More astonishing descents into the dark heart of humanity. Down through twisted mazes of doom-laden streets and pitch black alleys, following cursed men and tainted women trying to fight their way out of psychosis, crime or just plain deadly suburban ennui. Which city deserves the title "Film Noir Capital of the World?" Is noir felt more deeply in the shadowy labyrinth of Manhattan's soaring skyscrapers and teeming tenements, or in the neon kiss of Los Angeles' profiteering promises and lies? In the 8th edition of the American Cinematheque's annual Festival of Film Noir at the Egyptian Theatre, you get to be the judge. The American Cinematheque joins forces with Eddie Muller's Film Noir Foundation to present Noir City: Los Angeles vs. New York, a series of 28 films, both classic and obscure, that captures each city in its mid-20th century prime, when noir was its blackest, and at full raging boil. Each double bill offers one film set in New York, the other in Los Angeles. You’ll witness some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including Jack Palance, Burt Lancaster, Shelley Winters, Robert Ryan, Lizabeth Scott, Janet Leigh, John Garfield, Patricia Neal, Richard Widmark, Victor Mature, Ida Lupino, Coleen Gray and Henry Fonda, plumb the stygian depths of their own private nightmares. We’ll be screening such favorites as Fred Zinneman’s ACT OF VIOLENCE, Robert Wise’s ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW, Stanley Kubrick’s THE KILLING, Abraham Polonsky’s FORCE OF EVIL, Alexander Mackendrick’s SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, Sam Fuller’s PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET as well as such rarities as Michael Curtiz’s THE BREAKING POINT, Laszlo Benedek’s PORT OF NEW YORK, Irving Lerner’s CITY OF FEAR, Nathan Juran’s CROOKED WEB, Douglas Sirk’s SHOCKPROOF, S. Sylvan Simon’s I LOVE TROUBLE and more! Many of these, especially the rarities, are still not available on DVD. Enjoy urban anthropology amid a tangle of sinister schemes, dangerous desires, and a barrage of bullets. Join us as darkness falls, coast to coast.

The series opens with a reception on April 12 sponsored by The Film Noir Foundation and Eagle Rare Bourban and Rain Vodka, (courtesy of the Sazerac Company Inc.) and IZZE. It is free to all ticket buyers for opening night.

Thursday, April 12 – 7:30 PM

Double Feature:

ACT OF VIOLENCE, 1948, Warner Bros., 81 min. A dark masterpiece made during the Metro tenure of producer Dore Schary, this is emblematic film noir: Psychically-scarred WWII POW Robert Ryan stalks war hero Van Heflin from sylvan Big Bear Lake to the nocturnal underbelly of postwar downtown L.A. Stellar Robert Surtees’ cinematography captures not only the city, but superb performances from the whole cast, including a jaw-droppingly gorgeous 20-year old Janet Leigh as Heflin’s endearingly tenacious spouse and Mary Astor as a street-wise hooker! Directed by the great Fred Zinnemann (A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS; DAY OF THE JACKAL) NOT ON DVD

Friday, April 13 – 7:30 PM

Double Feature:

ARMORED CAR ROBBERY, 1950, Warner Bros., 67 min. The ultimate ‘B’ caper flick, directed by a great friend of the American Cinematheque, the late Richard Fleischer (THE NARROW MARGIN). The toughest mug in noir, Charles McGraw, plays the prototype L.A. Robbery-Homicide dick matched against goggle-eyed heavy William Talman in the film noir equivalent of KING KONG VS. GODZILLA! With sultry Adele Jergens as a duplicitous burlesque queen, strutting her stuff amidst plenty of period L.A. location photography. NOT ON DVD.

ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW, 1959, MGM Repertory, 96 min. A seminal cinematic treatise on race relations, artfully served up by director, Robert Wise (THE SET UP; THE HAUNTING). Manhattanites Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan and Ed Begley plan a last-ditch bank robbery in upstate New York. Ryan’s abject bigotry and Belafonte’s take-no-prisoners pride keeps the tension on razor’s edge. Credited John O. Killens was the front for blacklisted screenwriter Abe Polonsky. Gloria Grahame and Shelley Winters offer kinky and melancholy support, respectively. A late term film noir masterpiece, featuring a marvelously inventive score by John Lewis and the Modern Jazz Quartet! Writer Alan K. Rode, author of Charles McGraw, Biography of a Film Noir Tough Guy to introduce the screening. Actress Kim Hamilton to appear for discussion between films.

