Événement

NOIR CITY 16: 1943: SHADOW OF A DOUBT / ADDRESS UNKNOWN

Saturday evening, January 27

The price of admission gets you into the double bill.

7:30
SHADOW OF A DOUBT
(1943, Universal. 108 min.)

Scr. Thornton Wilder, from a story by Gordon McDonell. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock

Naive teenager Charlie (Teresa Wright) begins to suspect her beloved Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten), on a vacation visiting sleepy Santa Rosa, California, of actually being the fugitive "Merry Widow" serial killer. Before David Lynch was even born, Hitchcock explored malevolent evil seeping into a banal small town. It's got few of the flashy passages the director is famous for, but thanks to Cotten's mesmerizing performance, it may be the director's ultimate expression of the horror that infects everyday life.

9:40
ADDRESS UNKNOWN
(1944, Columbia Pictures [Sony]. 75 min.)

Scr. Herbert Dalmas, from the short story by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor. Dir. William Cameron Menzies

The tale of a San Francisco art dealer who returns to Germany and falls under the spell of the Nazis was originally rendered by "Kressmann Taylor" (a woman writing as a man) as a transatlantic correspondence between two increasingly estranged friends. It's brought powerfully to life through the stunning design and direction of William Cameron Menzies, and is powered by Paul Lukas' haunting performance. Not truly noir, but a revelation...few "B" movies match the impact and artistry of this WWII stunner.