*All times are PT. Please check your local listings to confirm dates and times.
Wednesday, January 1, 1:00 AM
SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950): Film Noir meets Hollywood Gothic meets biting satire in this piece of perfection. A failed, and drowned, screenwriter, William Holden, tells us how he fell into a mercenary romance with a faded silent-film star, Gloria Swanson who probably would have told us a rather different story. Admirable support provided Erich von Stroheim as Max, her devoted butler and chauffeur. Dir. Billy Wilder
Thursday, January 2, 10:30 AM
MR. AND MRS. SMITH (1941): The Master of Suspense’s only foray into screwball comedy concerns a contentious married couple (Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery) who find out that after three years of marital non-bliss that they aren’t legally married. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Thursday, January 2, 8:45 PM
GASLIGHT (1940): This is the first and franker big screen adaptation of Patrick Hamilton's play Angel Street about a newlywed (Diana Wynyard) fears she's going mad when strange things start happening at the family mansion where her aunt was murdered ten years earlier. Anton Walbrook plays the seemingly devoted husband. Dir. Thorold Dickinson
Thursday, January 2, 10:30 PM
BLOW-UP (1966): A womanizing photographer (David Hemmings) discovers a murder in the background of a candid photo. His investigation tests his deductive skills and his sanity. Vanessa Redgrave has a memorable supporting role as a mysterious woman who may be trying to stymy his efforts. Nominated for two Oscars: Michelangelo Antonioni for Best Director and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen for Michelangelo Antonioni (screenplay/story), Tonino Guerra (screenplay) and Edward Bond (screenplay) Dir: Michelangelo Antonioni
Friday, January 3, 5:00 PM – January 4, 2:30 AM
5:00 PM
SPELLBOUND (1945): A beautiful psychiatrist (Ingrid Bergman) shields an equally beautiful amnesic (Gregory Peck) who’s pretending to be the new doctor at the sanatorium that she works at. Can she help him recover his memory and find out what happened to the doctor he’s impersonating? This David O. Selznick production features a dream sequence by Salvador Dali. Composer Miklós Rózsa won an Oscar for his score. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
7:00 PM
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1963): In this late era noir, ex-G.I. Bennett Marco (Frank Sinatra) slowly begins to realize that he was brainwashed by the Koreans while he was a P.O.W. He soon suspects that his former comrade in arms Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey), who is also the stepson of a presidential candidate, is being manipulated by the Communists Angel Lansbury gives a remarkable performance as Shaw’s icy mother. Based on the novel of the same name by Richard Condon novel. Dir. John Frankenheimer
9:15 PM
NIGHTMARE (1956): Good adaptation of Cornelll Woolrich’s tale about a young musician, Kevin McCarthy, who wakes from an intense dream fearing that he’s committed murder. Brother-in-law Edward G. Robinson helps him find the truth. Dir. Maxwell Shane
10:45 PM
DREAMS (1940): This entry in MGM's Passing Parade series looks at the meaning of dreams, including one by Abraham Lincoln that foretold his death. The first dreamer is played by Peter Cushing, Dir. Felix Feist
11:00 PM
MURDER, MY SWEET (1944): The film that graduated Dick Powell from romantic musical lead to noir tough guy. Raymond Chandler’s detective and knight errant, Philip Marlowe's (Powell) search for a singer name Velma, leads him through a tangled web of blackmail and murder. Along the way, he finds himself embroiled with a wealthy man’s unscrupulous gold-digging wife (Claire Trevor) and the step-daughter that despises her (Anne Shirley). Mike Mazurki gives a standout performance as the mentally challenged and extremely physically powerful ex-con that hires Marlowe to find Velma. “Cute as pants.” Dir. Edward Dmytryk
12:45 AM
STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR (1940): Peter Lorre is the Stranger, haunting a reporter (John McGuire) whose testimony sentenced a possibly innocent man (Elisha Cook Jr.) to death. Can the writer's girlfriend (Margaret Tallichet) uncover the truth in time? A revelatory burst of hallucinatory cinema, featuring a prolonged dream sequence that was the initial injection of noir expressionism into Hollywood's bloodstream. Shot by the incomparable D.P. Nicholas Musuraca. Dir. Boris Ingster
