TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH
DIRECTOR: ROBERT STEVENSON
US 1948

SAT, NOV19 - 7 PM
SUN, NOV 20 - 5 PM
Guild Theatre

With moviegoers jaded by the horrors and political realities of WWII and its afterlife, Hollywood was primed to deliver dark stories of mean streets, drugs, corruption and betrayal. The government, gripped with Cold War paranoia and obsessed with civilian conformity, was happy to have such themes exploited—as long as the villains were anti-American and got their due. Stevenson’s film plays by all the rules, as an array of non-westerners fiendishly plan to hook the world on the “hard stuff”: opium. Searching to the ends of the earth for the corrupting forces, Commissioner Michael Borrow (Dick Powell) faces temptation, femme fatales (Signe Hasso) and commies in this noir classic. (109 mins.)

DOUBLE FEATURE

JOHNNY ALLEGRO
DIRECTOR: TED TETZLAFF
US 1949

SAT, NOV19 - 9 PM
SUN, NOV 20 - 7 PM
Guild Theatre

George Raft stars as Johnny Allegro, a reformed gangster with a heart of gold. Reborn as a lackey for the Treasury Department, he isn’t afraid to use his tough street know-how to bring the bad guys to justice. When alleged counterfeiter Morgan Vallin (George MacReady) is suspected of duping the government, Johnny heads to Vallin’s base of operations on a Florida island and temporarily tricks the cleverly named villain. Once Johnny’s cover is blown, he and damsel Nina Foch find themselves on a hunting outing. Unfortunately, they are the animals and Vallin has the only weapon. (81 mins.)

top

THE DARK PAST
DIRECTOR: RUDOLPH MATE
US 1948

FRI, NOV 25 - 7 PM
SAT, NOV 26 - 7 PM
Guild Theatre

Mate's psychological drama uses darkened streets and chiaroscuro silhouettes to emphasize duality, danger and decay as it advances a correlation between environment and social problems. William Holden is the leader of a notorious gang which takes Lee J. Cobb and friends hostage in their attempt to evade capture. Cobb plays a college psychology professor who himself escapes the ultimate capture (death) by counseling maniac Holden to overcome his freaked-out past. (75 mins.)

DOUBLE FEATURE

CITY OF FEAR
DIRECTOR: IRVING LERNER
US 1959

FRI, NOV 25 - 8:30 PM
SAT, NOV 26 8:30 PM
Guild Theatre

Escaped convict Vince (Vince Edwards) puts himself and the entire city of Los Angeles in danger by mistaking a vile of radioactive Cobalt for a more transitory liquid investment: heroin. Edwards eludes the authorities, but not the deteriorating effects of the deadly substance he’s stolen. As more innocent citizens are exposed, the authorities must decide whether a public announcement of the hazardous breech might lead to riot fatalities exceeding those from exposure. Lerner’s atomic frenzy/noir questions the presence of domestic biological threats, a challenge to the then prevalent fears of Communist aggression and (still today) domestic terrorism. (81 mins.)

top

NIGHTFALL
DIRECTOR: JACQUES TOURNEUR
US 1956

FRI, DEC 2 - 7 PM
SAT, DEC 3 - 7 PM
Guild Theatre

Jim Vanning (Aldo Ray) just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. While he and “the doc” (Frank Albertson) were camping in Wyoming they ran into Red and John (Rudy Bond and Brian Keith), who just stole $350,000. Now, “the doc” is dead, the money is missing, and Jim must stay hidden from the crooks who want their money back, police who assume he’s a murderer and an insurance agent who has been tailing him for months. Jim can’t confide in anyone until he meets fashion model Marie (Ann Bancroft), who he meets by chance in a bar. Chock-full of near death escapes, social paranoia and the romance that can only come when two innocents are put in common danger. (79 mins.)

