Taking Inventory as of October 1

Rialto's Best of British Noir at the Castro
The Third Man starring Joseph Cotten & Orson Welles; directed by Carol Reed; written by Graham Greene; (1949)
Brighton Rock starring Richard Attenborough; written by Graham Greene; (1947)
It Always Rains on Sunday directed Robert Hamer; (1947)
Peeping Tom directed Michael Powell; (1960)
The Fallen Idol directed Carol Reed; (1948)

A bit trivial but I saw It Always Rains on Sunday on Sunday, September 13. It rained that day in San Francisco which is rare for that time of year.

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Tea and Larceny: British Crime Films at PFA
The Snorkel starring Peter van Eyck; (1958)
So Evil My Love starring Ray Milland; (1948)
Noose starring Carole Landis; (1948)
The Long Haul starring Victor Mature & Diana Dors; (1957)
No Orchids for Miss Blandish; (1958)

Even though prior to No Orchids for Miss Blandish, Steve Seid said it was the final film in the Tea & Larceny series, The Krays is schedule for Halloween. It's kind of rump session for the series since the film was made in 1990 and only depicts the gangsters from the postwar period. Indeed, Diana Dors' father was a known associate of the Brothers Kray.

The Snorkel was based on a stroy by Antonio Margheriti, an Italian director and writer (1930-2002). In Inglourious Basterds, Eli Roth's character, Sgt. Donowitz (the Bear Jew), used the alias Antonio Margheriti during the scene at the movie theater in the end.

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Best of Columbia Noir at the Roxie
Blind Spot; (1947)
Johnny O'Clock starring Dick Powell, Lee J. Cobb & Evelyn Keyes; (1947)
The Whistler directed by William Castle; (1944)
The Soul of a Monster starring George Macready; (1944)
Convicted starring Glenn Ford, Broderick Crawford & Dorothy Malone; (1950)
Knock On Any Door starring Humphrey Bogart, John Derek & George Macready; directed by Nicholas Ray; (1949)
Pushover starring Fred MacMurray, Kim Novak & E.G. Marshall; (1954)
Drive a Crooked Road starring Mickey Rooney; written by Blake Edwards; (1954)
My Name is Julia Ross starring Nina Foch & George Macready; (1945)
So Dark the Night; (1946)
Human Desire starring Glenn Ford, Broderick Crawford & Gloria Grahame; directed by Fritz Lang; (1954)
The Sniper starring Adolphe Menjou, Arthur Franz & Marie Windsor; directed by Edward Dmytryk; (1952)
The Lineup starring Eli Wallach; directed by Don Siegel; (1958)
Between Midnight and Dawn starring dmond O’Brien; (1950)
The Killer That Stalked New York starring Evelyn Keyes; (1950)
Screaming Mimi starring Anita Ekberg & Gypsy Rose Lee; (1958)
Murder By Contract starring Vince Edwards; (1958)

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Amongst all the noir, I was able to catch two outstanding Japanese films. Modern Japanese films (at least the one that receive critical acclaim in the US) seem to focus on two themes - family and death. Actually, those themes have been at the forefront of Japanese cinema since at least Ozu.

Still Walking; Japanese with subtitles; (2008) - Official Website
Departures; Japanese with subtitles; (2008) - Official Website

Still Walking's Japanese title is Aruitemo Aruitemo.

Departures' Japanese title is Okuribito. Departures won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Of the two, I preferred Still Walking by a skosh. It dealt with a family that lives with the specter of the oldest son's drowning. The son died 12 years earlier but the parents and surviving children can't or won't let him go. In particular, the parents have elevated their deceased son to saintly heights at emotional expense of their #2 son.

Like many Japanese films, Still Walking takes a quiet and understated approach to the family conflicts. There are no fireworks but rather condemnations and recriminations spoken privately and in hushed tones (or left unspoken). The father & son are barely on speaking terms but are more alike than they realize. The overall effect is one of gentling nudging the viewer along as the plot works itself towards its conclusion.

I missed Departures during its ~2 month run at the Landmark Theaters due to procrastination. I was lucky that Departures screened at the PFA on September 27. The screening was not a PFA sponsored event. Rather, it was part of the Tracing the Study of Japanese Buddhism conference which was hosted by the Center for Japanese Studies which is under the aegis of Institute of East Asian Studies at Cal. The cost as free but the suggested donation was $5 to $10. I guess I'm not as cheap as I like to portray because I had just gone to the ATM as I didn't know in advance that it was free admission. I only had $20 bills and I actually asked for change so that I could donate $10.

