THE 22nd ANNUAL FILM NOIR FESTIVAL Produced and hosted by Eddie Muller 

There will be a distinctly feminine slant to the proceedings at NOIR CITY 22 running January 24–February 2, 2025, at Oakland's Grand Lake Theatre. The lineup of classic films, featuring 24 movies over ten days and nights, shines a spotlight on women whose cinematic legacy is entwined with the rise of film noir.

Film Schedule

Friday, January 24, 2025

THE NARROW MARGIN

7:30 PM

Set mostly on a train rife with killers, a tough cop (Charles McGraw) is assigned to haul a mobster’s wife to L.A. to testify against a gang of mobsters. Marie Windsor gives one of her signature performances in this heralded thriller, one of the most inventive B films of the classic noir era. Presented in 35mm.

1952, RKO [WB] 71 min. Dir. Richard Fleischer

HELL’S HALF ACRE

9:00 PM

Ready for a hundred-proof dose of “Tiki Noir?” Evelyn Keyes goes undercover as a taxi-dancer in Honolulu’s notorious red-light district searching for her missing GI husband. Toss sultry and statuesque Marie Windsor into the mix and it’s noir Nirvana with a slack-key guitar soundtrack. Presented in 35mm.

1954, Republic [UCLA] 90 min. Dir. John H. Auer

TICKETS FOR FRIDAY DOUBLE FEATURE

Saturday Matinée, January 25, 2025

KISS OF DEATH

1:00 PM

Perhaps the definitive “prestige” noir made at 20th Century–Fox, Kiss of Death remains one of the essential crime films. Superbly written by Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer, it features a memorable debut performance from Richard Widmark as leering psychopath Tommy Udo. Presented digitally.

1947, 20th Century–Fox [Disney] 99 min. Dir. Henry Hathaway

THE SLEEPING CITY

3:00 PM

Cop Richard Conte poses as a doctor to investigate a murder in a big city hospital. Coleen Gray is the dedicated nurse who helps him get to the bottom of things-which may include the East River. Shot on location in New York City's Bellevue Hospital. Presented in 35mm.

1950, Universal Pictures. 86 min. Dir. George Sherman

TICKETS FOR SATURDAY MATINÉE DOUBLE FEATURE

Saturday Evening, January 25, 2025

OUT OF THE PAST

7:30 PM

Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas vie for the honor of being betrayed by Jane Greer, the most desirable of devil dolls, in this quintessential noir masterpiece. A grubby private eye (Mitchum) is hired by a sleek gangster (Douglas) to rein in his fugitive frail (Greer). Equal measures of poetry, poignancy, and hardboiled fatalism. Presented in 35mm.

1947, RKO [WB] 97 min. Dir. Jacques Tourneur

THE KILLING

9:30 PM

You’ll think you’ve died and gone to hardboiled heaven. Or is it hell? Kubrick was only twenty-eight when he unleashed this twisty and twisted masterpiece studded with diamond-hard dialogue courtesy of pulp master Jim Thompson. Sterling Hayden arranges a clockwork racetrack robbery only to learn the hard way what happens to best-laid plans. Presented digitally.

1956, United Artists [Park Circus]. 85 min. Dir. Stanley Kubrick

TICKETS FOR Saturday evening DOUBLE FEATURE

Sunday, January 26, 2025

TENSION

2:00, 6:30 PM

Audrey Totter pulls out all the stops portraying her ultimate ‘bad girl,” vile voluptuary Claire Quimby, in one of the most underrated noir films of the forties. Richard Basehart plays a milquetoast pharmacist married to the over-sexed and chronically unfaithful Claire. But this sad sack has a plan to get revenge. Presented in 35mm.

1949, MGM [WB/Park Circus]. 95 min. Dir. John Berry

TICKETS FOR SUNDAY MATINÉE DOUBLE FEATURE

ALIAS NICK BEAL

4:00, 8:30 PM

This Faustian tale of soul corruption has campaigning politician Thomas Mitchell making a devilish pact with slick fixer Nick Beal (Ray Milland)—who may be Lucifer incarnate. Beal ensnares the faithful family man in a scandalous affair with delectable devil-doll Audrey Totter, over whom he casts a devious spell. Presented in 35mm.

