NOT NECESSARILY NOIR @ the Roxie in SF 8/20 - 9/2

[Mr. Arkadin]

I think this one will give them nightmares...

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[Dewey1960]

One can only imagine the furor over this one...
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[Mr. Arkadin]

Not to mention all those Union bosses in an uproar over this:

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[Dewey1960]

And of course, when this film unspools at the Roxie on August 25 count
on a bit of uneasiness in the theater...
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[Mr. Arkadin]

A western in a noir program? Oh my.

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[Mr. Arkadin]

So, how has the response been so far? Do we have any reporters on the ground, or perhaps an evaluation from the man of the hour?

[knitwit45]

Dewmeister, we miss hearing from you! Hope your incredible efforts are meeting with great enthusiasm and success!!!

moe

[Dewey1960]

Time for a first weekend report on NOT NECESSARILY NOIR at the Roxie. While the crowds haven't been as huge as this past Spring's program, the audience response, I'm happy to say, has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic. Friday night's opening program of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956) and THE CREEPING UNKNOWN (1955) was met with loud approval. One of the risks of programming a film like BODY SNATCHERS is that it's a film that has been wildly over-saturated on cable TV and home video. Finding someone who's never seen it would be a challenge, and it was apparent that most of the people in the audience were quite familiar with this truly frightening classic. Folks who have only seen it on their television monitors at home might not realize that it was shot in a wide-screen ratio and looks fantastic on the big screen, ratcheting up the terror and suspense enormously. The co-feature, THE CREEPING UNKNOWN, is less known to movie goers and is another film that benefits tremendously from the big screen treatment. All-in-all a perfect way to kick things off.

Saturday's program offered up a pair of seldom-revived 60s films. MIRAGE (1965), directed by noir stalwart Edward Dmytryk who employs many of the sinister cinematic tricks made popular by Alfred Hitchcock, pitting Gregory Peck against a seemingly unsolvable mystery revolving around a diabolical case of amnesia. Diane Baker co-stars and she's really a sight to behold, her beautiful dark features perfectly suited to Joseph MacDonald's sumptuous black & white cinematography. This one's a winner and the crowd ate it up. The co-feature, 13 WEST STREET (1962) suffers only by comparison; a somewhat low-key revenge story with Alan Ladd at the sad tail end of his career. It's only periodically interesting, only coming to life near the end as Ladd finally unleashes his rage against the vicious punks who have ransacked his life. The prints on both of these films were spotless and gorgeous!

On Sunday (and again tonight) Roxie patrons were given the rare opportunity of seeing one of the most challenging films of the 1960s, Jack Garfein's disturbing SOMETHING WILD (1961). Garfein is an interesting fellow and I'm privileged to say that he's become a friend of mine over the past several weeks. When it was announced that this film (as well as the Garfein-directed co-feature THE STRANGE ONE (1957)) were to be revived in San Francisco, I received a very warm email from Mr. Garfein thanking me for including his films in our program. Jack, at 80 years old, is still very active in the world of the theater. Back in the late 50s he was credited with founding the West Coast branch of the Actor's Studio and watching his films (especially SOMETHING WILD) is much like a crash course in The Method. Carroll Baker (who was married to Jack at the time) stars along with Ralph Meeker (who at one time understudied for Brando in STREETCAR and eventually took over the role) in a drama about a young college girl who is raped on her way home one night and the curious aftermath of this event. The film is staggeringly real in its refusal to offer up simple answers for complicated questions. Much of it seems to verge on improvisation despite the fact that Eugen Schuftan's incredible cinematography transforms it into a cinematic wonder. The effects are devastating: ordinarily films that are so dominated by performance and content lose sight of the fact that they are first and foremost examples of cinematic art. SOMETHING WILD gives us so much more to ponder thanks to its commitment to cinematic excellence. But this would be the last feature film Garfein would ever direct. The film made absolutely no money and angered many in the otherwise sedate Hollywood community who saw this film as an awkward attempt to "Europeanize" the American film industry. Shortly afterward Garfein moved to Paris and London where he founded acting studios which are still thriving today. Just this month he published a wonderful book (from Northwestern University Press) called Life and Acting: Techniques for the Actor. The audience yesterday was understandably mesmerized by the film and honestly, I can't think of another American film from this period that deals so frankly with difficult and adult material. Next month (Sept 18 & 19), Jack will be honored at the Billy Wilder Theater at UCLA with screenings of both these films. I urge any and all Los Angelenos to attend!

[ChiO]

Sounds like we should ask for SOMETHING WILD on TCM

TCM showed it a couple of years ago and, as Fate of the noirish sort would have it, it will be shown on TCM on October 13 at 11:30pm. Not to be missed.

[Dewey1960]

Thanks for that heads-up on SOMETHING WILD, Chi-O! Last night we had our second night of that film and its co-feature THE STRANGE ONE, and attendance was even greater than the night before! There's something about that film (SW) that really gets to the audience. When it was over, there was stunned silence followed but a spontaneous burst of applause. Mark those TCM calendars now because I don't think SOMETHING WILD will ever be released on DVD.
The trailer:
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