January 4, 11:15 AM
THE LUSTY MEN (1952): In this Nicholas Ray helmed Western noir, a faded rodeo star (Robert Mitchum) mentors a younger rider to help him raise the money he needs to buy his dream ranch through rodeo competition (Arthur Kennedy) and then falls for his wife (Susan Hayward). As one would expect, complications ensue. Dir. Nicholas Ray
January 4, 3:15 PM
SAPPHIRE (1959): Sapphire, a young pregnant woman, is found murdered on Hampstead Heath. The police shortly discover that she was black but passed as white. The investigating officers (Nigel Patrick and Michael Craig) must deal with the racism in London at the time and within themselves as they search for her killer. Dir. Basil Dearden
Saturday, January 4, 9:00 PM & Sunday, January 5, 7:00 AM
SUSPENSE (1946): The Postman Always Rings Twice on ice! A handsome man (Barry Sullivan) with a questionable past works his way up from peanut salesman to manager of an ice show. He falls for the beautiful star (Belita) who’s also the wife of the owner (Albert Dekker). When the owner leaves town, sparks fly and dangerous intrigue follows. Dir. Frank Tuttle
Tuesday, January 7, 10:00 AM
THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943): A young woman (Kim Hunter) leaves school to investigate the disappearance of her beautiful and mysterious older sister (Jean Brooks). She finds out some interesting facts, one, her sister was married and two, she was part of a satanic set. The husband (Hugh Beaumont), a poet (Erford Gage) and a psychiatrist (Tom Conway) aid her search for the truth about her sister. Produced by horror icon Val Lewton. Dir. Mark Robsons
Tuesday, January 7, 10:00 PM
SIDE STREET (1950): A New York City mailman (Farley Granger) dreams of taking his wife (Cathy O’Donnell) to Europe. So, he steals a shipment of dirty money and soon finds himself pursued by both cops and crooks. Dir. Anthony Mann
Friday, January 10, 3:00 AM- 5:00 PM
Here are the noirs...
10:00 AM
WHIPLASH (1948): San Franciscan artist Michael Gordon (Dane Clark) goes to New York to find Laurie Rogers (Alexis Smith) after spending one evening together. There he finds her singing at a nightclub by chance and she confesses that she is married. He decides to box for her disabled husband (Zachary Scott) who doesn’t know about Michael and Laurie’s connection. Dir. Lewis Seiler
1:30 PM
BACKFIRE (1950): On Christmas Eve, wounded war veteran Bob Corey (Gordon MacRae), recovering from multiple surgeries is approached by a mysterious woman (Viveca Lindfors) who tell him that his army buddy (Edmond O'Brien) who disappeared has been in an accident and wants to commit suicide. Bob gets out of the hospital and is promptly questioned by the police about Steve, who they believe murdered a local gambler and racketeer. Bob and his nurse and girlfriend (Virginia Mayo) try to find evidence to clear him. Dir. Vincent Sherman
3:30 PM
BLACK OUT aka MURDER BY PROXY (1954): In this Brit noir, produced by Hammer Studios and directed by Terence Fisher before their emergence as masters of horror, U.S. Army veteran Casey (Dane Clark), is living in London, nearly broke and drowning his sorrows in booze. Things look up when he meets Phyllis (Belinda Lee), a stunning blonde with money to spare who offers Casey cash to marry her. Suspicious but with nothing to lose, Casey agrees, only to wake up the next day hungover, confused and in a stranger's room with blood on his coat. Phyllis is nowhere to be seen. Her father was murdered while Casey was blacked out and all clues point to him. Now he must unravel the mystery to clear his name, which leads him into a twisted labyrinth of encounters with various suspicious characters who seem to make his situation worse the more he learns. Based on the 1952 novel of the same name by Helen Nielsen. Dir. Terence Fisher
Saturday, January 11, 11:00 AM
JEOPARDY (1953): A suburban housewife (Barbara Stanwyck) on holiday in rural Mexico with her son and husband, desperately seeks help. Her husband is trapped in pilings on the shore of the ocean and the tide is coming in. She encounters an escaped criminal (Ralph Meeker) and will do anything in exchange for his aid. “How long has it been since you talked to a woman?” Dir. John Sturges