DOUBLE FEATURE

ONE MYSTERIOUS NIGHT
DIRECTOR: BUDD BOETTICHER
U S A 1 9 4 4

FRI, DEC 2 - 8:30 PM
SAT, DEC 3 - 8:30 PM
Guild Theatre

Noir flat-foots are notoriously at odds with clearing their name, restoring their honor, and finding enough booze to perpetuate another cycle of redemption should a sequel be in store. In this seventh installment of Columbia’s “Boston Blackie” series, P.I. Blackie (Chester Morris) must exonerate himself of diamond thievery from a benefit charity auction. With the greatest of integrity, Blackie proves that even half-way through the series (and in making the jump from radio to screen) not even the most clever of B-List plot twists can keep him from his man. . . or is it his woman? (61 mins.)

top

ACT OF VIOLENCE
DIRECTOR: FRED ZINNEMANN
US 1953

FRI, DEC 9 - 7 PM
SAT, DEC 10 - 7 PM
Guild Theatre

Post-WW II Los Angeles. A booming economy and happy families moving into new suburbs. But beneath the surface optimism are men with pasts and memories they cannot escape. Joe (Robert Ryan) can’t forget how Frank (Van Heflin), his commanding officer squealed on his plan to escape from Nazi prison camp. Joe comes to California to find Frank and avenge the murder of his squadron. Frank, coming face to face with his past, confesses to his wife and heads into the dark city in a state of mental terror. Even Frank’s wife, Edith (Janet Leigh) and Joe’s “girl,”Ann (Phyllis Thaxter) can't stop the disaster that ensues. (80 mins.)

DOUBLE FEATURE

ON DANGEROUS GROUND
DIRECTOR: NICHOLAS RAY
US 1952

FRI, DEC 9 - 8:30 PM
SAT, DEC 10 - 8:30 PM
Guild Theatre

Ray suggested that the angst of violent police officer Jim Wilson’s character comes from “a spiritual crisis precipitated by the dehumanizing nature of his occupation clashing with his innate sensitivity.” After his Chief implores Jim to “Make up your mind to be a cop—not a gangster with a badge,” he sends him to the tranquil country on a murder case. That is where he meets Mary (Ida Lupino), who may be blind but instantly sees his inner sensitivity. Her brother, Danny (Sumner Williams), is wanted for murdering a small child and Wilson must choose between his instinct to take the law into his own hands or his new found desire to protect Mary and find spiritual redemption. (82 mins.)

top

SIDE STREET
DIRECTOR: ANTHONY MANN
US 1950

FRI, DEC 16 - 7 PM
SAT, DEC 17 - 7 PM
Guild Theatre

Postman Joe Norson (Farley Granger) finds an envelope with 30 G's on his mail route. With a pregnant wife (Cathy O’Donnell) and in need of money, Joe quickly succumbs to the temptation of being able to provide the things they have had to do without. But Joe’s conscience catches up with him just as quickly as the blackmail scheme behind the money. Chased by his own guilt, the crooks who stole the money, and police who think he is involved with murder, Joe flees into the underworld to try and right his wrong. A taut thriller, SIDE STREET surfaces the inherent corruption and violence that lurks beneath the veneer of the American dream. (83 mins.)

DOUBLE FEATURE

UNDERCURRENT
DIRECTOR: VINCENT MINNELLI
US 1946

FRI, DEC 16 - 8:30 PM
SAT, DEC 17 - 8:30 PM
Guild Theatre

Minnelli’s romantic thrillernoir features a relative rarity: a female protagonist. Katherine Hepburn plays Ann, a girl who has grown up in a protected environment with her soft-spoken father before marrying Alan (Robert Taylor) a dashing airplane manufacturer. Ann’s ideal vision of love and marriage is fractured as she gradually discovers that Alan may not be the person he claims to be. Is Alan’s long harbored hatred for his missing brother Michael (Robert Mitchum) the truth, or is he covering up for his own sins or does he have something to hide? (114 mins.)

top