Screen Grabs: Noir City sings the blues - 48 hills

"It's a big week for revivals, with three major showcases for cinema of yesteryear commencing this weekend. One is the annual return of Noir City, again taking place at Oakland's Grand Lake Theater. (Other film festivals like SFFILM and Frameline have announced their return to the newly reopening Castro Theater, now "The Castro," although economic challenges and scheduling may still keep some in exile.) This year's event, running Fri/16 through Sun/25, has as its theme "Face the Music!""

"As usual, there will be some titles familiar to even the most casual noir aficionado, like Howard Hawks' 1944 To Have and Have Not, which introduced Lauren Bacall as the chanteuse who teaches Humphrey Bogart how to whistle, or Charles Vidor's 1946 Gilda, with Rita Hayworth at her apex as another singing siren who wraps multiple men around her little finger."

"Most likely to be a discovery even to noir fans are obscurities like another UK thriller, Face the Music aka The Black Glove (1954); 1951's The Strip, with Mickey Rooney as a PTSD-afflicted veteran and jazz drummer caught up in a would-be starlet's murder case; and 1945's The Crimson Canary, a brisk little "B" in which all the members of a jazz combo become homicide suspects."

Noir City returns to Oakland's Grand Lake Theater for a ten-day run from Fri/16 through Sun/25 under the theme "Face the Music." Twenty-four features will be shown, each leaning on melodic arts by featuring real-life star players, actors as musician protagonists, or settings in smoky nightclubs. Programming includes classics such as To Have and Have Not and Gilda, lesser-known films like Blues in the Night and British All Night Long, and obscurities including Face the Music (The Black Glove), The Strip, and The Crimson Canary. Several entries are moody melodramas about troubled musicians, including Young Man With a Horn and The Man With the Golden Arm. Other festivals such as SFFILM and Frameline plan returns to the Castro Theater, though economic and scheduling issues may limit some screenings.

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