Saturday, January 11, 9:00 PM & Sunday, January 12, 7:00 AM
DEADLINE AT DAWN (1946): In this adaptation of the Cornell Woolrich novel, a taxi dancer June (Susan Hayward) helps an amnesiac sailor Alex (Bill Williams), that she believes to be innocent, try to track down the real killer of a woman whom Alex apparently robbed earlier in the evening, after she helped fleece him in a card game. A friendly cabbie (Paul Lukas) aids them in their search for the murderer. Dir. Harold Clurman
Tuesday, January 14, 5:00 PM – 12:00 AM
5:00 PM
EACH DAWN I DIE (1939): A crooked DA frames crusading reporter Frank Ross (James Cagney) for drunk driving and manslaughter. He goes to the big house and meets a charismatic racketeer and lifer "Hood" Stacey (George Raft). The pair develops an intense friendship causing “Hood” to become a better man. Can he help his unjustly convicted buddy? Dir. William Keighley
6:45 PM
THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT (1940): Truck driver Joe Fabrini (George Raft) finds himself the victim of sexual harassment by his boss’s amorous wife (Ida Lupino) in a movie stealing performance. When Joe refuses her advances, she murders her husband and then tries to frame him for it. Humphrey Bogart portrays Raft’s brother and trucking partner. Dir. Raoul Walsh
8:30 PM
INVISIBLE STRIPES (1940): Clifford Taylor (George Raft) is paroled from Sing Sing but is unable to shed the “invisible stripes” that cling to him as he tries to go straight. His fiancé dumps him, he’s wrongly accused of a crime at work, his dopey brother threatens to break bad, and his old prison chum (Humphrey Bogart) gets out and offers him a life of lucrative crime. Will Taylor be able to keep on the straight and narrow? Dir. Lloyd Bacon
10:00 PM
MANPOWER (1941): Power linemen and best friends Hank (Edward G. Robinson) and Johnny (George Raft) feud over Hank’s wife (Marlene Dietrich). Life imitated art during the production of this film; the two actors tussled over Dietrich. Raft won. Dir. Raoul Walsh
Wednesday, January 15, 5:00 PM – Thursday, January 16, 3:00 AM
5:00 PM
BECOMING HITCHCOCK: THE LEGACY OF BLACKMAIL (2024): This documentary, narrated by historian, critic and filmmaker Elvis Mitchell, explores the development of Alfred Hitchcock's signature style, through the making of one of his benchmark films, Blackmail (1929). Dir. Laurent Bouzereau
6:15 PM
BLACKMAIL (Silent Version) (1929): Alice White (Anny Ondra) blows off a date with her steady beau Detective Frank Webber (John Longden) to see a charming young artist. The artist talks her into coming up to his studio and she kills him when he attempts to rape her. The next day, Frank discovers Alice’s glove at the crime scene and removes the evidence. A blackmailer (Donald Calthrop) who can place Alice at the scene of the crime then confronts the pair. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
8:00 PM
BECOMING HITCHCOCK: THE LEGACY OF BLACKMAIL (2024): This documentary, narrated by historian, critic and filmmaker Elvis Mitchell, explores the development of Alfred Hitchcock's signature style, through the making of one of his benchmark films, Blackmail (1929). Dir. Laurent Bouzereau
9:15 PM
BLACKMAIL (Sound Version) (1929): Alice White (Anny Ondra) blows off a date with her steady beau Detective Frank Webber (John Longden) to see a charming young artist. The artist talks her into coming up to his studio and she kills him when he attempts to rape her. The next day, Frank discovers Alice’s glove at the crime scene and removes the evidence. A blackmailer (Donald Calthrop) who can place Alice at the scene of the crime then confronts the pair. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
11:00 PM
MURDER! (1930): Juror Sir John Menier (Herbert Marshall) who had voted to convict murder suspect Diana Baring (Norah Baring) tries to prove someone else did it before the execution date. The police found Diana near the body of her friend and fellow actress Edna and all the circumstantial evidence points to her. As Menier investigates, he suspects Diana's boyfriend who works as a cross-dressing acrobat. What more could you ask for? Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
1:00 AM