Double Feature:

THE BIG KNIFE, 1955, MGM Repertory, 111 min. Clifford Odets and James Poe’s play about the black heart of Hollywood gets the full soap opera treatment from director Robert Aldrich (KISS ME DEADLY; WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?). Rough-hewn matinee idol Jack Palance gets the twice-over from venal studio boss Rod Steiger, spineless agent Everett Sloane, damaged spouse Ida Lupino, and everyone else in his orbit. The all-star cast includes Shelley Winters, Jean Hagen and an especially slippery Wendell Corey as Steiger’s euphemism-spewing hatchet man. Deliciously dark fun with none of the Beverly Hills scenery left unchewed. "Rod Steiger, with a blonde wig and a hearing aid, is the movie's equivalent of a radioactive monster. Stanley Hoff's overbearingly tyrannical personality represents everything Evil in 1955 Hollywood, where power is so tightly concentrated that human lives are less important than the prestige of the studio chief." – Glenn Erickson, DVD Savant

SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, 1957, MGM Repertory, 95 min. Directed by maestro Alexander Mackendrick, this legendary film seems to get better with each viewing. Burt Lancaster soars in a thinly-veiled portrait of powerful Broadway columnist Walter Winchell, with Tony Curtis in perhaps his finest performance as two-faced, sycophantic press agent ‘Sidney Falco.’ Some of the most deliciously dyspeptic dialogue in screen history is uttered courtesy of writers Ernest Lehman and Clifford Odets, all complemented by James Wong Howe’s cinema verité camerawork and a brassy Elmer Bernstein score. Keep your eyes peeled and ears open as put-upon jazz musician Martin Milner sits in with the legendary Chico Hamilton Quintet. Co-starring Susan Harrison, Emile Meyer and the great Barbara Nichols (who utters the immortal line "What am I, a bowl of fruit? A tangerine that peels in a minute?") You gotta love this dirty town!

Sunday, April 15 – 7:30 PM

Ultra-Rarity!! PORT OF NEW YORK 1949, 82 min. Incredible 1940’s location footage of New York’s waterfront (shot by the underrated George Diskant) highlights this brass-knuckled thriller of two old-school narcs (Scott Brady and Richard Rober) trying to bust a drug smuggling racket run by kingpin Yul Brynner (sporting a full head of wavy hair, seven years before THE KING AND I!). Colorful character roles, especially Arthur Blake as desperate comic Dolly Carns, and violent action pepper this sensational forgotten "B" from Eagle-Lion and director Lazlo Benedek (THE WILD ONE). This American Cinematheque "re-premiere" is made possible through the courtesy of Victoria Brynner and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Rarity! THE BREAKING POINT, 1950, Warner Bros., 97 min. The finest film version of Hemingway’s novel To Have and Have Not (and yes, we’re not forgetting the Bogart-Hawks classic), shifts the story from Cuba to California, but retains the novel’s core of heartache. As Skipper Harry Morgan, John Garfield gives a searing portrait of a man whose domestic woes and mid-life crisis leads to crime and death. Garfield’s greatness is matched by Patricia Neal, as a viper-tongued femme fatale, and Phyllis Thaxter, as his mousy but mighty spouse. With Wallace Ford. One of director Michael Curtiz’s forgotten masterpieces — don’t miss this one! NOT ON DVD Discussion in between films with actress Lynne Carter (PORT OF NEW YORK) and Sherry Jackson (THE BREAKING POINT).

Thursdays, April 19 – 7:30 PM

Double Feature:

CRY OF THE CITY, 1948, 20th Century-Fox, 95 min. Perhaps the most perfectly realized of all director Robert Siodmak’s films (which include THE KILLERS and CRISS CROSS), both thematically and stylistically, CRY OF THE CITY tells the time-honored tale (based on Henry Helseth’s novel The Chair for Martin Rome) of neighborhood pals who tread divergent courses. Victor Mature becomes a lawman, Richard Conte goes crooked. The two square off all across Manhattan, with tragic results. Although shot entirely on location, Siodmak had no use for the semi-documentary vogue of the day, creating instead a vivid Expressionistic urban landscape that ideally suited this mythic mid-20^th century tale of good and evil. Co-starring Shelley Winters, Fred Clark and a scary Hope Emerson (watch for her "neck massage" scene with Conte to see what we mean!). NOT ON DVD

Rarity! CITY OF FEAR 1959, Sony Repertory, 81 min. "A half crazed man in a terror crazed town!" Escaped con Vince Edwards thinks he’s stealing a cache of heroin, but he’s actually toting around enough radioactive material to destroy the parts of Los Angeles left standing at the end of KISS ME DEADLY. Like its bookend, MURDER BY CONTRACT, this is a tough little shoestring production innovatively assembled by co-writer/actor Steven Ritch (PLUNDER ROAD) and director Irving Lerner, featuring one of the first film scores of legendary composer Jerry Goldsmith. Co-starring Lyle Talbot and John Archer. NOT ON DVD Discussion in between films with actor Tommy Cook (CRY OF THE CITY).