Departures had more drama as in melodrama. It deals with Kobayashi, a cellist that loses his job at the orchestra. He finds works (initially distasteful) as a undertaker's subcontractor. Specifically, he ritually prepares the corpse for cremation. This involves cleaning the body and dressing it in burial robes and accessories. By repeating this process and seeing the effect it has on the families of the departed, Kobayashi finds his true calling, infuses his cello playing with a previously missing passion and achieves inner peace. That's good because the rest of society looks down upon his profession. His wife leaves him because of it and his childhood friend refuses to be seen in public with him. Despite this, Kobayashi chooses the job over all else. One demon he can't shake is the pain and resentment directed at his father who abandoned he and his mother when he was a child.

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I also watched The Baader Meinhof Complex (German with subtitles; 2008). It was very entertaining - suspenseful, funny, tragic and the adjectives could keep going. Slightly familiar with the Red Army Faction in West Germany, I was not aware of the specific events in the rise and fall of the first generation of the RAF. Johanna Wokalek as Gudrun Ensslin delivers a tremendous performance - frightening, pathetic and sexy. I could wonder if the real Gudrun Ensslin was as charismatic as Wokalek's portrayal. The only nit I could pick is that the motivation of these people was difficult to ascertain. Ensslin and Baader seemed to verge on sociopathic. Meinhof's actions were even more puzzling. The mother of twin girls and respected (albeit left-leaning) journalist, Meinhof seemed become a terrorist and go underground because she was bored, goaded by Ensslin and perhaps to spite her husband.

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I was able to see one William Klein film at the PFA.

Muhamamd Ali, the Greatest; documentary; (1974)

It would be difficult to make an uninteresting documentary about Muhammad Ali so I wasn't overly impressed but Klein did a good job of highlighting Ali's dichotomies. I heard the phrase "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" but that wasn't the entire mantra. "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, rumble young man rumble, aaaahhhhh!!" Also, it was recited in unison with his assistant trainer Drew Bundini Brown. They yelled it at the top of their lungs and the effect was to make Ali look like a teenager in need of Ritalin. Also, I learned that Ali had originally been given a draft deferment because he couldn't spell. I found that surprising for a man who was principled enough to refuse induction into the Army and convert to Islam. Not versed in Ali's life, apparently Ali was an uneducated man who was backed by a Memphis syndicate at the beginning of his career. It was clear how he broke free although he eventually aligned himself with Don King. It only adds to Ali's amazing life story as depicted in the film - upset win of champion Sonny Liston, the "phantom" punch in the rematch, his conversion to Islam, being stripped of his title and regaining the title from George Foreman in Zaire. That doesn't even include the Thrilla in Manila fight with Joe Frazier which took place after the film was released.

Muhamamd Ali, the Greatest was a solid documentary although I prefer When We Were King. There was a great scene in the Klein film where Mobutu staged an audience with Ali & Foreman (separately) while a phalanx of news photographers snapped photos. Also, I found a scene with Foreman after he lost the fight (with a mouse under his eye) to show a lot of class. Foreman spoke with reporters and children and was quite humble. Big Bad George didn't sneak out of the country, make excuses or react with a surly disposition; instead he took the loss with more dignity than most could have summoned.

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Tonight, I watched Dario Argento's Suspiria (1977) at the YBCA. The film's most striking feature was the use of vibrant colors. Set in a ballet academy, the red painted walls would make the most wanton bordello madam blush. Argento shines light off the walls to give a disquieting red glow to the proceedings. The plot was forgettable; some of the performances was painfully stitled and the film looked dated; I can't believe this is one of the the all-time great horror films. Perhaps it was trailblazing - what was new and unique in 1977 is cliche in 2009. Frankly, as I was watching the film, I kept wondering if I had seen it on an episode of Elvira's Movie Macabre in the 80's.

