NOIR CITY XMAS — Film Noir Blonde

Film noir news and notes: SF gears up for darkness

The Film Noir Foundation has announced that Noir City 13 in San Francisco will run Jan. 16-25, 2015. The fest comes to Los Angeles in the spring and travels to several other cities around the country. We’re eagerly awaiting the announcement of the movies that will screen.

SF fans don’t have to wait until the new year to get a big-screen noir fix. Noir City Xmas, featuring “O. Henry’s Full House” and “The Curse of the Cat People,” is on Dec. 17.

Earlier this month, Noir City made its first trip to Kansas City. To promote the fest, the foundation’s Eddie Muller talked on the radio with “Gun Crazy” actress Peggy Cummins and other guests.

We loved this snippet from the chat. Muller told listeners: “I’ve always said that in film noir, women were allowed to be, for once, completely the equal of men. By which I mean equally tempted, equally compromised and equally guilty.”

Exactly!

Meanwhile, if you are lucky enough to be in London during the holidays, there’s a must-see stop for photography lovers. The definitive retrospective of the work of Horst P. Horst (1906-99), one of the 20th century’s master photographers, continues through Jan. 4 at London’s V&A Museum.

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Noir City Xmas conjurs holiday spirit with a dash of darkness

The Film Noir Foundation is hosting its second NOIR CITY XMAS on Wednesday, Dec. 14, at San Francisco’s Castro Theatre. Before the show, the foundation will unveil the full schedule for the NOIR CITY X film noir festival, January 20-29, 2012, at the Castro.

Here are foundation’s descriptions of the flicks:

First on the bill, at 7:30 p.m., is Charles David’s “Lady on a Train” (1945). Nikki Collins (Deanna Durbin) witnesses a murder while waiting for a train, but can’t get the police to believe her when no body is discovered. She enlists the help of a mystery writer to sleuth out the culprits on her own. This wildly entertaining mix of comedy, music and suspense features a superb cast of sinister and suspicious supporting players.

Robert Siodmak’s soul-crushing “Christmas Holiday” (1944) follows at 9:20 p.m. A young soldier gets more than he bargained for on a holiday stop-over in New Orleans when he is introduced to a young “singer” (prostitute) and a local “nightclub” (brothel) and he learns the tale of her descent into degradation. Deanna Durbin is memorable in her first adult role, and Gene Kelly is unforgettable as the murderous cad with whom she tragically falls in love.

Tickets available at the door the day of show, $10 for both screenings.

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