THE SKIN GAME (1931): A rich family, the Hillcrests, is fighting against the speculator, Hornblower (Edmund Gwen), who sends away poor farmers to build factories on their lands. When Mrs. Hillcrest (Helen Haye) finds out that Chloe Hornblower (Phyllis Konstam) was a prostitute, she uses this secret to blackmail the speculator and force him to stop his business. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Saturday, January 18, 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM
11:00 AM
HIGH SIERRA (1941): Humphrey Bogart plays Roy Earle, a hardened criminal with a heart of gold, who finds love, redemption, and a not so happy ending with the lovely and vulnerable Ida Lupino in this noir classic. This was one of three roles that George Raft refused that Bogart accepted, ironically the three roles that shot him into stardom after years of playing second bananas at Warner Brothers to among others, George Raft. Dir. Raoul Walsh
1:00 PM
WHIPLASH (1948): San Franciscan artist Michael Gordon (Dane Clark) goes to New York to find Laurie Rogers (Alexis Smith) after spending one evening together. There he finds her singing at a nightclub by chance and she confesses that she is married. He decides to box for her disabled husband (Zachary Scott) who doesn’t know about Michael and Laurie’s connection. Dir. Lewis Seiler
Saturday, January 18, 9:15 PM & Sunday, January 19, 7:00 AM
WITHOUT PITY SENZA PIETÀ (1948): A combination of neorealism and noir that never could have been made in the U.S. African-American GI John Kitzmiller stars as a U.S. soldier in Italy awaiting demobilization whose kindness towards local working girl (Carla Del Poggio) leads to an unexpected romance. Lauded at international festivals, its interracial romance prevented wide distribution in the United States. Script by Federico Fellini, featuring the screen debut of his muse, Giulietta Masina. In Italian with English subtitles
Sunday, January 19, 12:30 AM – 3:30 AM
12:30 AM
THE HUNTED (1948): Paroled after serving a prison term for her part in a jewel heist, Laura Mead (Belita) returns to the city looking to reclaim her life. Waiting in the shadows is her former boyfriend, detective Johnny Saxon (Preston Foster), who may have railroaded her into the pen out of jealousy. Is Laura ready to forgive … or make good on her jailhouse threat to kill the men who sent her up? A strange, hypnotic twist on the femme fatale tale, resurrected from obscurity by the Film Noir Foundation. Dir. Jack Bernhard
2:00 AM
DECOY (1946): One of the most notorious "B" films of all-time! Jean Gillie plays a deliriously nasty femme fatale in this unhinged caper about a man (Frank Armstrong) brought back from the dead to lead his gang to buried loot. Dir. Jack Bernhard
Sunday, January 19, 3:00 PM
SÉANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON (1964): In this extremely downbeat, late-era Brit noir, noted stage actress Kim Stanley gives a tour de force performance as a medium kidnap a child so she can help the police solve the crime. Richard Attenborough provides an equally impressive counterpoint as the psychic’s weak-willed husband and accomplice. Based on a novel by Mark McShane, imaginatively and impressively adapted a second time by Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa as Séance in 2000. Score by the legendary John Barry. Dir. Bryan Forbes
Monday, January 20, 11:00 AM
INTRUDER IN THE DUST (1949): Nobel prize winner William Faulkner's 1948 novel is a high-minded piece of crime fiction, written as atonement for the mistreatment of blacks in his native South. Proud African American farmer Lucas Beauchamp (Juano Hernandez, in a memorable portrayal) is a defiant Mississippi landowner accused of murdering a white man. When the county's most prominent lawyer (David Brian) refuses to defend him, it's up to a young boy (Claude Jarman Jr.) to stand up to the vigilantes and help solve the crime. Dir. Clarence Brown
Monday, January 20, 9:15 PM
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967): In a small Mississippi town, racist Police Chief Bill Gillespie (Rod Steiger) mistakenly accuses African American Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) of the recent murder of a prominent Northern industrialist. When Gillespie discovers that Tibbs is a Homicide detective from Philadelphia, he enlists his help to solve the murder. This groundbreaking neo-noir won five Oscars, including Best Picture. Dir. Norman Jewison
Tuesday, January 21, 5:00 PM – Wednesday, January 22, 3:00 AM
Here are the noirs...