Earlier in the month, I saw Bigger Than Life (1956) with James Mason & Walter Matthau and directed by Nicholas Ray. This film was also dated but interesting in a kitschy sort of way. Mason's mousy schoolteacher overdoses on cortisone and the result is a psychotic episode where he thunders "God was wrong!" as he prepares to sacrifice his son...literal sacrifice as in the Old Testament of the Bible. Generally thought to be an indictment of conformist American society in the 1950s and the miracles of modern science; I thought it was an allegory for postwar US foreign policy. Bulked up on nuclear weaponry, the formerly isolationist US engages in muscular and interventionist foreign policy like our protagonist behaves under the influence of cortisone. Cortisone?

Mostly Noir but German Terrorists, Chilean Fascists, Japanese Porn, Italian Witches and Alfred Hitchcock Have Their Moments Too

As I mentioned, the Castro Theater is presenting “Rialto's Best of British Noir.” This series of five films is co-presented by the Film Noir Foundation. The Film Noir Foundation was founded by Eddie Muller and presents the wildly successful Noir City Film Festival each January. Speaking of which, the dates and venue for Noir City 8 have been announced. The festival will run January 22 to 31, 2010 at the Castro.

I posted the synopses of Brighton Rock and It Always Rains on Sunday from the PFA program for Tea and Larceny.

The other three films in the program are:

The Third Man (1949) - Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, black-market opportunist Harry Lime — and thus begins this legendary tale of love, deception, and murder. Thanks to brilliant performances by Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, and Orson Welles; Anton Karas’s evocative zither score; Graham Greene’s razor-sharp dialogue; and Robert Krasker’s Oscar-winning photography, The Third Man, directed by the inimitable Carol Reed, only grows in stature as the years pass.

Peeping Tom (1960) - A frank exploration of voyeurism and violence, Michael Powell’s extraordinary film is the story of a psychopathic cameraman — his childhood traumas, sexual crises, and murderous revenge as an adult. Reviled by critics upon its initial release for its deeply unsettling subject matter, the film has since been hailed as a masterpiece. With Carl Boehm, Moira Shearer, Anna Massey and Maxine Audley.

The Fallen Idol (1948) - The first of three masterpieces to result from the legendary meeting of director Carol Reed and writer Graham Greene, who together would also create The Third Man and Our Man in Havana. Elegantly balancing suspense and farce, this tale of the fraught relationship between a boy and the beloved butler he suspects of murder is a delightfully macabre thriller of the first order and a visually and verbally dazzling knockout. With Ralph Richardson, Bobby Henrey, Michèle Morgan and Sonia Dresdel.

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The Roxie's Best of Columbia Noir program has been rescheduled for September 17 to 30. The films are the same as I previously reported. The Roxie is currently seling passes for the program priced at $85. The double feature price will be $11.

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The Red Vic is screening a film that looks interesting on September 17. It will be the San Francisco premiere of Stingray Sam (Official Website). A dangerous mission reunites Stingray Sam with his long lost accomplice, The Quasar Kid. These two space convicts must earn their freedom by rescuing a young girl who is being held captive by the genetically designed figurehead of a very wealthy planet. Science fiction, musical and miniseries collide in this anticipated work. Director Cory McAbee will be in attendance. Stingray Sam screened at this year's Sundance. The film was well reviewed on Variety whose opinions I have found to be generally consistent with mine - The overall effect is hilariously digressive, campy yet deadpan. And awfully catchy: McAbee's songs range from a "Rawhide"-like theme tune to swinging '60s acid rock, cowpunk and an acoustic "Pretty Little Lullaby." There's even room on the soundtrack for brief traditional Indian and Chinese instrumentation. The freewheeling pic accommodates everything from physical humor (notably an incredible "secret handshake" running gag) and delightfully staged wiseass musical numbers (opener "Welcome to Mars" wins goodwill enough for multiple features) to the genuinely sweet interactions between senior and junior McAbees.

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At the Castro, from September 23 to 27, is The Metropolitan Hallucinations
of Marin Scorsese, a program of ten Scorsese classics including Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Casino and Raging Bull. The two films I would like to see on the Castro screen are After Hours on September 23 and Mean Streets on September 25.

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For 31 days starting on September 1, the Stanford Theater is screening Hitchcock films including my favorite, Strangers on a Train. At the end of the film, there is a scene involving a "runaway" merry-go-round. There is an old man that is a carnival worker in charge of the carousel. He has to crawl under the floorplates to get to the center of the merry-go-round to stop it. All the while, Farley Granger and Robert Walker are fighting each other and the centripetal forces. The slow movement and labored but relentless expression on his face are both funny and suspenseful. Hitchcock claims the scene was filmed without trick photography and the most dangerous he ever filmed.

