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Time for my Annual August Film Noir Festival! It coincides with the Film Noir Foundation’s Noir City Chicago.
This year I watched 9 movies over 8 days.
Wednesday 8-21-13
Home viewing
Tonight’s Noir Fest Film – TRY AND GET ME (aka THE SOUND OF FURY) from 1950. Bad decisions lead to a lynch mob. A little preachy, but excellent (especially Katherine Locke)!
Thursday 8-22-13
Home viewing
Tonight’s Noir Fest Film – NOWHERE TO GO from 1958. Maggie Smith (in her film debut) tries to help escaped convict George Nader. With Bernard Lee as a fellow thief.
Friday 8-23-13
Home viewing
Tonight’s Noir Fest Film – HIT ME from 1996. A loose adaptation of the novel A SWELL-LOOKING BABE by Jim Thompson. Some interesting quirkiness, but ultimately not very good.
Saturday 8-24-13
Noir City – Introduced by Eddie Muller
Today’s Noir Fest Film – Technicolor noir with DESERT FURY from 1947. Lizabeth Scott and Wendell Corey compete for John Hodiak’s affection. The gay subtext is all on the surface in this one. My first feature at Noir City Chicago for this summer.
Sunday 8-25-13
Noir City – Introduced by Eddie Muller
Today’s Noir Fest Film – THE OTHER WOMAN from 1954. A blonde bombshell ruins a movie director’s life. Excellent!
Monday 8-26-13
Noir City – Introduced by Alan K. Rode
Today’s Noir Fest Film – HIGH TIDE from 1947. Investigative reporters and private detectives and gangsters.
Tuesday 8-27-13
Home viewing
Tonight’s Noir Fest Film – REPEAT PERFORMANCE from 1947. An actress kills her monstrous, philandering playwright husband on New Year’s Eve. She then goes back in time to the beginning of the year and tries to make different choices that don’t end in doom.
Tuesday 8-28-13
Noir City – Introduced by Alan K. Rode
Today’s 1st Noir Fest Film – NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES from 1948. Edward G. Robinson is a fake psychic who starts to really see the future. Ever since I started to really get into film noir in the late-1990’s, this is one of the movies I’ve always wanted to see. It was worth the wait!
Noir City – Introduced by Alan K. Rode
Today’s 2nd Noir Fest Film – ALIAS NICK BEAL from 1949. Crusading District Attorney Thomas Mitchell sells his soul to the Devil, Ray Milland. Excellent! I’d never heard of this one before and it was a fantastic surprise.
The high points were definitely THE OTHER WOMAN, NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES and ALIAS NICK BEAL. Nice to go out with a bang!
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