on 11/24/2024, 8:09 pm
9/8-9/10/1991: Elliot Lavine’s Film Noir Revival Begins at the Roxie
Posted by Don MalcolmUser icon on 9/10/2021, 7:09 pm
Thirty years ago Elliot Lavine made the Roxie Theatre the epicenter of the film noir revival as he began a month-long film noir series, the first of its kind. It began an illustrious programming career that continues to this day. We’ll commemorate with a series of posts over the next four weeks.
On Sunday, September 8th, Elliot started things off in high gear with a triple feature (inspiring yours truly to follow in his footsteps some twenty years later). He began with DETOUR (1945), following that with MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS (1945), and following that with WHEN STRANGERS MARRY (1944). He then proceeded to play each of them again in the same order, followed by a third screening of DETOUR. (There is no truth to the rumor that the ghost of Tom Neal appeared after the third screening…)
On the 9th and 10th (bringing us up to the exact day thirty years ago), Elliot continued with a double bill that can only be described as iconic: THE KILLERS (1946), followed by ACT OF VIOLENCE (1948).
So far, it’s a 40s festival—but that will soon change. Stay tuned...
9/11/1991 at the Roxie: Elliot Lavine’s Film Noir Revival, Day 4
Posted by Don MalcolmUser icon on 9/11/2021, 5:08 pm
The films Elliot screened on this day make for an intriguing contrast, and produce the first film in the festival made in the 1950s:
THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW (1944)
THE PROWLER (1951)
Note than 9/11/91 was a Wednesday.
b>9/12-13/1991: Days 5-6 at Elliot Lavine’s Epic Film Noir Festival at the Roxie
Posted by Don MalcolmUser icon on 9/13/2021, 5:49 am
On 9/12/91, Elliot’s double bill had contrasting feminine types In the foreground of each film:
TENSION (1949), where the femme fatale (Audrrey Totter) is so brazenly voluptuous that they are compelled to give her her own theme song when her character appears on the screen;
WITNESS TO MURDER (1954), where Barbara Stanwyck and George Sanders take turns jamming it up but are both outperformed by cinematographer John Alton.
On 9/13/91 (a Friday night), Elliot reached back to the one of the earliest manifestations of fear and uncertainty as impacts upon the psychology of the noir protagonist and found a most appropriate accompanying feature, giving us an early glimpse at his special affinity for fashioning double bills;
I WAKE UP SCREAMING (1941)/ FEAR IN THE NIGHT (1947)
Days 7-8 at Elliot Lavine's 1991 Film Noir Revival Series at the Roxie
Posted by Don MalcolmUser icon on 9/15/2021, 6:11 am
September 14 and 15 were the weekend dates in 1991, and Elliot programmed one relatively conventional double bill for Saturday and a more unorthodox pairing for Sunday.
9/14/91
BRUTE FORCE/THE NAKED CITY
(How is that for a coincidence, Gord? Certainly a reminder of the high esteem Jules Dassin's work in the 40s has enjoyed right from the start of film noir criticism.)
9/15/91
MOONRISE/STRANGE ILLUSION
Eddie Muller might well have seen this double bill back in the day (not sure, exactly, of the last time he actually set foot in the Roxie); in any case, this may have been the basis for how he took a shine to MOONRISE (though this screening would have pre-dated the UCLA/Packard Foundation restoration of the film that was completed a bit later in the decade, often considered to be one of the key turning points for the momentum of the film restoration/preservation effort due to the impact its opening scenes made thanks to the renewed visual clarity--note that Scorsese's Film Foundation was founded in 1990).
STRANGE ILLUSION reminds us of how intense the Ulmer cult was at this point in the evolving critical reception of noir.
Days 9-10: Elliot Lavine’s Film Noir Revival Series, 1991
Posted by Don MalcolmUser icon on 9/17/2021, 10:16 pm
For September 16 AND September 17, 1991, Elliot gave Roxie attendees two sides of noir Everyman Edmond O’Brien:
THE HITCH-HIKER
THE BIGAMIST
Day 11: Elliot's 1991 Film Noir Revival series at the Roxie features two films from 1950
Posted by Don MalcolmUser icon on 9/18/2021, 9:21 pm
1950 was a big year in American noir...some argue that it's the apex for film noir. It's not an argument that I would dispute...
From that year, Elliot picked two very different stories produced at the same studio (20th Century Fox).
The films:
PANIC IN THE STREETS, directed by Elia Kazan, with Richard Widmark, Jack Palance, Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel Geddes and Zero Mostel
WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS, directed by Otto Preminger, with Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Gary Merrill, Karl Malden and Craig Stevens
9/18 was a Wednesday night in 1991.
Days 12-13 at Elliot's 1991 Film Noir Revival Series at the Roxie
Posted by Don MalcolmUser icon on 9/20/2021, 8:19 pm
An offbeat double bill played on Thursday (9/19) and Friday (9/20) at the Roxie Theatre thirty yeara ago...