They are screening two early Hitchcock films I would like to see. Both were filmed in England before Hitchcock emigrated to Hollywood. The 39 Steps (1935) and Secret Agent (1936) are a double feature from September 8 to 10. The latter stars John Gielgud and Peter Lorre.

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The Baader Meinhof Complex opens at Landmark Theaters (maybe others) on September 4. Highly reviewed, the film dramatizes the real-life actions of the Red Army Faction, a terrorist group operating in West Germany in the 1970's. Visit the official website.

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I don't know if it's been released yet but if not, it will be released on September 4. I am referring to Still Walking, a Japanese film about "modest joys and gentle sorrows that accompany the realization that life must inevitably move on." Visit the official website.

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Tony Manero opens on September 11 at the Sundance Kabuki. Technically, it's playing on the San Francisco Film Society Screen at the Kabuki.

In Santiago de Chile, 1978, Pinochet’s dictatorship has Chilean citizens coping with a nightly curfew, constant military patrols and the omnipresent threat of violence. In the midst of it, a middle-aged man named Raúl (Alfredo Castro) is obsessed with the idea of impersonating Tony Manero, John Travolta’s character from Saturday Night Fever. On the outskirts of the city, he leads a small group of devoted dancers who have set their sights on an upcoming “Tony look-alike” television competition. Raúl’s immoderate desire to win, coupled with an obsessive need to recreate the glass dance floor from the movie, leads him to commit a series of crimes and thefts and to act increasingly autocratic and cruel with his fellow hoofers. “Shot on 16mm, Tony Manero has a purposefully murky look and a frantic feel. The ultra-Dardenne camera follows Raúl as he darts through Santiago’s empty alleys and vacant lots, only pausing when he raptly watches Saturday Night Fever or attempts to imitate Tony's stomp-and-point rhythmic flailing. Feasting on this bizarre fascist posturing, director Pablo Larraín suggests that, with his sordid charisma, Raúl is a miniature Pinochet—reproducing the brutality of the state in his willingness to steal, exploit, betray and kill in the service of a fantasy.” —J. Hoberman, The Village Voice

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On September 10, 12 & 13, the YBCA is screening Bigger Than Life (1956). Starring James Mason & directed by Nicholas Ray, the film is ostensibly about a man that takes experimental cortisone pills to control his "inflamed arteries." Subversively a critique of conformism in 1950's America, Bigger Than Life has gained an appreciative audience since its original release.

The YBCA is screening Dario Argento's Three Mothers Trilogy on October 1, 3 & 4.

Suspiria (1977) - Considered one of the great horror films, Suspiria tells the tale of Suzy, a young American ballet student who travels to Italy to attend a prestigious dance academy, only to arrive at an institution terrorized by gruesome murders. After putting together clues, Suzy uncovers a coven of witches who use the reanimated corpse of her friend in an attempt to murder her...And don’t forget the soundtrack

Inferno (1980) - Arguably Argento’s masterpiece, in Inferno a young woman stumbles upon a mysterious diary that reveals the secrets of "The Three Mothers" and unleashes a nightmare world of demonic evil. As the unstoppable horror spreads from Rome to New York City, this unholy trinity must be stopped before the world is submerged in the blood of the innocent. Features a pulse-pounding original score by Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

The Mother of Tears (2007) - The bizarre finale to the trilogy. In the heart of modern Rome, an urn is found and brought to a young archeologist, Sarah Mandy. But what Sarah doesn’t know is that the urn belongs to the world’s most powerful witch, the Mother of Tears. She unwittingly unleashes a demonic power intent on destroying the city and everything in its path. Starring Asia Argento and Udo Kier.

Starting on October 8, the YBCA screens eight pinku eiga films by Koji Wakamatsu.

More than any other Japanese films, those made by Koji Wakamatsu in the '60s and '70s are deeply rooted in the political and social upheavals of the era. One of the leaders of 'pink cinema,' Wakamatsu has always been obsessed with the history of student protest movements. 'Pink cinema' or pinku eiga—Japanese sexploitation—were independent film productions that from the mid '60s to early '70s experimented with a new form of filmmaking that blended sex and violence.