Friday, April 20 – 7:30 PM

Rarity! THE CRIMSON KIMONO, 1959, Sony Repertory, 82 min. As the classic noir period was fading, director Sam Fuller (THE NAKED KISS) came out blasting with the first of a series of wildly original, and often wildly erratic, crime thrillers. This one starts as a pulpy policier, with a pair of L.A. cops (Glenn Corbett, James Shigeta) hunting the killer of a stripper. Midway it twists into a heated romantic triangle with both cops falling for a key witness. The best passages explore the Nisei experience in America, and Shigeta’s torment at falling for a Caucasian woman. Fantastic vintage footage of Little Tokyo, with kinetic inspiration colliding into stilted exposition — watch for flying shrapnel. With Victoria Shaw and Anna Lee. "…a triumph of grungy lyricism… Fuller's feat is giving the film's nonstop interrogations, meetings, and confrontations profound racial and political meaning." - Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine NOT ON DVD

PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET, 1953, 20th Century Fox, 80 min. Pickpocket Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark) lifts a stolen military microfilm from the mistress of a Communist spy. Next thing the lowlife wharf rat knows, he’s the hottest thing in the Big Apple, with the Commies and the Feds all trying to kill him first. A former New York crime reporter, director Sam Fuller knows how to make a backlot feel like the real thing: in his sweaty subways, skid row tenements, and waterfront dives the heroes aren’t the do-gooder Feds, but nervy grifters more interested in their own survival than affairs of state. In Fuller’s world loyalty vies with self-interest, and tenderness battles brutality to a standstill every step of the way. With Jean Peters, Richard Kiley, and an Oscar-nominated Thelma Ritter.

Saturday, April 21 – 7:30 PM

Rarity! THE GLASS WALL, 1953, Sony Repertory, 82 min. Vittorio Gassman plays a "displaced person" about to be deported who jumps ship in a desperate bid to find the only man in New York — a WWII brethren — who can secure his citizenship. This vividly-photographed look at 1950’s Manhattan-after-dark grafts traditional noir iconography — such as fallen angel Gloria Grahame — onto a still-topical storyline about the plight of illegal immigrants. Co-written and directed by Maxwell Shane. A first-time screening at the American Cinematheque! NOT ON DVD

Ultra-Rarity!! THE CROOKED WEB, 1955, Sony Repertory, 77 min. Another forgotten ‘B’ noir is resurrected by the Film Noir Foundation and the American Cinematheque! Good guy drive-in owner Frank Lovejoy bites off more than he can swallow when he falls for Amazonian carhop Mari Blanchard, who portrays one of the more challenging femme fatales of the fifties, in this globe-hopping melodrama that leaps from the San Fernando valley to postwar Germany. Veteran genre director Nathan Juran (20,000,000 MILES TO EARTH; HIGHWAY DRAGNET) helms a story full of genuinely surprising plot twists. Co-starring Richard Denning. NOT ON DVD
Discussion in between films with actress Ann Robinson (THE GLASS WALL).

Sunday, April 22 – 7:30 PM

Leonard Maltin In Person! Double Feature:

HE WALKED BY NIGHT, 1948, MGM Repertory, 79 min. In this landmark noir, a psychotic loner (Richard Basehart) uses his genius for electronics to commit robberies while evading the police. When he graduates to murder, L.A.’s finest, including tough Scott Brady and methodical Jack Webb (who was immediately inspired to create "Dragnet"), pull out a few modern techniques of their own. The cops launch an all-out manhunt to snare the clever crook, tracking him through—and beneath—cityscapes stunningly photographed by the greatest of all noir cinematographers, John Alton. Directed by Alfred Werker (SHOCK), with uncredited assistance from Anthony Mann (RAW DEAL; T-MEN). Don’t miss this classic in all of its 35mm glory! "Basehart is excellent as the strange, lone wolf electronics expert/killer, an enigmatic threat haunting the paranoid dreams of the witch-hunting era."- Time Out (UK)

