Among the most beloved genres of Hollywood in the golden years, noir has forged the collective imagination of countless generations with its dark urban atmospheres, its ambiguous morals, its cynical and ready-for-anything detectives, its beautiful and fatal dark ladies. A universe, rather than a genre, in which the American studio system often met European concerns in an explosive mix. The review It was night in Hollywood pays homage to this very rich world and its protagonists: legendary directors such as Lang, Siodmak, Wilder, Preminger, Welles, Sternberg, stars with inimitable charisma such as Bogart, Mitchum, Lancaster and actresses, such as Barbara Stanwyck, Gene Tierney and Lauren Bacall, who have become true icons. An extraordinary opportunity to be seduced again by the darker side of Hollywood.
November 20, 21.00 pm
The flame of sin
(Double indemnity, 106', USA 1944, ov subt. it.)
by Billy Wilder, with Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
An insurer, who has become the lover of a client's wife, decides with her to kill her husband and collect the money from the policy. But the plan hits a fatal obstacle. Cornerstone of all noir cinema, a masterpiece of suspense and atmosphere with an unforgettable Stanwyck dark lady.
November 21, 21.00 pm
The latest threat
(US Deadline, 87', USA 1952, v. en.)
by Richard Brooks, with Humphrey Bogart, Kim Hunter, Ethel Barrymore
When the publisher dies, the editor of a newspaper opposes the sale of the title to continue his campaign against a criminal gang. Hymn to freedom of the press embodied in a legendary Bogart and in the famous final line: “It's the press, beauty. And you can't do anything about it."
November 22, 21.00 pm
Vertigo
(Laura, 85', USA 1944, v. it.)
by Otto Preminger, with Gene Tierney, Vincent Price, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb
Laura Hunt is found murdered and disfigured in her apartment. The policeman who investigates the case becomes obsessed with her, until one day the woman reappears. Refined, decadent, perverse, a cornerstone of the genre, dominated by the almost otherworldly beauty of Gene Tierney.
November 23, 21.00 pm
Infernal Quinlan
(touch of evil, 112', USA 1958, ov subt. it.)
by Orson Welles, with Orson Welles, Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Marlene Dietrich
A murder at the border pits a Mexican official against an unscrupulous American policeman, both on the trail of the culprit. Absolute masterpiece by Welles, a riot of visual and narrative inventions among which the most famous long shot in the history of cinema stands out.
November 24, 21.00 pm
The gang
(The Racket, 88', USA 1951, v. it.)
by John Cromwell, with Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, Lizabeth Scott
An unscrupulous gangster maneuvers corrupt judges and politicians, until he meets a policeman on his way who is ready to do anything to frame him. Full of atmosphere and twists, one of the few blacks signed by John Cromwell, supported by the charisma of Mitchum and the amazing "villain" of Robert Ryan.
November 27, 21.00 pm
Blue gardenia
(The Blue Gardenia, 90', USA 1953, v. it.)
by Fritz Lang, with Anne Baxter, Raymond Burr, Richard Conte, Ann Sothern
A young telephone operator is convinced that while she was drunk, she killed the man who had tried to take advantage of her. Distraught, she sheds light on the events with the help of a journalist. Long inactive for McCarthyism, Lang returns to the set in full form with a jewel of tension and atmosphere.
November 28, 21.00 pm
Premeditated murder
(A Blueprint for Murder, 76', USA 1953, v. it.)
by Andrew L. Stone, with Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters
After his brother's death in dubious circumstances, Fred Kent begins to suspect his sister-in-law, who covets a large inheritance. When his niece is also killed, suspicion becomes certainty. Underrated at the time, an erratic thriller but full of fascinating moments, with a great Cotten.
November 29, 21.00 pm
A woman's secret
(Whirlpool, 98', USA 1949, v. it.)
by Otto Preminger, with Gene Tierney, José Ferrer, Richard Conte
A woman suffering from kleptomania turns to a hypnotist, but instead of healing her, the man takes the opportunity to commit a crime and blame her. Also thanks to the screenplay by Ben Hecht, Preminger drags the audience into a psychological thriller that was innovative at the time and still disturbing today.
November 30, 21.00 pm
The woman in the portrait
(The Woman in the Window, 99', USA 1944, ov it, sub.)
by Fritz Lang, with Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett , Dan Duryea
A mature criminologist meets by chance a mysterious woman he falls in love with and who involves him in the murder of her lover. One of the peaks of Lang's Hollywood production, which tackles the favorite theme of guilt with a style that Truffaut defined in one word: "inexorable".
