The final tally is in at I Wake Up Dreaming at the Roxie.

They screened 29 features and one short film over 15 days. I previously had seen five of the features - Raw Deal, Framed, The Story of Molly X, The Burglar and Repeat Performance. I re-watched Framed which features a great performance by the alluring Janis Carer. I also watched Raw Deal again which wasn't as enjoyable as a I recalled.

Of the 29 features, I caught 23 of them. I missed four films because I opted to see some films at Women on the Verge at the Castro. The other two that I missed were The Burglar and Repeat Performance where I caught only half of the double bill.

Two films that I missed which are screening as part of the six day encore, Redux: The Best of I Wake Up Dreaming, are The Port of Forty Thieves and Private Hell 36. I'm not sure if I'll catch them. Frankly, I'm burnt out on noir, the Roxie and the Mission District. Festival programmer Elliot Lavine did mention that the $100 festival pass was good for the Redux screenings so I may be tempted.

§§§

I Wake Up Dreaming: The Haunted World of the B Film Noir
All Night Long with Patrick McGoohan and Richard Attenborough; on-screen performances by Dave Brubeck and Charles Mingus; (1961)
The Guilty with Bonita Granville; (1947)
The Devil Thumbs a Ride with Lawrence Tierney; (1947)
Raw Deal with Raymond Burr; directed by Anthony Mann; (1948)
Railroaded! with Hugh Beaumont; directed by Anthony Mann; (1947)
Canon City; (1948)
Framed with Glenn Ford, Janis Carter and Barry Sullivan; (1947)
The Madonna's Secret; (1946)
The Specter of the Rose written and directed by Ben Hecht; (1946)
Violence; (1947)
The Last Crooked Mile; (1946)
The Hoodlumn with Lawrence Tierney; (1951)
New York Confidential with Broderick Crawford, Richard Conte & Anne Bancroft; (1955)
Witness to Murder with Barbara Stanwyck; (1954)
Hollow Triumph (aka The Scar) with Paul Henreid and Joan Bennett; (1948)
Under Age; (1941)
Women in the Night; (1948)
The Pretender with Albert Dekker; (1947)
Suspense with Barry Sullivan, Belita, Albert Dekker & Bonita Granville; (1946)
Wife Wanted with Kay Francis; directed by Phil Karlson; (1946)
Allotment Wives with Kay Francis; (1945)
Shack Out on 101 with Keenan Wynn and Lee Marvin; (1955)
City of Fear; (1959)
Blind Alley; short film; directed by Elliot Lavine; (1981)

§§§

June looks to be even busier than May for me.

Another Hole in the Head runs from June 5 to 19. The Oshima Retrospective at the PFA runs a double feature every Thursday and Saturday night in June. On Friday nights in June, the PFA screens a Phil Karlson double feature.

§§§

Somehow, I want to squeeze in Psych-Out at the Red Vic on Friday, June 5 or Saturday, June 6.

Filmed in the Haight in 1968, Psych-Out is possibly “(t)he best Haight-Ashbury drug film. Susan Strasberg as a deaf 17-year-old runaway looking for her missing brother is `helped’ by the hippie team of Dean Stockwell, Jack Nicholson (as Stoney), Adam Rourke and Max Julien. They get her beads and a mini to replace her square clothes and give her some STP, which sends her wandering in the traffic. The lost brother turns out to be a long-haired Bruce Dern walking around like a mysterious Christ figure.” -- Michael Weldon, Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film

§§§

The Burning Fuse Film Festival screens concurrently with Hole in the Head at the Roxie on June 5, 7 and 8. The Burning Fuse Films get the Little Roxie when the Hole in the Head films play at the same time. Two films from the festival look interesting.

Pussycat Preacher - A lapsed stripper becomes an evangelical minister, but her ministry outreach to sex workers stirs her congregation’s prejudice and doubt. The film presents a mesmerizing and at times hilarious portrait. I've seen the ex-stripper, Heather Vietch, on the news - FoxNews or MSNBC. It screens June 5 (Friday), June 7 (Sunday) and June 8 (Monday); 7:45 PM showtime each night.

Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans - The untold history of Black New Orleans. Not a Katrina film, but a love letter to a city, revealed when a newspaperman rebuilds a historic house in what may be the oldest black neighborhood in America, and the birthplace of jazz. Produced by Wynton Marsalis. It screens June 5 (Friday) at 6 PM and June 7 (Sunday) at 2 PM.

§§§

With the $100 I Wake Up Dreaming Festival Pass, I've pushed my average cost down to $7.23/screening. It was at $7.75 immediately before the festival began. Please no wagering on the number.