Rarity! THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK, 1950, Sony Repertory, 79 min. Evelyn Keyes, in thrall to a truly despicable crook (Charles Korvin), agrees to carry into the States $40,000 worth of jewels smuggled out of Cuba. What she doesn’t know is that she’s contracted the smallpox virus and is spreading it all over Manhattan. What she learns is that her man is cheating on her — with her sister (Lola Albright). What she wants is revenge! A truly exciting and underappreciated film featuring a compelling performance by Keyes. With Dorothy Malone and Barry Kelley. Directed by Earl McEvoy. Don’t miss it! NOT ON DVD Leonard Maltin to introduce both films.

Wednesday, April 25 – 7:30 PM

Double Feature:

THE KILLING, 1956, MGM Repertory, 85 min. If you haven’t seen it, you may be missing the greatest caper film of all time. Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) attempts to liberate a million dollars from the bustling Landsdowne racetrack in broad daylight, with only a simple diversion and a crew of hardboiled misfits working in perfect unison. Of course, when said crew contains Elisha Cook, Jay C. Flippen, Ted de Corsia and king-hell nutcase Timothy Carey, things aren’t going to work out as planned… and when Marie Windsor is mixed up in it, you know it’s going to get very noir. Directed by Stanley Kubrick, faithfully adapted by noir legend Jim Thompson from Lionel White’s novel Clean Break, and photographed by Lucien Ballard. Co-starring Coleen Gray.

Rarity! THE SLEEPING CITY, 1950, Universal, 85 min. Cop Richard Conte goes undercover at New York’s famous Bellevue Hospital, where internists are getting mysteriously interred. While posing as a new doctor, he ignites sparks with a lovely nurse who may be far less than saintly (Coleen Gray, in what may be her best performance!). Shot on location entirely inside and around Bellevue by director George Sherman, from an original screenplay by Jo Eisinger (NIGHT AND THE CITY). NOT ON DVD Discussion in between films with actress Coleen Gray.

Thursday, April 26 – 7:30 PM

Double Feature:

PITFALL, 1948, 86 min. Enjoy an adult dose of Southern Californian suburban angst as Dick Powell’s by-the-book insurance agent, dissatisfied with a dead-end job and humdrum wife (Jane Wyatt) indulges in an extra-marital dalliance with hard-luck model Lizabeth Scott who models in the salon of our own Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue May Co department store (the building is now part of LACMA). Who will make him pay for his indiscretion? The thuggish private eye (a wonderfully creepy Raymond Burr) who already has designs on Liz? Her jealous boyfriend, about to be sprung from prison? Or his own steel-spined spouse? Come see who survives the guilt-sodden affair in this remarkable and vastly-undervalued masterpiece of noir, with brilliant uncredited scripting by William Bowers, and direction by André de Toth (CRIME WAVE). NOT ON DVD

A DOUBLE LIFE, 1947, Republic (Paramount), 104 min. Ronald Colman plumbs frigid depths as an actor truly lost in his work. Did he really kill that poor waitress (Shelley Winters) or was that just a rehearsal for his next great Shakespearian turn? Colman’s Oscar-winning performance as thespian Anthony John still seems stunningly fresh. One of the true classics, co-starring Signe Hasso, Edmund O’Brien and Ray Collins. Directed by George Cukor, filmed on location at the Empire Theatre in New York City, from a brilliant script by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin. "Once Tony John begins to go over the edge, nearly every shot is an expressionistic metaphor for his mental state, as he shifts between lucidity and bizarre histrionics." – Jerry Renshaw, The Austin Chronicle NOT ON DVD

Friday, April 27 – 7:30 PM

Double Feature:

711 OCEAN DRIVE, 1950, Sony Repertory, 102 min. Edmund O’Brien stars as an ambitious telephone technician who ruthlessly climbs the ladder of a nationwide gambling syndicate. One of the most entertaining of the ‘racket-noirs’ spawned by the Kefauver organized crime hearings is helmed by the late friend of the American Cinematheque, director Joseph Newman. Co-starring Joanne Dru and Otto Kruger with a memorable climax shot on location at Hoover Dam. "Operations of the syndicates are given a realistic touch by the screenplay, and Joseph M. Newman's direction keeps action at a fast pace. O'Brien is excellent as the hot-tempered, ambitious young syndicate chief." – Variety NOT ON DVD

