Event

NOIR CITY XMAS 2011

Join us on December 14 at San Francisco's historic Castro Theatre for the second annual NOIR CITY XMAS, as the Film Noir Foundation offers a double-feature of rare noir-stained yuletide classics to darken your spirits this holiday season. The evening will also feature the unveiling of the full schedule for NOIR CITY X, the 10th anniversary of the world's most popular film noir festival, coming to the Castro Theatre January 20-29, 2012.

Lady on a Train (1945) Dir. Charles David. 94 min. 7:30 p.m.
Nikki Collins (Deanna Durbin) witnesses a murder while waiting for a train, but can't get the police to believe her when no body is discovered. While they dismiss her as daft, she enlists the help of a mystery writer to sleuth out the culprits on her own. Based on a story by veteran mystery writer Leslie Charteris (The Saint), this is a wildly entertaining mix of comedy, musical, and suspense, rendered in evocative noir style by cameraman Woody Bredell (Phantom Lady, Christmas Holiday, The Killers), and featuring a superb cast of sinister and suspicious supporting players swirling ominously around "America's Sweetheart."

Christmas Holiday (1944) Dir. Robert Siodmak. 93 min. 9:20 p.m.
A young soldier gets more than he bargained for on a holiday stopover in New Orleans when he is introduced to a young "singer" (prostitute) and a local "nightclub" (brothel) and he learns the tale of her descent into degradation. Venerable scribe Herman Mankiewicz hews Somerset Maugham's novel into a brilliant script, directed with delirious intensity by Siodmak. Deanna Durbin is memorable in her first adult role, and Gene Kelly is unforgettable as the murderous cad with whom she tragically falls in love. Unquestionably the most romantically soul-crushing Christmas movie ever made.