They don’t produce films like they use to…literally. Technological advances have redefined film productions and the onset of creating computer generated characters has become a norm in the film industry. Like many theaters all across the country and abroad, there are producers, theater managers, and an array of film enthusiasts trying to preserve the nostalgia of genre films, its rich history, and even the “craftsmanship” and techniques of producing films during specific eras. The Carolina Theatre (CT) will present their Classic Crime Noir Film Series and show films produced far back as 1949 and shown on 35 mm film. The Carolina Theatre describes Crime Noir as “a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. The crime film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the early 1960s. Crime noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography. The term film noir (French for "black film") was unknown to most American film industry professionals of the classic era. Cinema historians and critics defined the noir canon in retrospect; before the notion was widely adopted in the 1970s. Many of the classic film and crime noirs were referred to as melodramas. Films now customarily described as noir have been made around the world.”
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The Carolina Theatre of Durham
CLASSIC CRIME NOIR FILM SERIES FILM SYNOPSES (reviews from CT): June 11 - 17, 2010
1949 Carol Reed's THE THIRD MAN (UK, 1949, NR, 93 min)
“There have been few better movies in the history of the planet than The Third Man, and fewer still as brilliantly directed from second to second. Orson Welles played the title role, and his legend has tended to engulf the film. But it was directed by Carol Reed and written by Graham Greene, and the credit for this masterpiece is properly theirs. Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten), a writer of pulp Westerns and one of life's congenital third-raters, arrives in post-WWII Vienna only to learn that his old pal Harry Lime, the guy who sent him his plane ticket, is being buried. Everybody, from a cynical British cop named Calloway (Trevor Howard) to Harry's Continental knockout of a girlfriend (Alida Valli) and his business associates, feels that Holly should get on another plane and go home. He doesn't. Things come to light. Other deaths follow. The world lies in utter ruin.”
1955 Henri-Georges Clouzot's DIABOLIQUE (France, 1955, NR, 116 min)
“Legend has it that Henri-Georges Clouzot beat out Alfred Hitchcock to secure the rights to this novel, which proved to be a veritable blueprint for an icy masterpiece of murder, mystery and suspense. Vera Clouzot plays the sickly wife of a callous headmaster of a provincial boarding school going to seed and the commanding SimonenSignoret is the headmaster's mistreated mistress. Together they plot and carry out his murder, a brutal drowning that director Clouzot documents in chilly detail, but the corpse disappears, and a nosy detective starts sniffing around the grounds as threatening notes taunt the women. Clouzet's thriller is as precise and accomplished a work as anything in Hitchcock's canon, a film of grueling suspense and startling shocks in an overcast, gray world of decay.” In French w/Eng. Subtitles.
The Carolina Theatre of Durham
1957 Louis Malle's ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS (France, 1957. PG, 88 min)
“In this, his debut feature film, director Louis Malle (Zazie dans le metro, Atlantic City, Au revoir les enfants, and many more works of subtle genius) captures the hidden beauty of Jeanne Moreau, the brilliant camerawork of Henri Decaë, and the musical force of Miles Davis in a tightly constructed film noir experience that launched his and Moreau's careers. The film is many things: A tight, delicious crime thriller; a movie with perhaps the greatest jazz soundtrack of all time, created improvisationally by trumpeter Miles Davis; but above all, Elevator to the Gallows is the blooming of Jeanne Moreau to the status of true movie star, launching her on a career that included Jules & Jim, La notte, and La Femme Nikita. After killing his lover's husband, Julien (Maurice Ronet, Purple Noon) gets trapped in an elevator, forcing him to miss his rendezvous with Florence (Moreau) and allowing his car to be stolen by a joy-riding young couple. From there, the movie splits into three directions: Julien's efforts to escape; Florence wandering the streets, trying not to believe that Julien has abandoned her; and the car thieves, who get caught up in a murder of their own.” In French with English subtitles.
The Carolina Theatre of Durham
1981 Jean-Jacques Beineix's DIVA (France, 1981, R, 123 min)
“Modern noir meets high opera in the French suspense flick Diva. Director Jean-Jacques Beineix launched the “Cinema Du Look” movement with this stylish cult thriller that remains as innovative today as when it premiered in 1981. A young postal carrier, Jules, has an opera obsession. He spends his small disposable income on sophisticated sound equipment and manages to bootleg a live performance of his favorite diva, Cynthia Hawkins (played by real-life opera singer Wilhelmina Wiggins Fernandez). But Jules is spotted making the recording by shady investors who want the tape. As if that weren't enough, a second cassette, filled with enough evidence to topple an international drug and prostitution ring, makes its way into Jules's mailbag.” In French with English subtitles.
Link to The Making of The Third Man
Link to Trailer for Elevator to the Gallows
Rialto site with link to the trailer for Diva
For schedules and more information visit www.carolinatheatre.org
Tickets can be ordered by phone at (919) 560-3030 or online
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