*All times are PT. Please check your local listings to confirm dates and times.
Friday, August 1, 3:00 PM
THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1946): Drifter Frank (John Garfield) takes a job with roadside diner owner Nick Smith (Ceil Kellaway). Frank begins a torrid affair with Nick’s younger and extremely sexy wife (Lana Turner). Betrayal, murder, perversion of the law, and divine justice follow. Based on the novel by James M. Cain. Dir. Tay Garnett
Friday, August 1, 11:30 PM
JOHNNY EAGER (1942): Handsome racketeer Johnny Eager (Robert Taylor) seduces the D.A.'s daughter (Lana Turner) for revenge but then falls in love with her. Van Heflin steals the film as Eager’s devoted and alcoholic best friend; his performance rightfully garnered him an Oscar nomination. Edward Arnold plays the D.A. Sharp eyed viewers will recognize this as one of the films used in Carl Reiner’s noir parody Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982). Dir. Mervyn LeRoy
Saturday, August 2, 6:45 AM
THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE (1975): In this loose remake of the 1946 film, which was adapted from Ethel Lina White’s novel Some Must Watch, Helen Mallory (Jacqueline Bisset) has been rendered mute by the trauma of having witnessed her husband and young daughter killed in a house fire. When she visits her grandmother and two uncles she becomes involved in a burgeoning romance with the local doctor (Christopher Plummer). Unluckily for her, there’s a serial killer in town murdering young disabled women. Dir. Peter Collinson
Sunday, August 3, 3:00 PM
WAIT UNTIL DARK (1967): A commercial artist unknowingly brings a stash of heroin into his home. A trio of bad guys (Richard Crenna, Jack Weston and Alan Arkin) trace the dope to him. They trick him into leaving the house, but, unfortunately, his blind wife (Audrey Hepburn) is there alone. They proceed to first try to trick and then to terrorize her while she tries to figure out how to turn the tables on her unknown assailants. Hepburn earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her remarkable performance. Adapted from the Broadway hit written by Fredrick Knott and directed by Arthur Penn. Dir. Terence Young
Tuesday, August 5, 8:30 AM
THE UNSUSPECTED (1947): The star and producer of a radio crime series, a rather nasty Claude Rains, commits the perfect crime in order to cover some irregularities concerning his late niece’s estate, only to have his plans thwarted when his niece Constance Bennett is found alive and well. Audrey Totter plays her slutty cousin who stole her fiancé and now has designs on her husband. Based on the novel by Charlotte Armstrong. Dir. Michael Curtiz
Tuesday, August 5, 5:00 PM
NOTORIOUS (1946): Ruthless but attractive U.S. government agent T.R. Devlin (Cary Grant) recruits party girl Alicia (Ingrid Bergman), the daughter of a German spy who committed suicide in prison, to infiltrate a Nazi spy ring in post-WW2 Brazil. In this morally gray but thrilling espionage tale by Ben Hecht, love plays second fiddle to duty: Alicia makes the supreme sacrifice and marries suspected ringleader Alexander (Claude Rains) to aid her lover Devlin’s mission. Rains and Leopoldine Konstantin (who plays Alexander’s overly devoted mum) steal the picture from one of the most gorgeous romantic pairs of all time with their sterling performances. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Thursday, August 7, 3:00 AM – 6:30 AM
3:00 AM
THE TALL TARGET (1951): In this film noir cloaked as historical fiction, a determined detective (Dick Powell) tries to prevent the assassination of President-elect Abraham Lincoln during the train ride to his inauguration. Ruby Dee, at the beginning of her career, portrays slave Ruby whose owners are also on the train. It’s helmed by legendary noir director Anthony Mann and shot by Paul Vogel, the cinematographer responsible for Lady in the Lake’s first person P.O.V. Dir. Anthony Mann
4:30 AM
EDGE OF THE CITY (1957): A black stevedore, (Sidney Poitier) and a white army deserter (John Cassavetes) forge a deep bond while attempting to stand up to union corruption. Ruby Dee plays Sidney Poitier's wife, for the third out five times. Jack Warden co-stars as their abusive boss. Dir. Martin Ritt
Wednesday, August 13, 3:15 PM
THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY (1955): This quirky black comedy reverses the whodunit genre as multiple residents of a Vermont hamlet (John Forsyth, Shirley MacLaine, Edmund Gwenn and Mildred Natwick) believe themselves responsible for the titular Harry’s death and try to dispose of his body while misleading the local sheriff (Royal Dano). Jerry Mathers plays MacLaine’s precocious son. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Thursday, August 14, 3:00 AM – Friday, August 15, 3:00 AM
Films introduced by FNF Prez Eddie Muller
Here are the noirs:
8:00 AM
SUDDENLY (1954): A gun hating war widow (Nancy Gates) finds her family and herself at the mercy or a ruthless hit man (Frank Sinatra). It seems that her house would be the perfect spot for his current job, assassinating the U. S. president who will be passing through her small town. Can the town’s sheriff, and her ex-boyfriend, (Sterling Hayden) save them? Dir. Lewis Allen
3:00 PM
THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950): A hoodlum and ex-con (Sterling Hayden) hopes for one last big score that will enable him to go home to his farm in Kentucky. He falls in with a gang of small-time crooks plotting an elaborate jewel heist. Of course, you can never go home again. A young Marilyn Monroe plays a small but juicy part. The film was nominated for four Oscars including a Best Supporting Actor nod for Sam Jaffe as the mastermind undone by his passion for beautiful girls. Based on the novel by W. R. Burnett. Dir. John Huston
5:00 PM
THE KILLING (1956): The best laid plans… Ex-con Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) masterminds a racetrack heist. Instead of securing the two million dollar take, his gang’s emotional entanglements bring disaster. In a quintessential piece of noir casting, Marie Windsor plays the treacherous wife of Elisha Cook, Jr. Dir. Stanley Kubrick
6:45 PM
CRIME WAVE (1954): Steve Lacey (Gene Nelson), a reformed parolee, is forced to hide a wounded former cellmate who seeks him out for temporary shelter after being shot during robbery. After the cops find out Lacey sheltered a robbery suspect, Detective Sgt. Sims (Sterling Hayden) tries to force Lacey to find the robbers. All Lacey wants to do is protect his wife (Phyllis Kirk) and his new life. Dir. André De Toth
8:15 PM
FIVE STEPS TO DANGER (1956): John Emmett’s (Sterling Hayden) car breaks down in New Mexico while traveling from L.A. to Texas. He’s picked up by a beautiful woman (Ruth Roman) and finds himself embroiled in an espionage plot. Dir. Henry S. Kesler
Friday, August 15, 3:00 AM – Saturday, August 16, 3:00 AM
Here’s the noirs...
3:00 AM
HOLIDAY AFFAIR (1949): Big bad Bob Mitchum is on the run from one of his RKO noir thrillers when he gets a job as house dick at a department store and busts adorable Janet Leigh, who's spying for the competition. Okay, it's not noir. It's a warm and witty romantic Christmas movie minus all the sappy sentiment. Hey, a little love never killed anybody! Dir. Don Hartman
5:00 PM
PSYCHO (1960): Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) impulsively embezzles $10,000 dollars from her employer and takes it on the lam. She checks into the Bates Motel, meets the queer but attractive Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), takes a shower and makes cinematic history. A detective (Martin Balsam), Miriam’s sister (Vera Miles) and her boyfriend (John Gavin) all arrive to look for the missing Miriam. Long time Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann created the rightfully legendary score. The immensely talented old time radio actress Virginia Gregg provides the voice of Norman’s mother Norma Bates. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
7:00 PM
TOUCH OF EVIL (1958): Orson Welles’ masterpiece about a narcotics agent (Charlton Heston) who unintentionally put his wife (Janet Leigh) in grave danger when he investigates a crooked cop (Orson Welles). Utterly fantastic supporting performance by Marlene Dietrich as a Mexican Gypsy whore- no, really, I mean it. Dir. Orson Welles
9:00 PM
ACT OF VIOLENCE (1949): An embittered veteran (Robert Ryan) tracks down Frank R. Enley, a POW camp informer (Van Heflin) now a respected member of his community and married to a wife (Janet Leigh) unaware of his actions during the war. Mary Astor steals the film as the boozy bar fly and prostitute trying to help Enley. Dir. Fred Zinnemann
10:30 PM
PETE KELLY’S BLUES (1955): Ex-doughboy turned jazz musician Pet Kelly (Jack Webb) leads a quartet playing at a Kansas City speakeasy during the Roaring 20s. The quartet gets crossed up with a gangster (Edmond O’Brien) and his alcoholic girlfriend (Peggy Lee). Cynical Kelly finds that he has to take a stand. Janet Leigh plays Ivy Conrad), a wealthy flapper who puts the moves on Kelly. Ella Fitzgerald makes a memorable cameo as singer Maggie Jacks. Look for Jayne Mansfield as a cigarette girl. Dir. Jack Webb
