on 2/29/2024, 12:46 pm
FRI 3/22
NEVER OPEN THAT DOOR/THE WINDOW
--An improvement over the NC Oakland pairing (STREET OF CHANCE is dropped)
SAT 3/23
KISS OF DEATH 4pm
--Breaking out of the double feature "purity" with an old-school classic as a standalone matinée
UNION STATION/CAIRO STATION
--Same as NC Oakland
SUN 3/24
DESERT FURY 4pm
Two films from 1947 in the "special American matinée" slot: is that a pattern? (77-year anniversary?!)
LA BETE HUMAINE/HUMAN DESIRE
--Same as NC Oakland
MON 3/25
ARMORED CAR ROBBERY/ASSAULT ON THE PAY TRAIN
--So, good for Eddie: he came up with a print of one of our twice-screened faves (shown in 2015 and in last summer's RARE NOIR 3). However, it's a ludicrous pairing: sure, they are both heist films, but PAY TRAIN has so much more to offer over the by-the-numbers B-noir of ARMORED CAR that it actually undercuts the big rediscovery. When we showed in 2015, it was shown first, and followed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz' NIGHT TRAIN--a nice study in contrasting tone. "Tone" is not a concept that carries much weight in FNF-land, however--and this double bill is just another example of that.
TUE 3/26
BRUTE FORCE/HARDLY A CRIMINAL
--Again, a better match than what was screened in Oakland (PLUNDER ROAD), since both films feature prison settings. But an algorithm for "similarity" between films would still rank this one in the 50th percentile.
WED 3/27
BLACK TUESDAY/LE TROU
--Same as NC Oakland
THU 3/28
THE NARROW MARGIN/RIFIFI
--Definitely not understanding why Eddie is not coupling two of his faves together (he's written at length about RIFIFI and THE ASPHALT JUNGLE). But in Oakland the latter got the nod, and here it goes the other way. Clearly some input from Alan Rode is in evidence here, with the second Richard Fleischer film on the American side of the ledger and an intro from Fleischer's son for this screening. Backroom deals are still clearly the order of the day...possibly we'll finally see the logical pairing by the time the series gets to DC.
FRI 3/29
BITTER RICE/THIEVES' HIGHWAY
--Another OK pairing that could have happened in SF but didn't (in fact, WITHOUT PITY is arguably a finer film than either of these and deserves to remain in the lineup). Perhaps Eddie thinks that the presence of Italian actress Valentina Cortese creates some kind of connection for these two films; perhaps that's a rather specious notion...
SAT 3/30
THE MIND READER (1933) 2pm
--Ostensibly tied in thematically with the special nitrate print screening of NIGHTMARE ALLEY that will happen at 7:30 on this day; what it really looks like is a cash grab for the Cinematheque, putting premium prices on two films that should by all rights be playing on the same double bill.
NIGHTMARE ALLEY 7:30pm
--Nitrate print, probably going to be a $20 ticket.
SUN 3/31
UNDER THE GUN/NEW YORK CONFIDENTIAL 2pm
--Richard Conte comes to the fore with two rare 50s titles.
LE SAMOURAI 7:30pm
--A new 4K restoration, which means premium single-ticket pricing. It's a shame that Eddie couldn't (or wasn't allowed to) come up with a pairing for the Melville film, which is clearly just tacked on for name value and the "too cool for school" crowd.
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So what's missing? All of the UK films from Oakland, the Asian noir (Korea and Japan), the Mexican noirs (though CUATRO CONTRA EL MUNDO never actually made it to the starting gate), several French titles.
There are seven American/foreign matchups, accounting for ~60% of the program. From here, the festival moves into its single-weekend mode: Boston in June, Portland in July, which will just take some subset of what we've seen in Oakland, Seattle, and LA. The next version that comes close to the 18-24 film range will occur in Chicago, which will probably look more like what we see here than what we saw in January and February.
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