1949, Paramount [Universal]. 93 min. Dir. John Farrow

TICKETS FOR SUNDAY evening DOUBLE FEATURE

Monday, January 27, 2025

99 RIVER STREET

7:00 PM

Very few films captured as well as 99 River Street the pulpy delights of 1950s paperback crime fiction, making this perhaps the signature film of slam-bang director Phil Karlson. Amid the gaggle of tough guys, Evelyn Keyes and Peggie Castle radiate sexy charisma. A “one long night” thriller that delivers nail-biting suspense start to finish. Presented in 35mm.

1953, United Artists [Park Circus]. 83 min. Dir. Phil Karlson

THE LONG WAIT

9:00 PM

Johnny McBride (Anthony Quinn) is injured in a car ac cident and wakes to discover he has no memory and no fingerprints! Then he discovers he’s wanted for murder! This Mickey Spillane story has one of the genre’s kinkiest climaxes, making maximum use of fulsome fifties femme Peggie Castle. Presented digitally.

1954, United Artists [Park Circus]. 94 min. Dir. Victor Saville

TICKETS FOR MONDAY DOUBLE FEATURE

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

RAW DEAL

7:00 PM

Dennis O’Keefe busts out of prison hellbent on settling scores with double-crossing gangster Raymond Burr. Along for the ride are good-girl social worker Marsha Hunt and bad-girl gun moll Claire Trevor, duking it out for the soul of this vengeful homme fatal in a rambunctious road movie that Eddie Muller, paraphrasing Nick Lowe, calls “Pure Pulp for Noir People.” Presented digitally.

1948, Eagle-Lion. 79 min. Dir. Anthony Mann

MARY RYAN, DETECTIVE

8:45 PM

Intended as the first in a series of B features about an intrepid policewoman (stylish and vivacious Marsha Hunt), this engaging entry was the only one produced. Although modestly budgeted, it has a sharp and satisfying script from B veteran George Bricker, adept direction, and a supporting cast of B stalwarts such as John Litel, Harry Shannon, and June Vincent. Presented in 35mm.

1949, Columbia [Sony], 68 min. Dir. Abby Berlin

TICKETS FOR TUESDAY DOUBLE FEATURE

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

DETOUR

7:00 PM

Ann Savage’s ferocious performance as “Vera” is at the black heart of this classic, often cited as the ultimate in noir fatalism. Tom Neal plays Al Roberts who decides to hitchhike cross-country to reunite with his estranged girlfriend. Things go from bad to worse once vixenish vagabond Vera gets her hooks into him. Don’t miss a chance to see this legendary noir on the big screen! Presented digitally.

1945, PRC [Criterion]. 66 min. Dir. Edgar G. Ulmer

MY TRUE STORY

8:30 PM

Mickey Rooney directed this unusual drama, produced in association with My True Story magazine. Helen Walker (Nightmare Alley) gives a fantastic performance as an ex-con who gets railroaded into working with a gang of thieves who are after an unusual payoff—a supply of myrrh, the secret ingredient used in “Temptation” perfume. A true rarity! Presented in 35mm.

1951, Columbia [Sony]. 67 min. Dir. Mickey Rooney

TICKETS FOR WEDNESAY DOUBLE FEATURE

Thursday, January 30, 2025

THE RECKLESS MOMENT

7:00 PM

Joan Bennett gives a compelling performance as Lucia Harper, a suburban wife who covers up for her daughter when she kills her caddish lover, a blackmailing Lothario. When the dead man’s partner (James Mason) starts sniffing around, the noose tightens around Lucia’s neck. Ophüls’ elegant direction turns a perfectly realized screenplay into a masterpiece of suspense. Presented digitally.

1949, Columbia. 82 min. Dir. Max Ophüls

PHANTOM LADY

9:00 PM

Ella Raines is “one hep kitten” as she high-heels her way through the noir demimonde, searching for the one woman who can save her boss from a murder rap. Director Siodmak wrings every bit of shadowy mystery from the novel by master of suspense Cornell Woolrich. Producer Joan Harrison (once Alfred Hitchcock’s protégé) announced herself as the most creative female producer in the business with this suspense classic. New 4K digital restoration!

1944, Universal. 87 min. Dir. Robert Siodmak

TICKETS FOR Thursday evening DOUBLE FEATURE

Friday, January 31, 2025

THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW

7:00 PM

Another 1944 film crucial to the development of film noir, this lauded suspenser stars Edward G. Robinson as a middle-aged husband whose accidental meeting with a gorgeous femme fatale (Joan Bennett) leads to murder, blackmail, and suicide. Fritz Lang’s clever direction and the performances of the leads—including Dan Duryea’s sinister dandy—made this a big hit. Presented digitally.