Monday, August 18, 9:30 AM
A DATE WITH THE FALCON (1941): Gentleman detective Gay Lawrence (George Sanders) has 12 hours to find a cache of synthetic diamonds and still make it to the airport in time to travel for a visit with the family of his long-suffering fiancée, Elinor Benford (Anne Hunter). Dir. Irving Reis
Monday, August 18, 7:00 PM
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955): Bogus preacher Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) marries an outlaw’s widow (Shelly Winters in a stunning performance) in search of the dead man’s hidden loot. The widow’s son (Billy Chapin) sees through him and tries to keep the secret of the treasure location and protect his mother, sister and himself from Powell. Lillian Gish plays the force of good in opposition to Mitchum’s evil. Dir. Charles Laughton
Tuesday, August 19, 7:15 PM
ALGIERS (1938): This Hollywood remake of Julien Duvivier’s poetic realist masterpiece Pépé le Moko features Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr as the star-crossed lovers who meet in the Casbah. Nominated for four Oscars: Best Actor in a Leading Role, Charles Boyer; Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Gene Lockhart; Best Cinematography, James Wong Howe and Best Art Direction, Alexander Toluboff. Dir. John Cromwell
Wednesday, August 20, 5:00 PM
LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME (1955): Engrossing musical bio (from an Oscar-winning story by Daniel Fuchs) of Jazz Age singer Ruth Etting (Doris Day), whose life and career were dominated by gangster Marty 'The Gimp' Snyder, (James Cagney). Ruth’s musical advisor Johnny Alderman (Cameron Mitchell) attempts repeatedly to persuade Ruth to leave her abusive relationship. Dir. Charles Vidor
Thursday, August 21, 9:00 AM
THE BREAKING POINT (1950): This film faithfully retells the story of Hemingway's To Have and Have Not. Charter-boat skipper Harry Morgan (John Garfield) will do anything to save his boat from creditors, even smuggling illegal aliens. Things get ugly when he attempts to double cross a gangster that hires him to spirit away a group of thieves hot off a racetrack heist. Patricia Neal co-stars as the sultry moll who tries to seduce the married Morgan. Dir. Michael Curtiz
Friday, August 22, 7:45 PM
THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM (1955): A recovering heroin addict (Frank Sinatra) struggles to stay clean when returning to Chicago’s South side, to old friends and old temptations, after a prison stint. His drug dealer Nifty Louie (Darren McGavin) wants to get his hooks back into Frankie, but his love for Molly (Kim Novak) and his dreams of becoming a jazz drummer keep him on the straight and narrow. When Louie is killed, the cops figure him for the murder and come after him. Dir. Otto Preminger
Saturday, August 23, 8:45 AM
BEAT THE DEVIL (1949): In this humorous crime film, six professional thieves, all on the trail of a piece of African land supposedly containing a valuable uranium deposit in Africa, cross paths with a seemingly guileless British couple (Jenifer Jones and Edward Underdown) while stranded in Italy. Double crosses and romantic entanglements stir things up. The thieves include Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, Robert Morley and Gina Lollobrigida. Dir. John Huston
Sunday, August 24, 5:00 AM
THE BIG STREET (1942): Busboy Little Pinks (Henry Fonda) worships singer, Gloria Lyons (Lucille Ball cast against in type as a ruthlessly selfish woman) from afar. After she’s left penniless by the expenses from a long convalescence when she’s pushed down a staircase by her jealous boyfriend, Pinks invites the cold hearted and manipulative Gloria to stay with him in his apartment. Based on the 1940 short story "Little Pinks" by Damon Runyon, who also produced it. Dir. Irving Reis
Sunday, August 24, 3:00 PM
THE WRONG MAN (1956): In this gritty documentary style noir, victims of a robbery misidentify a musician (Henry Fonda) for the culprit, destroying the lives of him and his wife (Vera Miles). This film was based on the true story of Manny Ballestro and used extensive locations shooting in New York City. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Wednesday, August 27, 3:00 AM – Thursday, August 28, 3:00 AM
Here are the noirs...