3:00 PM
BACKGROUND TO DANGER (1943): An American (George Raft) gets caught up in wartime action in Turkey. Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre add to the fun. A little piece of trivia, Raft had an earlier chance to act with that duo; he turned down first dibs on John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon (1939) and Michael Curtiz’s Casablanca (1942). He also turned down an earlier chance to work with director Raoul Walsh on High Sierra (1941). What might have happened? Dir. Raoul Walsh
6:30 PM
JOHNNY ANGEL (1946): A sailor (George Raft) finds his father’s ship abandoned and his father murdered. He returns to port and sets out to investigate. He encounters a couple of beautiful women (Claire Trevor-bringing her serious hat game per usual-and Signe Hasso) as well as a complicated plot, along the way. Dir. Edwin L. Marin
8:00 PM
NOCTURNE (1946): A police detective (George Raft) refuses to believe a womanizing composer's death was suicide. He interviews one of his ex-lovers after another, trying to find the truth. This cool little thriller features some touching scenes between George Raft and Mabel Paige as his mother. Screenplay by John Latimer. Dir. Edwin L. Marin
9:45 PM
RACE STREET (1948): In this San Francisco-based noir, an ex-bookie Dan Ganin (George Raft) tries to go straight by opening a nightclub with his singing sister (Gale Robbins) as the main attraction, but soon finds himself seeking vengeance against a protection racket syndicate after they kill his friend (Harry Morgan). Noir stalwart William Bendix plays the cop and childhood friend trying to keep Dan in one piece while he’s on his rampage. Dir. Edwin L. Marin
Wednesday, January 22, 5:00 PM – Thursday, January 23, 4:00 AM
Here are the noirs...
8:00 PM
THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1934): A British family gets mixed up with spies and an assassination plot while vacationing in Switzerland. Things escalate quickly when the daughter is kidnapped, and the parents (Leslie Banks and Edna Best) must rely on themselves to save her. This tense thriller featured Peter Lorre’s first performance in an English language film. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
9:30 PM
THE 39 STEPS (1935): When a beautiful double agent he was trying to help gets killed, and he stands accused of the crime, vacationing Canadian Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) must go on the run across the U.K. both to save himself and to stop a spy ring trying to steal top-secret information. Along the way he handcuffs himself to lovely lass (Madeline Caroll) who thinks he’s a bad’un. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
11:00 PM
SABOTAGE (1936): This early Hitchcock thriller, based on Joseph Conrad’s novel The Secret Agent, concerns an undercover detective pursuing a terrorist ring plotting to set off a bomb in London. When the detective's cover is blown, a pulse-pounding cat and mouse chase ensues. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
12:30 AM
YOUNG AND INNOCENT aka THE GIRL WAS YOUNG (1937) Writer Robert Tisdall (Derrick de Marney) discovers the body of his married girlfriend, actress Christine Clay (Pamela Carme) washed up on shore. He takes advantage of a courthouse mix up and winds up on the lam with the police chief's daughter, Erica Burgoyne (Nova Pilbeam). Based on Josephine’s 1936 novel A Shilling for Candles. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
2:00 AM