GUN CRAZY (1950)
and
BORDER INCIDENT (!949)
Two very different "on the run" tales, both with notably violent sequences smack dab in the middle of the action...
Day 14: Elliot's 1991 Film Noir Revival series at the Roxie features Bogart
Posted by Don MalcolmUser icon on 9/22/2021, 3:35 am
September 21 (a Saturday in 1991) at Elliot's massive film noir revival series featured two Bogey films:
IN A LONELY PLACE (1950)
and
DEAD RECKONING (1947)
The first film showcases one of Bogart's finest performances (informed a good bit from his work as Fred C. Dobbs with John Huston on THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE, honing his more inchoate approach to paranoia (that had left films like CONFLICT and THE TWO MRS. CARROLLS ultimately unsatisfying) into a much more satisfying character arc.
The second film has a dynamite first half anchored by Bogart's voiceover; it tends to get away from itself in the second half, but I'm always invigorated by his narration, which brings home the strangeness of the situation he's encountering.
Day 15: Elliot's 1991 Film Noir Revival series at the Roxie: an unlikely but effective pairing
Posted by Don MalcolmUser icon on 9/22/2021, 3:45 am
September 22 (a Sunday in 1991) featured two divergent noirs that were both directed by Phil Karlson:
THE BROTHERS RICO (1957) based on a Georges Simenon novel from the years when he lived in the USA...
and
FIVE AGAINST THE HOUSE (1955)
The lurking presence of the Mob in each film contains differences in tone and emphasis that enhance these films as a duo--a programming trait that Elliot would refine and enhance over the years...
Days 16-17 at Elliot’s 1991 noir revival fest: in the wheelhouse
Posted by Don MalcolmUser icon on 9/24/2021, 1:47 pm
September 23/24 fell on Monday/Tuesday in 1991, and Elliot demonstrated what would soon become his trademark—the singular ability to match up tonalities between films and create a more resonant movie-going experience:
THE SNIPER (1952) and
THE SCREAMING MIMI (1958)
Day 18 at Elliot’s Roxie Theatre Film Noir Revival show: Sterling Hayden
Posted by Don MalcolmUser icon on 9/25/2021, 2:00 pm
But not quite as you expected him…
THE KILLING (1956)
and
CRIME OF PASSION (1957)
Days 19/20 at Elliot Lavine's 1991 Film Noir Revival Series at the Roxie
Posted by Don MalcolmUser icon on 9/27/2021, 10:50 am
Two separate double features on September 26 and September 27 (which, in 1991, fell on Thursday and Friday):
September 26
SCANDAL SHEET (1952)
and
THE UNDERCOVER MAN (1949)
September 27
NIGHTFALL (1956)
and
THE LINEUP (1958)
Days 21/22 at Elliot's Film Noir Revival Show at the Roxie, 1991
Posted by Don MalcolmUser icon on 9/29/2021, 8:20 pm
Two noir auteurs were showcased on September 28 (a Saturday in 1991) and September 29 (oddly enough, a Sunday!) as Elliot Lavine's programming reminds us of just how far ahead of the curve he was thirty years ago.
One of these fellows wasn't thought of as highly as the other at the time; my sense is that the gap has closed somewhat in the intervening years. Thoughts?
September 28
Two by Sam Fuller
UNDERWORLD U.S.A
and
THE CRIMSON KIMONO
September 29
Two by Orson Welles
TOUCH OF EVIL
and
MR. ARKADIN
Days 23/24 at Elliot's Film Noir Revival Series at the Roxie, 1991
Posted by Don MalcolmUser icon on 10/1/2021, 10:38 am
The double features just keep flowing as the series starts to wind down...it's hard to fathom in 2021 just how groundbreaking this effort was thirty years ago.
I expect that there's maybe one film out of the four listed here that might not make it into a "revival redux" series should Elliot take a crack at that. (We'll put this playlist up against the Noir Top 25 once the day-by-day rollout is complete; we'll find only a few top names, but a lot of films whose cult value was created via Elliot including them in this show.)
Monday, September 30 (1991)
THE AMAZING MR. X (1948)
and
BEWITCHED (1945)
Tuesday, October 1
THE HIGH WALL (1947)
and
THE SCARF (1951)
Days 25, 26-27 (finale) at Elliot's Film Noir Revival Series at Roxie, 1991
Posted by Don MalcolmUser icon on 10/4/2021, 8:30 am
Elliot had some top-notch stuff up his sleeve for the finale of his 1991 film noir revival series:
Wednesday, October 2 (1991)
PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET (1953)
and
SHACK OUT ON 101 (1955)
Thurs-Fri, October 3-4
KISS ME DEADLY (1955)
and
MURDER BY CONTRACT (1958)
We'll have a breakdown of the entire series here in a post later this week*.
Hard to imagine the impact of such a show as we look back from our vantage point thirty years later, but be assured that it was immense!
--
*Note: it doesn't appear that I actually followed through with that breakdown--will see if I can get to it now...
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