1944, International Pictures [Universal]. 107 min. Dir. Fritz Lang

MURDER, MY SWEET

9:15 PM

Philip Marlowe (Dick Powell), quintessential L.A. private eye, searches for an ex-con’s girlfriend, but winds up swimming in deceit and double-crosses. A brilliant evocation of novelist Raymond Chandler’s favorite corrupt city, featuring tempting Claire Trevor as the femme fatale, a role that re-vamped her career. Presented in 35mm.

1944, RKO [WB]. 95 min. Dir. Edward Dmytryk

TICKETS FOR FRIDAY DOUBLE FEATURE

Saturday Matinée, February 1, 2025

Caged

2:00 PM

The best “women behind bars” movie ever made. Sentenced to prison for her role in a robbery that killed her husband, innocent Marie Allen (Oscar-nominated Eleanor Parker), undergoes a degrading transformation in the “joint.” Writer Virginia Kellogg (T?Men) went undercover as an inmate in several southern prisons to research the groundbreaking and controversial script. Presented in 35mm.

1950, Warner Bros. 96 min. Dir. John Cromwell

TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY

4:00 PM

Ruth Roman has one of her best roles ever as Cay Higgins, a hard-as-nails taxi dancer who becomes the object of infatuation for Bill Clark (Steve Cochran), a recently paroled loner who’s never been with a woman. A hotel room, a dirty cop, a gunshot—the perfect jump-off for a fugitives-on-the-lam love story. Feist’s nervy direction ramps up several spectacular set-pieces. Presented in 35mm.

1951, WB. 90 min. Dir. Felix Feist

TICKETS FOR Saturday MATINÉE DOUBLE FEATURE

Saturday Evening, February 1, 2025

CRY DANGER

7:00 PM

FILM NOIR FOUNDATION RESTORATION. When Rocky Mulloy (Dick Powell) is sprung from prison after serving five years on a robbery charge, he returns to Los Angeles looking to settle things with the crooks who set him up. A shady, wounded war vet (Richard Erdman) and his cellmate’s gorgeous wife (Rhonda Fleming) help him play cat-and-mouse with the local gangster (William Conrad) out to get him. A crackerjack crime film—short, smart, sassy, and full of surprises. Presented in 35mm.

1951, Olympic Pictures / RKO [UCLA | FNF]. 79 min. Dir. Robert Parrish

INFERNO

8:45 PM

PRESENTED IN 3D!  In this clever twist on The Postman Always Rings Twice, illicit lovers Rhonda Fleming and William Lundigan try to kill her millionaire industrialist husband (Robert Ryan) by abandoning him in the desert. But the victim proves more resourceful than they ever imagined, vengeance fueling his survival instincts. Perhaps the best 3-D movie of its era! Presented digitally in 3-D!

1953, 20th Century–Fox [Disney]. 82 min. Dir. Roy Ward Baker

TICKETS FOR Saturday evening DOUBLE FEATURE

Sunday, February 2, 2025

THE PROWLER

2:00, 7:00 PM

FILM NOIR FOUNDATION RESTORATION. Losey’s greatest American film, from a script by legendary screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, has a cop (Van Heflin) stalking a lonely, affluent housewife (Evelyn Keyes) and deciding to win her in time-honored noir tradition: by knocking off her husband. Don’t miss this opportunity to see one of the rarest—and most unusual—of all films noir in its original 35mm glory!

1951, Horizon Pictures [Ivy Films | UCLA | FNF]. 92 min. Dir. Joseph Losey

TICKETS FOR SUNDAY MATINÉE DOUBLE FEATURE

Ace in the hole

4:00, 9:00 PM

On its release, critics called this the most bitter, cynical, mean-spirited movie ever made. It still might hold the honor. What’s certain is how scarily prescient Wilder’s tale of media manipulation turned out to be. Kirk Douglas is stupendously rotten as a disgraced reporter reclaiming the spotlight by prolonging the plight of a trapped miner. A genuine masterpiece. Presented digitally.

1951, Paramount. 111 min. Dir. Billy Wilder

TICKETS FOR SUNDAY evening DOUBLE FEATURE

Date: January 24 - February 2, 2025

Location: Grand Lake Theatre

3200 Grand Avenue Oakland, CA 94610

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