THE FRENCH HAD A NAME FOR IT ‘24
A TWO-PART "GRAND FINALE" FOR THE SERIES THAT
CHANGED THE HISTORY OF FILM NOIR
PART ONE: OCTOBER 3-7 • ROXIE THEATRE
PRESENTED BY MID-CENTURY PRODUCTIONS
EN CAS DE MALHEUR (1958) • LES MISÉRABLES (1934)
33 FILMS — 23 NEW REDISCOVERIES & 10 RE-SCREENINGS OF FESTIVAL FAVORITES!
Settle in for a glorious long haul as FRENCH ’24 unfolds, beginning with 14 films (October 3-7) anchored by a landmark screening of the quintessential version of Les Misérables (5:30pm on Sunday October 6th, featuring the transcendent Harry Baur as Jean Valjean), and concluding with 19 films (November 29-December 3) that feature the usual unfamiliar gems starring familiar faces—Jean Gabin, Jeanne Moreau, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Brigitte Bardot, and Erich von Stroheim.
And along the way there is so much more—including ten fabulous films that riveted audiences when they were originally screened in the early years of the series. Two of the festival’s great rediscoveries—actor/director Robert Hossein and the star-crossed hearthrob Henri Vidal—are each given a showcase as the festival gives 2024 audiences a spectacular parting shot.
Opening night October 3 kicks FRENCH 24 into high-gear with Love Is My Profession aka En cas de malheur, a racy Georges Simenon adaptation that pairs Brigitte Bardot and Jean Gabin for the first and only time. It was sexy in 1958--and it's still sexy in 2024.
Ahead of the landmark screening of Les Misérables on October 6, our matinée features more Jean Gabin—the young Gabin, in two 1930s films that reveal the qualities that would soon make him a superstar.
Closing night October 7 belongs to monstre sacré Michel Simon, a hulking, singular eccentric who commands the screen in two rare and astonishing post-WWII noirs that pivot on the likelihood that his characters are in the grip of madness!
This is your heads-up to make plans for attending the first part of FRENCH ‘24’s grande finale—a bravura finish to a film festival like no other on earth.
▼ 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."—Mick LaSalle, SF Chronicle
BIG ROXIE PASS!
► Sales for all-festival passes for Part One are now sold out. For the best currently available discount pricing, you are urged to consider purchasing our "Big Roxie Pass" that covers all seven films in FRENCH 24 screening in the big theater Thursday, Sunday, and Monday for $60.
DON MALCOLM ON SUBSTACK
More information about the entire fesival lineup with be featured on Don Malcolm’s Substack and in printed materials available at the Roxie Theater.
In a week...Bardot/Gabin! And don't forget Daniel Gélin
Part One all-festival pass on sale now!
French '24 = 14 + 19 (!) but let's focus on Part One right now...
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.
THURSDAY- OCT 3 BIG ROXIE
Simenon & Gabin/Bardot!
6:30 PM LOVE IS MY PROFESSION / EN CAS DE MALHEUR
8:55 PM THE SNOW WAS BLACK / LA NEIGE ÉTAIT SALE
FRIDAY- OCT 4 LITTLE ROXIE
Before/After Hollywood: Siodmak/Tourneur
6:45 PM TUMULTES
8:30 PM JUSTIN DE MARSEILLE
SATURDAY MATINÉE - OCT 5 LITTLE ROXIE
André Cayatte
12:00 PM THUNDER OVER PARIS / TEMPÊTE
A charlatan (Erich von Stroheim) and his phony schemes are relentlessly tracked by a policeman who also happens to be his son-in-law... (1940, dir. Dominique Bernard-Deschamps, 97m)
2:00 PM THE LAST PENNY / LE DERNIER SOU
The victim of a swindler turns his beautiful accomplice against him as he concocts an elaborate revenge scheme... (1946, dir. André Cayatte, 90m)
3:45 PM UNDER THE CARDS / LE DESSOUS DES CARTES
A manipulative widow (Madeleine Sologne) tries to turn a suicide into murder to secure the $$ from her dead husband's insurance policy, but needs a fall guy...will the semi-clueless Manu (Serge Reggiani) fit the part? (1948, dir. André Cayatte, 94m)
SATURDAY EVENING - OCT 5 LITTLE ROXIE
More André Cayatte
6:15 PM BEFORE THE DELUGE / AVANT LE DÉLUGE
8:55 PM THE LOVERS OF VERONA / LES AMANTS DE VÉRONE
SUNDAY MATINÉE- OCT 6 BIG ROXIE
Early Gabin!
12:30 PM LILAC / COEUR DE LILAS
2:15 PM THEY WERE FIVE / LA BELLE ÉQUIPE
SUNDAY EVENING - OCT 6 BIG ROXIE
Harry Baur as Jean Valjean
5:30 PM LES MISERABLES
MONDAY - OCT 7 BIG ROXIE
Michel Simon
7:00 PM A FRIEND WILL COME TONIGHT / UN AMI VIENDRA CE SOIR
9:00 PM NOT GUILTY / NON COUPABLE
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.
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
LOOKING FOR OUR MAILING LIST?
If you're not yet on our mailing list, why not? Members receive special discounts and are eligible for our free giveaways, special prizes, and contests. And we keep you informed about what we're up to in our newsletter. Best of all—it's free!
SIGN UP HERE