9:00 AM
A WOMAN’S FACE (1941): The soon to be queen of the noirs, Joan Crawford, starred in this suspenseful drama as a facially scarred blackmailer who’s given a new outlook on life after plastic surgery. Can she adjust to a normal life and stop her ex-accomplice’s nefarious plan to murder his nephew? Dir. George Cukor
1:00 PM
THE DAMNED DON’T CRY (1950): Fed up with her small-town marriage and life of drudgery, Ethel Whitehead (Joan Crawford) goes after the big time and by sleeping with a series of mafiosi. This fantastic film noir fable, a thinly-veiled version of the life story of gangster's moll Virginia Hill, is perhaps a truer depiction of the real Joan Crawford than Mommie Dearest (1981). Right up there with Mildred Pierce as one of Crawford's finest Warner Bros. melodramas. With Steve Cochran, Kent Smith, and veteran Joan-foil David Brian. Dir. Vincent Sherman
10:30 PM
HUMORESQUE (1946): Noirish romance about an equally talented and narcissistic classical musician (John Garfield) from the New York slums who falls in love with wealthy neurotic (Joan Crawford) with expectedly problematic results. Crawford’s performance as a self-destructive alcoholic raises the level of the film beyond its melodramatic script. Dir. Jean Negulesco
12:45 AM
POSSESSED (1947): In this excellent examination of obsession, Joan Crawford gives a terrific—and Oscar nominated—performance as a married woman whose passion for a former love (Van Heflin) drives her mad. Raymond Massey plays her compassionate husband. Dir. Curtis Bernhardt
Thursday, August 28, 3:00 AM – Friday, August 29, 3:00 AM
Films introduced by FNF Prez Eddie Muller
No noirs
Friday, August 29, 3:00 PM
WHIPLASH (1948): San Franciscan artist Michael Gordon (Dane Clark) goes to New York to find Laurie Rogers (Alexis Smith) after spending one evening together. There he finds her singing at a nightclub by chance and she confesses that she is married. He decides to box for her disabled husband (Zachary Scott) who doesn’t know about Michael and Laurie’s connection. Dir. Lewis Seiler
Friday, August 29, 7:00 PM
CONFLICT (1945): A seemingly happily married man, (Humphrey Bogart) murders his wife so he can be free to marry her sister (Alexis Smith) who unfortunately does not return his affection. His friend and neighbor, a kindly psychologist (Sydney Greenstreet) starts to suspect something. Dir. Curtis Bernhardt
Saturday, August 30, 3:00 AM – Sunday, August 31, 3:00 AM
3:00 AM
OUT OF THE PAST (1947): In this quintessential film noir, small town gas station owner Jeff Bailey’s (Robert Mitchum) past catches up with him when a stranger passing through town recognizes him. He tells his girlfriend Ann Miller (Virginia Huston) about his previous via flashback, of course. Jeff was a private eye falls for the gangster’s moll (Jane Greer) that he’s supposed to find for her lover Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas). She’s allegedly stolen $40,000 from Whit and he wants her and the dough back. As in all good noirs, nothing is really as it seems. Watch for future noir siren Rhonda Fleming as a duplicitous secretary. Based on Geoffrey Homes’ excellent pulp novel Build My Gallows High and shot by legendary cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca. Dir. Jacques Tourneur
3:00 PM
CHAMPION (1949): An unscrupulous boxer (Kirk Douglas) claws his way to the top destroying everyone, including himself, along the way. Dir. Mark Robson
5:00 PM
DETECTIVE STORY (1951): A police detective (Kirk Douglas) with a rigid moral code, a bad temper and childhood issues uncovers his wife's (Eleanor Parker) mobster tinged past while investigating an illegal adoption ring. Dir. William Wyler
7:00 PM
ACE IN THE HOLE (1951): A small-town reporter (Kirk Douglas at his hammy best) milks a local disaster to get back into the big time, destroying everyone, including himself, along the way. Jan Sterling gives a tremendous performance as the trapped man’s opportunistic wife. Dir. Billy Wilder
NOIR ALLEY, hosted by FNF prez Eddie Muller, will be on hiatus during the month of August due to TCM’s “Summer under the Stars” – Turner Classic Movies' annual showcase of accomplished actors and actresses, focusing on the works of one performer each day of the month. Eddie will be introducing Sterling Hayden’s films, Thursday, August 14, 3:00 AM – Friday, August 15, 3:00 AM and Donald O’Connor’s 100th Birthday Celebration films (no noirs), Thursday, August 28, 3:00 AM – Friday, August 29, 3:00 AM. NOIR ALLEY with Eddie will return on Saturday, September 6, with He Ran All the Way (1951).
Jacqueline Bisset in The Spiral Staircase on August 2
Hitchcock's Notorious screens August 5
Ruby Dee, Paula Raymond and Henry Fonda in The Tall Target on August 7
Ruby Dee in Edge of the City on August 7
Sterling Hayden and Frank Sinatra in Suddenly on August 14
Jean Hagan and Sterling Hayden in The Asphalt Jungle on August 14
Relentless detective Sterling Hayden in Crime Wave on August 14
Sterling Hayden and Ruth Roman in Five Steps to Danger on August 14
Janet Leigh and Robert Mitchum in Holiday Affair on August 15
Janet Leigh and Steve Gavin in Psycho on August 15
Janet Leigh in Touch of Evil on August 15
Janet Leigh in Pete Kelly's Blues on August 15
George Sanders stars in A Date with the Falcon on August 18
Hedy Lamarr in Algiers on August 19
Otto Preminger's The Man with the Golden Arm screens August 21
Jenifer Jones and Humphrey Bogart in Beat the Devil on August 23
Lucille Ball in The Big Street on August 24
Kent Smith and Joan Crawford in The Damned Don't Cry on August 27
John Garfield and Joan Crawford in Humoresque on August 27
Joan Crawford in Possessed on August 28
Dane Clark stars in Whiplash on August 29
Kirk Douglas and Jane Greer in Out of the Past on August 30
Kirk Douglas, Arthur Kenney, Marilyn Maxwell in Champion on August 30
Kirk Douglas and Eleanor Parker in Detective Story on August 30