Shadow and fog will figuratively roll in to Oakland’s Grand Lake Theatre this week and subsequent in the course of the twenty second Noir Metropolis movie competition working Jan. 24 by means of Feb. 2.
Alameda’s Eddie Muller —host of “Noir Alley” on Turner Basic Motion pictures and creator of 2001’s “Dark City Dames: The Wicked Women of Film Noir” and, upcoming in April, the revised and expanded “Dark City Dames: The Women Who Defined Noir”—spotlights actresses and their characters in options from the Forties and ‘50s in this year’s competition. TCM’s Alicia Malone is on faucet to cohost on opening weekend and Nick Rossi reprises his roles as music director, performer and the voice of the competition. Tickets value $20 for a double invoice and $200 for passes at NoirCity.com. You actually can’t go flawed, even by pointing a finger on the schedule and choosing any of the 24 motion pictures within the lineup. However these listed under are price seeing projected on the massive display screen on the wonderful Grand Lake.
“The Narrow Margin”: Richard Fleischer, director of the 1973 cult hit “Soylent Green” and 1966’s trippy “Fantastic Voyage,” helmed this traditional 1952 B noir with Marie Windsor because the spouse of a slain mob boss and Charles McGraw as a detective assigned to guard her throughout a practice experience on her approach to testify earlier than a grand jury. Fleischer’s ability and dexterity behind the digital camera on this film, significantly the motion sequences, thrust him into the huge leagues. Since Hollywood hardly ever leaves an excellent factor alone, a remake was inevitable with Peter Hyams selecting up the reins directing Anne Archer and Gene Hackman in 1990. Our recommendation: Stick to the unique, skip the remake. It’s adopted by the lesser-known “Hell’s Half Acre” from 1954, a Honolulu-set thriller with the well-worn trope of a personality trying to find her lacking partner. Evelyn Keyes performs the spouse who will get greater than she bargained for on this 35mm print made out there by the UCLA Movie & Tv Archive. (“The Narrow Margin” screens at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 24; “Hell’s Half Acre” at 9 p.m. Jan. 24)
Sterling Hayden, pictured with Coleen Grey, stars within the taut “The Killing,” one among director Stanley Kubrick’s early movies. (Courtesy Movie Noir Basis)
“The Killing”: It was a match made in noir heaven when a hotshot 28-year-old filmmaker named Stanley Kubrick directed and cowrote a screenplay with noir novelist extraordinaire Jim Thompson (whose books “After Dark, My Sweet,” “The Grifters” and “The Getaway” are nice , as are their film variations). “The Killing,” their lean-and-mean movie a couple of $2 million theft scheme at a racetrack that goes awry is a standout. Sterling Hayden performs the fresh-out-of-the-joint man who plans the heist within the boldly advised noir, which shows the daring fashion of the enduring filmmaker’s later works. At 85 minutes, it’s one among Kubrick’s shortest movies. The 1956 must-see is preceded by one among noir’s most interesting examples, 1947’s “Out of the Past” with Robert Mitchum as a person on the run with a mysterious previous, costarring Jane Greer and Kirk Douglas. It bought remade as 1984’s “Against All Odds” with Jeff Bridges and Rachel Ward. Once more, the unique out-distances the redo. See a typical theme right here? (“Out of the Past” screens at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 25; “The Killing” at 9:30 p.m. Jan. 25)
Jan Sterling and Kirk Douglas star in Billy Wilder’s “Ace in the Hole,” thought-about among the many cruelest motion pictures ever. (Courtesy Movie Noir Basis)
“Ace in the Hole”: Director Billy Wilder, seven-time Oscar champ, has a jaw dropping resume together with “Some Like It Hot,” “The Apartment,” “Sunset Boulevard,” “Witness for the Prosecution” and “Double Indemnity,” to call a number of. “Ace in the Hole,” his 1951 plunge into the soul of vacancy differs from these in that it takes an exceedingly dim view of not solely the human situation, however the media as properly. Kirk Douglas stars as a slimy, stop-at-nothing reporter who futzes about with a giant story he’s masking to achieve extra notoriety for himself. Jan Sterling co-stars within the riveting 1951 traditional. The invoice opens with a 35mm print of director Joseph Losey’s edgy for its time “The Prowler,” a 1951 scorcher a couple of man’s plot to homicide the husband of a girl who’s the article of his obsession It was written by blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. (The Prowler” screens at 2 and seven p.m. Feb. 2; “Ace within the Gap at 4 and 9 p.m. Feb. 2)
A part of the proceeds from all screenings will get directed to the nonprofit Noir Movie Basis, devoted to preserving and rescuing noir options from vanishing endlessly.
