TWO THRILLING WEEKS of sensationally RARE film noir straight from the shadowy depths of Hollywood’s hidden vaults! 

FRI MAY13 – THUR MAY 26

TWENTY-EIGHT excitingly different films—FOURTEEN amazing double-features—will blossom madly once again this spring as FILM NOIR returns to the historic 102 year old Roxie Theater in San Francisco! Highlighting our current cavalcade of legendary but seldom screened noir classics are PHANTOM LADY (1944), Robert Siodmak’s brilliant adaptation of Cornell Woolrich’s novel of erotic suspense; MINISTRY OF FEAR (1944), Fritz Lang’s sinister tale of murder and espionage; another Cornell Woolrich classic, the haunting supernatural noir NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES (1948); and star-director Robert Montgomery’s curiously elusive RIDE THE PINK HORSE (1947) taken from the brilliant novel by Dorothy B. Hughes. All four of these films, along with THE WEB (1947) starring perennial fan favorite Edmond O’Brien and the often-overlooked SMOOTH AS SILK (1946), will be presented in beautiful 35mm studio archive prints from Universal!

Alongside these legendary classics will be NEWLY RESTORED 35mm PRINTS of NINE incredibly RARE noirs from COLUMBIA PICTURES / SONY, including: Edmond O’Brien again in 711 OCEAN DRIVE (1950); ace cinematographer John Alton’s magnificent THE SPIRITUALIST aka AMAZING MR. X (1948); the ravishing Ann Dvorak in the uninhibited 1940 proto-noir CAFÉ HOSTESS; saucy Evelyn Keyes in the sadly neglected noir comedy DANGEROUS BLONDES (1943); slippery Franchot Tone in the thrilling private-eye noir I LOVE TROUBLE (1948); and a pair of unusual 50s B curios from director Fred Sears—the notorious Caryl Chessman expose CELL BLOCK 2455, DEATH ROW (1955) and the ultra rare cold-war melodrama THE 49th MAN (1953).

Of special additional note are the screenings of two rare and singularly important films: Edgar G. Ulmer’s RUTHLESS (1948) and John Parker’s barely known 1955 masterpiece of nightmare noir, DEMENTIA. Both are being presented in 35mm prints!