THE FRENCH HAD A NAME FOR IT ‘24
A TWO-PART "GRAND FINALE" FOR THE SERIES THAT
CHANGED THE HISTORY OF FILM NOIR
PART TWO: NOV 29-DEC 3 • ROXIE THEATRE
PRESENTED BY MID-CENTURY PRODUCTIONS
FRENCH '24 PART TWO
PART TWO of THE FRENCH HAD A NAME FOR IT ’24 has changed just a bit from what audiences were previewed in our festival program—but change is a good thing! We’re even happier with what we will be bringing you at the Roxie starting on Friday, November 29.
Our “film club” gets a Black Friday treat in the Roxie screening room as we explore one of French noir’s hidden secrets: the strange star power of Erich von Stroheim (who’ll be seen in a total of four films during FRENCH 24 Part Two.) He and Denise Versac are a seriously toxic couple in THE DANCE OF DEATH, a dark gem that has finally surfaced in screenable form. It’s followed by THE WORLD WILL SHAKE, the very first noir/science fiction hybrid, where a macabre invention proves to have a markedly negative effect on human nature!
Saturday, November 30 we continue with the “film club” and honor three of their favorite “hunks” who were rediscovered during our ten-year series run. Robert Hossein, Raf Vallone and the star-crossed Henri Vidal each are allowed to shine in five films that show the sure-handed nature of French film noir in the 1950s and 1960s.
On Sunday, December 1, the action shifts to the Big Roxie and we pull out all the stops. First, more Erich von Stroheim: he's a murderous conman in THE ALIBI, and then an enigmatic schoolteacher in the paranoia-laden world of the BOYS’ SCHOOL (also featuring monstre sacré Michel Simon.)
We then move to the 1960s with two from underrated director André Cayatte (featured with five films in October during Part One). TWO ARE GUILTY (with Anthony Perkins as one possible member of the criminal duo) and TRAP FOR CINDERELLA (featuring a bravura triple performance from sex kitten Dany Carrel) show us that Cayatte was a master of misdirection, and only got better as French noir became more baroque during the decade of the New Wave.
And in the evening, the incomparable Jeanne Moreau returns in two strikingly different films—BAY OF ANGELS, where her charisma is deadly as a magnetic compulsive gambler, and BACK TO THE WALL, where she’s an unfaithful wife who proves to be a lot more sympathetic than her revenge-besotted hubby!
Monday, December 2 is our farewell triple bill for the great Jean Gabin—a trio of films focused on his often-fraught relationship with women. He’s teamed with three superb actresses — Madeleine Robinson (THEIR LAST NIGHT), Danielle Darrieux (THE TRUTH ABOUT BÉBÉ DONGE) and Françoise Arnoul (PEOPLE OF NO IMPORTANCE)—and you won’t want to miss it!
Finally, all good things (must) come to an end, and we close out the FRENCH series on Tuesday, December 3 with a return to its beginning: the very first double bill we presented in November 2014—two incendiary (and still sadly underseen) films by Henri-Georges Clouzot: MANON and THE TRUTH (aka LA VÉRITÉ). The latter features Brigitte Bardot in a film that is best described as “a referendum on her sexuality.”
▼ Film thumbnails below link directly to the Roxie pages for additional info, stills, and tickets.
"By rediscovering and popularizing French film noir, Malcolm has upended everything we knew and thought we knew about the noir genre ... French noirs are as entertaining as American noirs, with the added difference that they were truthful and realistic about love and sex as practiced by consenting adults...
Malcolm’s curation of these films is so good that, even if you know nothing about them, you can walk into any screening and feel assured you’re going to see something worth your time. These are generally not titles you can stream, and most you can’t buy, so the theater is your only option."
—Mick LaSalle, SF Chronicle
DON MALCOLM ON SUBSTACK
More information about the entire festival lineup is featured on Don Malcolm’s Substack and in printed materials available at the Roxie Theater.
The real "Midcentury Madness"... MERCH!
FRENCH NOIR: THE BIG PICTURE
Other than thirty-three (33), the salient number here is: one hundred fifty-five (155). That’s the total of rare French films noirs screened at the Roxie Theater since 2014 in Don Malcolm’s landmark festival, which comes full circle in its two-part, 33-film “grand finale” this fall.
Ten years since the FRENCH series began, it’s still astonishing how many of these rare, lost films still await rediscovery. Don estimates that the series has shown about 25% of the true “French film noir canon”—a total of over six hundred noirs made between 1931 and 1966.
FRIDAY- NOV 29 LITTLE ROXIE
Erich von Stroheim 1
6:30 PM: THE DANCE OF DEATH / LA DANSE DE MORT
8:15 PM THE WORLD WILL SHAKE / LE MONDE TREMBLERA
SATURDAY MATINÉE- NOV 30 LITTLE ROXIE
Robert Hossein / Raf Vallone!
12:30 PM ENOUGH ROPE / LE MUERTRIER
2:30 PM NO ESCAPE / LE PIÈGE
SATURDAY EVENING - NOV 30 LITTLE ROXIE
Henri Vidal
5:15 PM DESPERATE DECISION / LA JEUNE FOLLE
During the Irish revolution, a troubled young woman searches for her brother and falls in love with the man who inadvertently killed him... (1952, Yves Allégret, 84m)
7:00 PM THE STROLLERS / QUAI DE GRENELLE
Jean-Louis’ life turns into a living hell when he comes to Paris and is mistaken for a robbery suspect. (1950, dir. Emil-Edwin Reinert, 100m)
9:00 PM THE BEAST AT BAY / LA BÊTE À L'AFFÛT
A beautiful, wealthy young widow goes on the lam with a charismatic murder suspect.(1959, dir. Pierre Chenal, 95m)
SUNDAY EARLY MATINÉE - DEC 1 BIG ROXIE
Erich von Stroheim 2
11:30 AM THE ALIBI / L'ALIBI
1:10 PM BOYS’ SCHOOL / LES DISPARUS DE SAINT-AGIL
SUNDAY AFTERNOON - DEC 1 BIG ROXIE
André Cayatte
2:55 PM TWO ARE GUILTY / LE GLAIVE ET LA BALANCE
5:20 PM TRAP FOR CINDERELLA / PIÈGE POUR CENDRILLON
SUNDAY EVENING - DEC 1 BIG ROXIE
Jeanne Moreau
7:30 PM BAY OF ANGELS / LA BAIE DES ANGES
9:15 PM BACK TO THE WALL / LE DOS AU MUR
MONDAY - DEC 2 BIG ROXIE
Jean Gabin!
5:30 PM THEIR LAST NIGHT / LEUR DERNIÈRE NUIT
7:10 PM THE TRUTH ABOUT OUR MARRIAGE / LA VÉRITÉ SUR BÉBÉ DONGE
9:20 PM PEOPLE OF NO IMPORTANCE / DES GENS SANS IMPORTANCE
TUESDAY- DEC 3 BIG ROXIE
"The first is last..."
7:00 PM MANON
9:00 PM THE TRUTH / LA VÉRITÉ
San Francisco's Roxie Theatre is located at 3117 16th St., between Valencia & Guerrero, just a block from BART.
⟹ The box office can be reached at 415.863.1087
MIDCENTURY PRODUCTIONS is a "boutique" programming venture designing "mini film festivals, featuring films from cinema's most explosive three decades—the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. We program original festivals and work with organizations and individuals to craft singular programming that illuminates the hidden corners of these three decades.
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