THE LADY VANISHES (1938): A young bride-to-be Iris (Margaret Lockwood), traveling across Europe by train, meets a charming spinster Miss Froy (Dame May Whitty), who then disappears into thin air. When no believes Miss Froy even existed outside Iris’ imagination, including Dr. Hartz (Paul Lukas), a brain surgeon, she turns investigator and finds herself drawn into a complex web of mystery and high adventure. A young musicologist (Michael Redgrave) helps her with her quest. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
3:45 AM
BECOMING HITCHCOCK: THE LEGACY OF BLACKMAIL (2024): This documentary, narrated by historian, critic and filmmaker Elvis Mitchell, explores the development of Alfred Hitchcock's signature style, through the making of one of his benchmark films, Blackmail (1929). Dir. Laurent Bouzereau
5:00 AM
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (1940): An American reporter (Joel McCrea) covering the war in Europe gets mixed up in the assassination of a Dutch diplomat which leads to his uncovering a political conspiracy with the aid of the daughter (Laraine Day) of a prominent politician (Herbert Marshall) and a chap named ffolliott “with two small ‘f’s” (George Sanders), his rival for the girl’s affection. This tremendously entertaining film features several vintage Hitchcock set pieces. The film was nominated for six Oscars. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Thursday, January 23, 11:15 PM
A WOMAN’S FACE (1941): The soon to be queen of the noirs, Joan Crawford, starred in this suspenseful drama as a facially scarred blackmailer who’s given a new outlook on life after plastic surgery. Can she adjust to a normal life and stop her ex-accomplice’s nefarious plan to murder his nephew? Dir. George Cukor
Friday, January 24, 3:00 AM – 5:00 PM
6:00 AM
KING OF THE ROARING 20S: THE STORY OF ARNOLD ROTHSTEIN (1961): Despite a decent upbringing by devout Jewish parents, Arnold Rothstein (David Janssen) is destined for a life of crime. This film depicts his rise and fall in the gambling rackets of 20’s New York. Star Jansen is ably supported by Mickey Rooney, Jack Carson, Keenan Wynn and William Demarest Dir. Joseph M. Newman
5:00 AM
YOUNG DILLINGER (1965): An embittered young convict, John Dillinger (Nick Adams), becomes Public Enemy Number One. teams up with Pretty Boy Floyd (Robert Conrad), Baby Face Nelson (John Ashley) and Homer Van Meter (Dan Terranova).
6:45 AM
DILLINGER (1945): Noir tough guy Lawrence Tierney stars as Depression era bank robber John Dillinger. The film traces his life from petty thief to Public Enemy Number One and a bad end. Dir. Max Nosseck Dir. Alfred E. Green
11:30 AM & Friday, January 31, 10:15 PM
AL CAPONE (1959): Rod Steiger stars as Al Capone in this depiction of the rise and fall of Prohibition Era Chicago’s most notorious racketeer. Dir. Richard Wilson
1:30 PM
THE RISE AND FALL OF LEGS DIAMOND (1960): In this late era gangster noir, a small-time thief (Ray Danton) kills his way to the top of the New York rackets. Dir. Budd Boetticher
3:30 PM
BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967): In this critically acclaimed and deeply influential classic, the legendary bank robbers and lovers (Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway) embark on a crime spree during the Depression era Dust Bowl of the 1930s and become folk heroes. The film won two Oscars, Estelle Parsons for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Burnett Guffey for Best Cinematography, an additional eight nominations. Dir. Arthur Penn
5:30 PM