1 December, 21.00pm
Relentless hate
(Crossfire, 86', USA 1947, v. it.)
by Edward Dmytryk, with Robert Mitchum, Gloria Grahame, Robert Ryan
Three soldiers on leave after the end of the war find themselves involved in the death of a Jewish soldier. A detective investigates, without imagining that racism is the motive. Rare example of social commitment noir, awarded at Cannes, is based on the novel by future director Richard Brooks.
3 December, 21.00pm
Leakage
(Dark Passage, 106', USA 1947, ov it, sub.)
by Delmer Daves, with Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Agnes Moorehead
Wrongfully convicted of murder, Vincent Parry escapes from prison determined to find the real culprit. To help him are a young woman and a surgeon willing to change his features. The third film by the inimitable Bogart-Bacall couple, it has remained famous for its innovative use of the subjective point of view.
4 December, 21.00pm
The great heat
(The Big Heat, 90', USA 1953, v. it.)
by Fritz Lang, with Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Lee Marvin
Sergeant Bannion investigates the death of a friend, who he discovers is affiliated with the mob. When his wife dies in an attack on him, the fight becomes fierce. One of the greatest noirs of all time, in which Lang blurs the lines between good and evil in the figure of an avenging cop who has gone down the drain.
5 December, 21.00pm
Night of perdition
(Night Without Sleep, 77', USA 1952, v. it.)
by Roy Ward Baker, with Linda Darnell, Gary Merrill, Hildegarde Knef
When he wakes up, an alcoholic writer doesn't remember what happened the night before, but only has the feeling that he killed a woman. What happened will prove even more shocking. A still very enjoyable b-movie, signed by an English director, the eclectic Roy Ward Baker, little known in Italy.
6 December, 21.00pm
The Macau Adventurer
(Macau, 81', USA 1952, v. it.)
by Josef Von Sternberg, with Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell
A gangster dominates Macau and the American police send an agent to stop him. When this is killed, however, the adventurer Nick inherits the dangerous mission. Sternberg's visionary cinema multiplies his seductive power thanks to the sparks of eroticism of the Mitchum-Russell couple.
8 December, 21.00pm
The fair of illusions
(Nightmare Alley, 112', USA 1947, ov subt. it.)
by Edmund Goulding, with Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell, Coleen Gray
A fairground barker joins forces with a psychologist to exploit patients' confidences and propose himself as a fortune teller. Unmasked, he will end up in disgrace. Very original and unclassifiable film, it mixes noir and grotesque, social criticism and fantastic implications. Untraceable in Italy, to be rediscovered absolutely.
11 December, 21.00pm
Double play
(Criss Cross, 87', USA 1949, v. it.)
by Robert Siodmak, with Burt Lancaster, Yvonne De Carlo, Dan Duryea
To win back his ex-wife, who has become the lover of a gangster, Steve Thompson is forced to become an outlaw himself, up to the most extreme consequences. Siodmak is one of the great masters of noir and his art, hand in glove with German expressionism, finds here a perfect compendium.
12 December, 21.00pm
The tragic skyscraper
(The Dark Corner, 99', USA 1946, ov subt. it)
by Henry Hathaway, with Lucille Ball, Clifton Webb, Mark Stevens
After serving a sentence for an uncommitted crime, a private detective moves in and discovers a new trap hatched against him. A dark and taut noir, surprisingly realistic like many of Hathaway's postwar films. Used to lighter roles, Lucille Ball is still perfect.
13 December, 21.00pm
The chains of guilt
(Out of the Past, 88', USA 1947, v. it.)
by Jacques Tourneur, with Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas, Jane Greer
To escape the past, a private detective retires to the provinces, until his former employer shows up with a new mission. But this is a trap. Reference work for the whole genre, it enhances its bitter fatalism with a style that made history. Mitchum is monumental.
14 December, 21.00pm
Death runs on the river
(The Night of the Hunter, 90', USA 1955, ov subt. it)
by Charles Laughton, with Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish
A self-styled preacher, Harry Powell, seduces and kills a widow to get hold of her money, but her two children escape him, who will be able to take revenge. Laughton's only directorial film, this extraordinary and shocking horror tale has become a cult object over the years.
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