Noir Overload

As I was perusing the Castro Theater's upcoming events, I noticed that they have programmed a series called Best of British Noir. The program is running September 11 to 16 and includes

Brighton Rock (1947)
It Always Rains on Sunday (1947)
The Third Man (1949)
Peeping Tom (1960)
The Fallen Idol (1948)

I can't help but notice that the Castro's Best of British Noir series overlaps with the Roxie Theater's Best of Columbia Noir series. Or at least it used to overlap. Originally scheduled for September 11 to 22, the Roxie has updated their website. It now reads "For 12 days, on dates to be announced soon..."

I guess the Castro scared the Roxie off. I wonder if the Castro planned their program first and the Roxie wasn't aware of it or if the Castro programmed their noir series as a counter to the Roxie's Columbia Noir series.

Either way, it is interesting to see the dynamics between the two theaters.

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Over at the 4 Star, they programmed two Korean films in the near future.

Daytime Drinking (2008) opens August 21. This independent film about Korea's drinking customs is comedy about a man's misadventures.

Haeundae has a 2010 release date on imdb. It looks to be an action/disaster film about a tsunami.

Noir City Indeed!

The Roxie is going back to the well again. In May, they presented I Wake Up Dreaming: The Haunted World of the B Film Noir. In September, they are presenting Best of Columbia Noir. Given the crowds at the Roxie for I Wake Up Dreaming, I'm not surprised. I wonder how long until Eddie Muller launches a second Noir City event. Actually, he mentioned in January that Noir City and the San Francisco Film Society were teaming up for an international noir event this summer but I haven't seen anything on that.

Film Noir returns to San Francisco’s Roxie Theater with a vengeance! This past May, audiences were treated to two full weeks of rare B noirs as part of the “I Wake Up Dreaming” festival which only seemed to remind everyone that The Roxie is THE place to be for classic, high quality Film Noir.

Now, in answer to the huge demand from noir enthusiasts all over the Bay Area, Elliot Lavine has programmed a stupendous ten day fest of noir classics and curios from the famed vaults of Columbia Pictures. A total of twenty great films—all presented in beautiful 35mm studio vault prints---and none currently available on DVD.

From Friday, Sept. 11 through Tuesday, Sept. 22, audiences will thrill to the works of such esteemed directors as Nicholas Ray (Knock on Any Door), Jacques Tourneur (Nightfall), Don Siegel (The Line Up), Joseph H. Lewis (My Name is Julia Ross and So Dark the Night), Samuel Fuller (The Crimson Kimono), Robert Rossen (Johnny O’Clock), Irving Lerner (Murder by Contract and City of Fear) and many more!

Many of Columbia’s higher profile noirs have sadly slipped through the cracks due to scant or non-existent home video or DVD versions. Major directors like Fuller, Ray and Siegel are woefully under-represented in this way and odd-ball gems like Richard Quine’s steamy Pushover (1954) with Fred MacMurray and Kim Novak---Paul Wendkos’ The Burglar (1957), the remarkably strange and dark film from the novel by David Goodis starring Dan Duryea and Jayne Mansfield---an early film from William Castle, The Whistler (1944)---and Will Jason’s stylish and disturbing horror-noir hybrid Soul of a Monster (1944) are rarely shown anywhere. This is the perfect end-of-summer tonic for noir addicts who are doomed to another long, dark winter.

One difference I note between the May series and the upcoming one is that the films this September are all 35 mm prints (I may have missed a 16 mm listing). That was a sore point last May as the quality of the prints was lacking.

The full schedule is:

Johnny O’Clock (1947)
This erotically offbeat noir gave Dick Powell his most vividly hard-boiled role since his re-invention as tough guy Philip Marlowe three years earlier in Dmytryk’s Murder My Sweet. As the darkly suave proprietor of an illegal gambling den, Johnny walks a deadly tightrope between doom and redemption. A nearly forgotten gem of sizzling noir brilliance, beautifully photographed by the legendary Burnett Guffey. Also in the top-notch cast: Evelyn Keyes, Lee J. Cobb, Thomas Gomez and Ellen Drew.

