February 10 – 16
It’s that time. The clouds are heavy. The temperature is low. We’re all wearing large hats to hide our weary, bloodshot eyes from each other as we angrily sip on a cup of joe. And we… trust… nobody. That’s right. It’s the return of the annual Noir City film festival at the SIFF Cinema Egyptian.
Now in its 20th year (and 15th at SIFF), Noir City is curated and hosted by author/film scholar/Turner Classic Movies host Eddie Muller, a.k.a. “The Czar of Noir.” Also sharing hosting duties are Vince and Rosemarie Keenan, two local noir experts who also happen to have perfect detective names. Each year has a particular theme, so welcome to good ol’ 1948 with 18 films, each celebrating 75 years of shocking and seducing audiences.
The festival runs seven days, so let’s hit some highlights.
On Friday opening night, it’s two absolute bangers of the genre:
🕵️♂️ John Huston’s sultry Key Largo, Bogart and Bacall’s final cinematic pairing
🕵️♀️ Orson Welles’ darkly comic San Francisco chiller The Lady From Shanghai, starring Welles’ then-wife Rita Hayworth.
And then there’s a trio of pairs:
🔍 Tuesday’s So Evil My Love and Sleep, My Love
🔍 Wednesday’s The Naked City andCry of the City
🔍 Thursday’s Edward G. Robinson double bill of Night Has a Thousand Eyes (does it?) and All My Sons (i.e. the Arthur Miller one)
Other standouts include Nicholas Ray’s directorial debut They Live By Night, the Jimmy Stewart-led reporter proceduralCall Northside 77, the fascinatingly goofy The Big Clock (which features, yes, a very big clock!), and Preston Sturges’ side-splitting farce Unfaithfully Yours.
Get Noir’d!
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