Rarity! THE MOB, 1951, Sony Repertory, 87 min. When Bill Bowers writes the screenplay, you can count on the action and dialogue being fast, furious and fun — even in a brutal story of a New York cop (Broderick Crawford) going deep undercover to thwart waterfront racketeers. When Crawford shows a particular relish for acting like a crook, the real bad guys (starting with a menacing Ernest Borgnine) decide to put him on ice. Roughhouse melodrama that made a huge star of Crawford. Directed by Robert Parrish (CRY DANGER). "Broderick Crawford is fine as a cop who poses as a hood to overthrow racketeers who've been shaking down dock workers on the waterfront. Fist fights, gunfire and some salty dialog and sexy interludes involving Crawford with Lynne Baggett enliven the proceedings considerably." – Variety NOT ON DVD

Saturday, April 28 – 7:30 PM

Double Feature:

THE WRONG MAN, 1956, Warner Bros., 105 min. Henry Fonda plays real-life jazz musician Emmanuel Ballestreros, an innocent man who is one day sucked into a whirlpool of circumstantial guilt and left to drown in New York’s criminal justice system. This seldom-seen gem by director Alfred Hitchcock, a grim orphan amongst his glossy 1950’s confections, was shot entirely on-site in the locations where the story actually happened, and it expertly draws the viewer into the nightmare of the falsely-accused. Hitchcock was famously paranoid of anything and everything to do with the police, and those fears reach their zenith of expression here. With Vera Miles and Anthony Quayle excellent in supporting roles.

Rarity! SHOCKPROOF, 1949, Sony Repertory, 79 min. "You’ve got to change your brand of men." Esteemed director Douglas Sirk (WRITTEN ON THE WIND) veers from the bedroom to the back-alley in this underrated, seldom-screened noir shot on location in downtown Los Angeles. Cornel Wilde stars as a dedicated parole officer who gets in hot water when a fetching hardcase (Patrica Knight), just released after a five-year jolt for manslaughter, stirs more than his protective instincts. Blackmail and more man-slaughtering follow. Co-written by Helen Deutsch and Samuel Fuller. NOT ON DVD. Discussion in between films with actress Peggy Webber (THE WRONG MAN).

Sunday, April 29 – 7:30 PM

Double Feature:

THE PEOPLE AGAINST O'HARA, 1951, MGM Repertory, 102 min. RARITY! The great Spencer Tracy makes his only foray into film noir playing a retired New York attorney who comes back to the courtroom to defend a young man accused of murder. The only thing that can blunt his brilliance is the bottle, and unfortunately he can’t let go of it. The story’s twists and turns lead to a satisfying, and surprisingly dark, resolution. A solid story by Eleazar Lipsky (KISS OF DEATH) is brought beautifully to life by a fine cast (Pat O’Brien, Diana Lynn, John Hodiak, Eduardo Ciannelli), the crisp direction of John Sturges (BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK), and most critically, the spectacular camerawork of John Alton. NOT ON DVD

Ultra-Rarity!! New 35mm Print! I LOVE TROUBLE, 1948, Sony Repertory, 93 min. Dir. S. Sylvan Simon. Franchot Tone plays a wisecracking private eye sleuthing his way through a bevy of treacherous dames in this playful homage to Raymond Chandler, written by future TV legend Roy Huggins (creator of great small screen shows "77 Sunset Strip," "Maverick," "The Fugitive"). Great location sequences of Wilshire, Venice and Long Beach abound throughout. With Janet Blair, Janis Carter, Adele Jergens, Glenda Farrell, John Ireland, Raymond Burr. This brand new 35mm print was struck expressly for the Film Noir Foundation, courtesy of Sony Repertory. NOT ON DVD
Discussion in between films with actor Richard Anderson (PEOPLE AGAINST OHARA).

Wednesday, May 2 – 7:30 PM

Double Feature:

THE GARMENT JUNGLE, 1957, Sony Repertory, 88 min. Based on the true story of a muckraking New York journalist who was blinded by acid for trying to expose the evils of garment industry bosses, this film is one of the toughest "exposé" pictures of the 1950’s. The fierce script by Harry Kleiner is directed by both Robert Aldrich (the project’s original helmer) and Vincent Sherman (who replaced him during filming). The result is seamless, and the performances are uniformly first-rate, from a cast that includes Lee J. Cobb, Kerwin Matthews (pre-Sinbad), Gia Scala, Richard Boone, Joseph Wiseman, and a young and fiery Robert Loggia. NOT ON DVD