Blind Spot (1947)
With a plot resembling an unhatched Cornell Woolrich tale (it isn’t), an alcoholic writer of mystery novels (hmmm...) finds himself unable to provide an alibi for himself when his publisher turns up dead in a locked room—exactly in the way he cooked up for one of his own grisly books! A highly entertaining and ingenious B noir! Starring Chester Morris, Constance Dowling, Steven Geray.

Knock on Any Door (1949)
Within a few short years of making this, his second feature, Nicholas Ray would establish himself as a cinematic master with films like In A Lonely Place, On Dangerous Ground, Johnny Guitar, and Rebel Without A Cause. This one lands him squarely in noir territory: Humphrey Bogart plays a cynical criminal lawyer hired to defend a young punk in a cop killing. As the punk, young John Derek gave birth to the line "Live fast, die young and leave a good looking corpse." Also in the cast are George Macready and Allene Roberts.

Convicted (1950)
Glenn Ford stars as a man wrongfully accused of manslaughter after a barroom brawl leaves another man dead. The sympathetic DA who helped send him to prison does all he can to lighten the sentence but to no avail. Life behind bars embitters the young con and when the opportunity to join a violent, bloody break presents itself, he seizes the moment! An exciting noir drama, ripe for rediscovery! Also starring Broderick Crawford, Millard Mitchell, Dorothy Malone.

Pushover (1954)
Fred MacMurray’s other great noir film, it presents the actor a full ten years after Double Indemnity landed him in the pantheon of great noir performances. Here he’s a cop who’s assigned to shadow the mistress (the incredible Kim Novak in her first prominent screen role) of a wanted bank robber. The heat of the moment proves too much for our boy and a deadly obsession looms large on the landscape. Also in the cast: Philip Carey, Dorothy Malone and E. G. Marshall.

Drive a Crooked Road (1954)
Those who insist on thinking of Mickey Rooney only as “Andy Hardy” should take a hard look at the actor’s noir canon. From the late 40s (Killer McCoy) through the late 50s (The Last Mile) he could be equally convincing as a cold-blooded killer or a short-changed chump; psychological bookends in the noir universe. Here he gets to do a little of everything as the hardcase auto mechanic with eyes on the dame AND the prize...and the payoff is—dynamite! Also stars Dianne Foster, Kevin McCarthy and Jack Kelly.

The Whistler (1944)
Columbia produced 8 low-budget noirs for this eerie and popular anthology series between 1944 and 1948. Richard Dix appeared in the lead role in all but one of these films (he died shortly before production began), never playing the same character twice. In this, the first of a uniformly excellent batch, he plays a man hopelessly despondent over the tragic death of his wife. He briefly contemplates suicide then opts to pay a hired assassin to do the job. Fate cruelly intervenes and provides an unexpected and suspenseful climax! With Gloria Stuart and J. Carroll Naish.

The Soul of a Monster (1944)
An ultra-strange hybrid of noir and horror makes for a highly rewarding film with deeper, more spiritual messaging than normally required of a sixty-minute B picture. When a beloved physician lies terminally ill at death’s door, a mysterious woman arrives, hastening his miraculous recovery amidst the suspicious aura of satanic skullduggery! A visually thrilling and seriously misunderstood gem of supernatural noir! Starring George Macready, Rose Hobart, Jeanne Bates and Jim Bannon.

So Dark the Night (1946)
In the first half of this double-bill tribute to director Joseph H. Lewis (Gun Crazy, The Big Combo), a noted Parisian detective on vacation becomes involved in the investigation of a string of local murders. Memorable touches on a small scale highlight this twisted tale of passion under darkly sunny French skies. Starring Steven Geray, Micheline Cheirel and Eugene Borden.

My Name is Julia Ross (1945)
After toiling for a number of years on poverty row in a succession of B westerns, East Side Kids comedies and Bela Lugosi horror films, Lewis landed at Columbia and delivered this breakthrough B classic of gothic noir right out of the gate. A young woman takes position in a shuddery seaside mansion only to awaken the following morning to an unspeakable nightmare! Starring Nina Foch, George Macready and Dame May Whitty.

The Line Up (1958)
Don Siegel, the incendiary director of the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the Lee Marvin version of The Killers, the first Dirty Harry movie AND Private Hell 36 (one of the big rediscoveries of this past May’s Roxie Noir program) kicks out a tough police noir filmed right here in San Francisco! Loosely based on a popular TV show at the time, the film leaves it in the dust. Starring Eli Wallach, Warner Anderson, Richard Jaeckel, Emile Meyer and Robert Keith.