DOG DAY AFTERNOON (1975): In New York city, a bank robbery turns into a media circus when Sonny (Al Pacino) tries to steal enough money for his lover's (Chris Sarandon) sex change operation and takes the bank’s employees hostage. The film earned five Oscar nominations, only Frank Pierson won the Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay for the film, based on true events. Surprisingly co-star John Cazale was not nominated for his excellent performance as Sal, Sonny’s partner in crime. Dir. Sidney Lumet
Saturday, January 25, 9:15 PM & Sunday, January 26, 7:00 AM
WOMAN ON THE RUN (1950): A lost gem rediscovered! Thanks to the efforts of the Film Noir Foundation, this terrific 1950 film noir, the only American print of which was burned in a 2008 fire, has been rescued and restored to its original luster. Join the wild chase around San Francisco as a man goes into hiding after witnessing a gangland execution. Police bird-dog his wife Eleanor (Ann Sheridan), certain she’ll lead them to her husband, whose testimony against the killer could bring down a crime kingpin. But Eleanor and her hubbie are Splitsville—she never wants to see him again. When roguish newspaperman Danny Leggett (Dennis O’Keefe) charms Eleanor into helping him track down the hidden husband—there are unexpected, stunning, and poignant results. This nervy, shot-on-location thriller is a witty and wise look at the travails of romance and marriage, and perhaps the best cinematic depiction ever of mid-20th century San Francisco. Dir. Norman Foster
Tuesday, January 28, 12:00 AM
CROSSFIRE (1947): In this seminal noir, an upright district attorney (Robert Young) investigates a seemingly motiveless murder. As he digs further the prime suspect (George Cooper) seems less and less likely to have done it and an ugly motivation begins to appear. Robert Mitchum and Robert Ryan play a couple of GIs caught up in the case, one trying to clear the suspect and the other trying to frame him. Gloria Grahame earned a best supporting actress nomination for her role as an embittered taxi dancer. Dir. Edward Dmytryk
Tuesday, January 28, 5:00 PM – Wednesday, January 29, 3:15 AM
Here are the noirs...
8:00 PM
JOHNNY ALLEGRO (1949): A reformed hoodlum, and florist, gets mixed up with a beautiful woman (Nina Foch) and, consequently, counterfeiters (led by George Macready) and a deadly manhunt à la The Most Dangerous Game. It’s worth your time alone to see George Raft arranging flowers. Dir Ted Tetzlaff
9:30 PM
RED LIGHT (1949): This film noir features one of George Raft’s best performances! A convicted embezzler (Raymond Burr) hires a soon to be, and rather psychotic, ex-con (Harry Morgan) to act as his instrument of vengeance against his former employer John Torno (Raft) by killing his brother Jess, an Army chaplain just home from the war. John goes berserk when he finds his brother dying and vows to find the culprit. Dir. Roy Del Ruth
11:00 PM
A DANGEROUS PROFESSION (1950): A bails bondman (George Raft) finds himself in the awkward position of bailing out the husband of the woman (Ella Raines) who broke his heart. His older and wiser partner (Pat O’Brien) warns him not to do it. Murderous intrigue follows. Dir. Ted Tetzlaff
Wednesday, January 29, 9:15 PM
PARTY GIRL (1958): Don’t miss this great Nick Ray film, not available on DVD, a gritty bringing down the racket story featuring an interesting love story between a beautiful showgirl (Cyd Charisse) and a gangster’s mouthpiece (Robert Taylor) set in Chicago during the mob infested nineteen twenties. See if you can see spot the scene Brian De Palma stole for The Untouchables. Dir. Nicholas Ray
Thursday, January 30, 5:00 PM – Friday, January 31, 3:00 AM
Here are the neo-noirs...
