B Film Noirs at Film Forum
Michael Atkinson in The Village Voice: "A[t] this late date, what we think about when we think about noir is often little more than a result of its commodificationa history that is itself a vast untold story. One of the hardiest myths, and the one most responsible for the category’s deathless cool, pertains to the definition of noir as a B movie, the cheap programmer backing up the A on a double bill. With only a fraction of an A’s studio control and budget, a B could afford to risk expressionism, nihilism, subtext, and other uncommercial indulgences."
Between May 5-June 15, New York City’s Film Forum will be screening 70 examples of the "B" film noir, including Joseph H. Lewis‘ My Name Is Jula Ross (1945), starring Nina Foch and George Macready; Budd Boetticher’s revenge drama The Killer Is Loose (1956), starring Wendell Corey and Joseph Cotten; and Stuart Heisler’s Among the Living (1941), in which poor Albert Dekker discovers that he has an evil twin who happens to be a homicidal maniac. Susan Hayward, Harry Carey, and Frances Farmer co-star.
Slant’s Ed Gonzalez says this film noir series "may be the most important repertory event of the year, and it transmits a very clear message: that the Poverty Row clip joint was a more treacherous and richer place to hang your hat than Casablanca."
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