The Sniper (1952)
With deadly aim, a deranged lone gunman with a sick desire to kill women is stalking the dark streets of San Francisco! An intense investigation leads to a nerve-wracking and fateful conclusion! A gripping, suspenseful tour de force from the director of Murder My Sweet and Crossfire. Starring Adolph Menjou, Arthur Franz, Gerald Mohr and Marie Windsor. Directed by Edward Dmytryk.

Between Midnight and Dawn (1950)
An exciting and realistic depiction of everyday cops doing their jobs. Screen veterans Edmond O’Brien and Mark Stevens share an LAPD patrol car and their nightly routines can sometimes become highly dangerous. One of the earliest and, despite not being well-known today, most influential films of the police procedural type. Also starring Gale Storm, Donald Buka, Gale Robbins, and Roland Winters.

The Killer That Stalked New York (1950)
Amidst the teeming atmosphere of the New York underworld a life and death race is on to locate the carriers of a deadly disease! This stunning docu-noir makes great use of its location photography to create a convincingly menacing world. A much better film than the similarly themed, bigger budgeted Panic In The Streets from around the same time. Starring Charles Korvin, Evelyn Keyes, William Bishop, and Dorothy Malone.

The Crimson Kimono (1959)
While it might seem that this sharply drawn noir crime film is about nothing more than the murder of an LA nightclub stripper, it’s important to remember that this is a Samuel Fuller film and the concerns of the director run somewhat deeper than what appears to be on the surface. In this case it’s the smoldering possibilities of interracial romance in a cold and unforgiving world. A masterpiece of mood and malice. Starring Victoria Shaw, Glenn Corbett, James Shigeta, and Anna Lee.

Screaming Mimi (1958)
Noir doesn’t get much weirder and whacked-out than this baffling psychodrama about a troubled young woman who, after surviving a brutal attack, becomes the prime suspect in a series of bizarre ritual murders. An alcoholic reporter tries to clear the whole mess up. The charged atmosphere in this steamy melodrama makes for unusually provocative entertainment, and how! Based on a novel by Fredric Brown. Starring Philip Carey, Anita Ekberg, Harry Townes, Gypsy Rose Lee, and Red Norvo.

The Burglar (1957)
Back by popular demand! Another sizzling noir adapted from the darkly twisted imagination of David Goodis. An aging thief forms an unholy alliance with a mysterious young woman and a bizarre gang of crooks. Resembling nothing less than the ironically imitative films of the emerging French New Wave around this time, The Burglar is the real McCoy! Starring Dan Duryea, Jayne Mansfield, Martha Vickers, and Mickey Shaughnessy.

Nightfall (1957)
From the director of the classic noir Out of the Past comes this ultra-stylish noir thriller about an innocent man caught between the cops and a pair of sadistic killers in a mad search for stolen money. Starring Aldo Ray, Anne Bancroft, Brian Keith, and James Gregory. Screenplay adapted by Sterling Silliphant from the novel by low-rent paperback specialist David Goodis. Directed by Jacques Tourneur.

Murder By Contract (1958)
Vince Edwards is chillingly real as a pitiless hired assassin who has second thoughts when his latest assignment is revealed to be a woman. An idiosyncratic study of a man without a soul—rendered in a baffling, near-abstract beat style. The director only made two features before drifting into television and finally relative obscurity. Also featuring Herschel Bernardi, Caprice Toriel and Philip Pine. Directed by Irving Lerner.

City of Fear (1959)
Back too is this amazing nuclear noir again starring rough and ready Vince Edwards—this time as a desperate escaped con with a parcel of stolen “radioactive material” thinking its actually heroin! How many junkies will be infected by this bum stash before he’s taken down?! A wild and uninhibited noir curio from the tail end of the cycle. Also starring John Archer, Lyle Talbot and Steven Ritch. Directed by Irving Lerner.

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Without checking my records, I can state that of the films presented, I have previously seen The Crimson Kimono, City of Fear, Nightfall and The Burglar.

Blind Spot screened at this year's Noir City but I missed it so it's nice to have a second chance to see it.