5:00 PM
THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1972): New York Detectives, Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle (Gene Hackman) and Buddy Russo (Roy Scheider) attempt to intercept a massive heroin shipment coming into the city and hunt down the criminal mastermind behind it, Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey). This gritty procedural also features one of the best car chases in cinematic history. In addition to earning Best Picture and Best Actor for Hackman at the Oscars, the film won Best Director for Friedkin, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Editing. Dir. William Friedkin
7:00 PM
NIGHT MOVES (1975): An aging actress hires football player turned P.I. Harry (Gene Hackman) to find her sexually precocious teenager daughter (Melanie Griffith). He traces her to Florida where he also finds trouble in the shape of a beautiful woman (Jennifer Warren) and a criminal conspiracy. Dir. Arthur Penn
Friday, January 31, 4:45 AM – 10:15 PM
7:45 AM
20,000 YEARS IN SING SING (1932): Racketeer Tommy Connors (Spencer Tracy) enters prison expecting everyone to play by his rules, cons and guards alike. The incorruptible and reformed minded warden determines to make Tommy a better man. Meanwhile on the outside, Tommy’s girl Fay (Bette Davis) finds herself in over her head when she befriends Tommy’s lawyer Joe Finn (Louis Calhern). Dir. Michael Curtiz
9:45 AM
BRUTE FORCE (1947): In this brutal film noir, a convict (Burt Lancaster) plans a daring and violent escape from a sadistic prison. FNF prez and Noir Alley host Eddie Muller said of the film’s ending, “the climax of Brute Force displayed the most harrowing violence ever seen in movie theaters.” Gritty noir photography provided by Oscar winner William Daniels. Dir. Jules Dassin
11:30 AM
CAGED (1950): This film noir in women-in-prison clothing details the transformation of a young, naïve and pregnant widow (Eleanor Parker) into a hardened convict. She learns the hard way how to survive in the big house from a sadistic prison guard (Hope Emerson) and the failure of a good-hearted warden (Agnes Moorehead) to reform the prison. This is more than an exploitation flick, it’s an intelligent social drama and raises a still prescient issue facing the American penal system, is it reforming first time offenders or just turning prisoners into career criminals? Nominated for three Oscars including Best Actress for Parker and Supporting Actress for Emerson. Dir. John Cromwell
Sunset Boulevard – Norma's New Year's Eve private party for two continues into the wee hours of January 1
Hitchcock's Mr. and Mrs. Smith on January 2
Hitchcock + Salvador Dali – Spellbound on January 3
Kevin McCarthy in Nightmare on January 3
Dick Powell on drugs – Murder, My Sweet on January 3
Stranger on the Third Floor on January 4
Nicholas Ray's The Lusty Men on January 4
Eddie Muller presents Suspense on the January 4-5 edition of NOIR ALLEY
Dane Clark in Whiplash on January 10 and 18
Backfire screens January 10
Eddie Muller presents Deadline at Dawn on the January 11-12 edition of NOIR ALLEY
George Raft and James Cagney in Each Dawn I Die on January 14
George Raft stars in Invisible Stripes on January 14
Becoming Hitchcock: The Legacy of Blackmail documentary screens on January 15 and 23
Hitchcoock's Murder screens January 15
Hitchcock's The Skin Game screens January 16
Raoul Walsh's High Sierra on January 18
Eddie Muller presents Without Pity on the January 18-19 edition of NOIR ALLEY
Jean Gillie and Edward Norris star in Decoy on January 19
Falkner adaptation Intruder in the Dust on January 20
Background to Danger screens January 21
George Raft and William Bendix in Race Street on January 21
Hitchcock's The 39 Steps on January 22
Derrick De Marney and Nova Pilbeam star in Young and Innocent on January 22
Joel McCrea and Laraine Day in Foreign Correspondent on January 23
David Janssen stars in King of the Roaring Twenties on January 24
Rod Steiger stars in Al Capone on January 24
Ray Danton in The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond on January 24
Eddie Muller presents Woman on the Run on the January 25-26 edition of NOIR ALLEY
Edward Dmytryk's Crossfire screens January 28
George Raft and Virginia Mayo in Red Light on January 28
Nicholas Ray's Party Girl starring Cyd Charisse on January 29
Gene Hackman in Night Moves on January 30
Burt Lancaster stars in Brute Force on January 31
On the set of Caged screening January 31