It was 14 years ago that the American Cinematheque invited Eddie Muller to program the Egyptian Theatre’s inaugural festival of film noir. Back in 1999 it was called “Side Streets and Back Alleys: A Festival of Film Noir,” and it featured dozens of forgotten films, retrieved from critical exile, that have since been recognized as unjustly neglected genre gems, with many returned to circulation via DVD. Since then Muller, through the formation of the Film Noir Foundation (FNF), has made reclamation and restoration of lost noir an official crusade, with the results exhibited annually at NOIR CITY festivals in five U.S. cities.
This year the FNF returns to the Egyptian Theatre, where it all began, with another astounding lineup of films ranging from pre-Code proto-noir (Okay, America and Afraid To Talk) to perennial festival favorites (T-Men, The Window, Caged) to rediscovered rarities (Naked Alibi, Shield For Murder, Johnny Allegro, Manhandled, Three Strangers, Alan Ladd’s 1949 The Great Gatsby). Join Eddie Muller and FNF co-director Alan K. Rode as they host another edifying and entertaining excursion into the dark recesses of Hollywood’s most lasting artistic movement – film noir.
Each night of the series, ticket buyers will have a chance to win passes to see Cirque du Soleil’s IRIS at the Kodak Theatres! Eddie Muller and Alan K. Rode will also host Noir trivia contests on select nights, where winners can also take home prizes from Bettie Page Clothing, Esotouric bus tours, and more!
Check it out: Noir City
