Don’t miss the classic entertainment at the Plaza Theatre as the city of Garland hosts a free six-movie Film Noir Festival April 13, 14,15.
According to http://www.filmsite.org/, film noir is a style or tone of a film, but there has long been a debate over whether it was a genre unto itself or simply a style of storytelling. The style was popular during and after World War II, taking advantage of the anxiety, pessimism and suspicion that was the mood of the day. These black and white American films began to appear in the 1940s.
French film critics coined the term film noir to describe the films with dark themes often centered around crime and detectives. Film noir plots were usually developed around a disillusioned male character who encountered a beautiful femme fatale who used her sexuality to manipulate him. The storylines were often complicated and the films were shot to appear gloomy and dark to reflect the worst side of human nature. Flashbacks were often included as was narration by the main character. The dialogue was often biting and sarcastic.
Each of the films in the upcoming festival is a great example of the genre.
Detour, Friday, April 13 – 6 p.m.
This film was low-budget and without major stars but it may be the most negative, pessimistic film noir feature ever made. The main character, Al Roberts (Tom Neal), is an unemployed piano player intent on hitchhiking from New York to Hollywood where his girlfriend is a singer. When he reaches Arizona, he gets a ride with a gambler who relates a disturbing tale about a female hitchhiker he recently encountered. From that point on, the film travels quickly into nightmare territory. www.tcm.com
The Killers, Friday, April 13 – 7:30 p.m.
Directed by Robert Siodmak, the film’s script was written, uncredited, John Huston. A smash hit, over 120,000 patrons saw it in the first two weeks. While Siodmak was praised for his economical direction, most of the press focused on two newcomers: Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner. As the double-crossing and triple-crossed Swede, Lancaster’s film debut drew immediate notice. His combination of American boyishness with an icy, other-worldly presence, was aptly captured and he was the perfect choice to play a man calmly waiting for his own death. www.tcm.com
The Stranger, Saturday, April 14 – 4 p.m.
Orson Welles plays college professor, Charles Rankin, who lives in a pastoral Connecticut town with his wife Mary (Loretta Young). One afternoon, a nervous German gentleman named Meineke (Konstantin Shayne) arrives in town. Professor Rankin seems disturbed by Meineke’s presence. He invites the stranger for a walk and as they get farther away from town, viewers learn the professor is actually Nazi war criminal Franz Kindler. Conscience-stricken by his own genocidal wartime activities, Meineke has come to town to beg his ex-superior Kindler to give himself up. www.rottentomatoes.com
The Postman Always Rings Twice, Saturday, April 14 – 6 p.m.
Drifter Frank Chambers (John Garfield) takes a job at a roadhouse run by likable Nick Smith (Cecil Kellaway). Nick’s sexy wife Cora (Lana Turner) takes an immediate liking to Frank, but he senses that she’s trouble and keeps his distance — for a while. Inevitably succumbing to Cora’s charms, Frank joins her scheme to murder Nick and claim the insurance money. Not long after committing the murder, the pair is arrested. Thanks to attorney Arthur Keats (Hume Cronyn), the lovers beat the murder rap–but eventually pay for their misdeeds. www.rottentomatoes.com
DOA, Sunday, April 15 – 2 p.m.
Accountant Frank Bigelow (Edmond O’Brien) is about to die and he knows it. He has been poisoned and has only 24 hours before the lethal concoction kills him. Determined to find out who his murderer is, Frank, with the help of his assistant and girlfriend, Paula (Pamela Britton), begins to trace back over his last steps. As he frantically tries to unravel the mystery behind his own impending demise, his sleuthing leads him to a group of crooked businessmen and another murder. www.rottentomatoes.com
The Big Sleep, Sunday, April 15 – 4 p.m.
The Big Sleep is the story of private investigator, Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart), hired by a wealthy general to stop his youngest daughter, Carmen, from being blackmailed. Things quickly unravel from here, as Marlowe finds himself deep within a web of love triangles, blackmail, murder, gambling and organized crime. Marlowe, with help from the general’s eldest daughter, Vivian (Lauren Bacall), plot to free the family from this web and trap the man behind the mischief, Eddie, to meet his end at the hands of his own henchmen. www.imbd.com