Dames Run the Show at This Year’s ‘Noir City’ in Oakland

Film noir is the perfect movie genre for this time of year. So long as there’s a chill in the air and the nighttime outlasts the day, it’s easy to get lost in noir’s murky side streets and obfuscating shadows.

The annual Noir City Film Festival, running Jan. 24–Feb. 2, couldn’t be more perfectly timed, then.

Screening 24 movies over a 10-day stint at Oakland’s Grand Lake Theatre, this year’s fest promises a close focus on iconic female stars of noir’s heyday. Friday’s opening night is a Marie Windsor double feature: The Narrow Margin (1952) and Hell’s Half Acre (1953). Windsor was the sultriest of the femme fatales of her day, and seeing her saunter across the big screen (as God intended) is going to be a true delight.

Saturday’s matinee is dedicated to Colleen Gray with Kiss of Death (1947) and The Sleeping City (1950). Audrey Totter dominates Sunday, bringing incomparable venom to (the frankly unmissable) Tension (1949), as well as Alias Nick Beal (1949). Monday belongs to Peggie Castle in 99 River Street (1953) and The Long Wait (1954). Tuesday is dedicated to Marsha Hunt in Raw Deal (1948) and the incredibly fun Mary Ryan, Detective (1949). The fest’s second Saturday is all about Rhonda Fleming in Cry Danger (1951) and Inferno (1953).

Not all days of the festival are structured around a single actress. There are a wealth of other twisty crime stories to sink into, including the essential Out of the Past (1947). Screening on Saturday, Jan. 25, this classic is propelled by Robert Mitchum as the quintessential fearless private investigator and Jane Greer as the dangerous, doe-eyed dame. If you only watch one movie at Noir City, make it this one.

The festival is curated by the Film Noir Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to recovering and preserving old noir films for future generations. The organization’s founder is San Francisco-born, Alameda-based Eddie Muller, who hosts the Turner Classic Movies show Noir Alley. He is also the author of Dark City Dames: The Wicked Women of Film Noir. Needless to say, the festival is in very capable hands.

The 22nd Noir City film festival runs Jan. 24–Feb. 2 at the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland. Details here.