ABOUT THE EVENT:

6:00pm | Doors open & Live musical performance by the Nick Rossi Trio

7:00pm | Live musical performance by singer Laura Ellis

7:05pm | Introduction by Eddie Muller and Alan K. Rode

7:15pm | BLACK ANGEL

8:36pm | Intermission

8:46pm | Introduction by Eddie Muller and Nick Rossi

8:56pm | BLUES IN THE NIGHT

Start times are approximate.

ABOUT THE FILMS:

BLACK ANGEL, 1946, Dir. Roy William Neill, 81 Mins, Universal Pictures, USA

Originally released August 2, 1946

Kirk Bennett is sentenced to die for the murder of gorgeous actress Mavis Marlowe (Constance Dowling), but his wife (June Vincent) won’t give up trying to prove his innocence. She desperately enlists the aid of Marty Blair (Dan Duryea), a pickled pianist on the skids who happens to be the victim’s husband! The amateur sleuths go undercover as a performing duo, tracing clues to a ritzy Sunset Strip nightclub run by shady operator Marko (Peter Lorre). Bringing extra heat is Broderick Crawford as a dogged LAPD police captain. As usual in Woolrich stories, things aren’t what they seem—leading to one of the writer’s most memorable and unexpected climaxes. Known for his smarmy, villainous turns in many films of the period, here Duryea had his first role as a leading man in one of the era’s best adaptations of a novel by Cornell Woolrich, the undisputed master of noir fiction. Featuring fantastic art direction by Martin Obzina and inventive camerawork by Paul Ivano.

BLUES IN THE NIGHT, 1941, Dir. Anatole Litvak, 92 Mins, Park Circus, USA

Originally released November 15, 1941

The first noir film to delve into the jazz world, BLUES IN THE NIGHT details the rise and inevitable fall of a St. Louis band. They land their big break when they get booked at a New Jersey nightclub, but the band’s leader, played by Richard Whorf, falls under the spell of the club’s femme fatale owner. It doesn’t take long for the other members to sour, setting off a chain reaction of jealousy, betrayal, and, eventually, murder. The supporting cast is superb, made up of familiar noir faces like Jack Carson, Howard Da Silva and Lloyd Nolan, while the screenplay by Robert Rossen makes good on the lyrics of the tragic, Oscar-nominated title song. Future director Elia Kazan has his biggest movie role as the band’s clarinetist.