Entering its 18th year, NOIR CITY: Seattle returns to SIFF Cinema Downtown February 13-19 with an exciting program of fifteen crime and mystery films featuring . . . musicians! From examples of Hollywood noir like Nora Prentiss (1947) to love letters to jazz like Pete Kelly’s Blues (1955), the movies feature genuine musical legends performing alongside film noir favorites including Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum, and Lauren Bacall. Among the real-life musicians appearing onscreen: Elvis Presley, Keely Smith, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, and more. FNF founder Eddie Muller will introduce the films during opening weekend.
A number of the films on the schedule are fictions in which music plays a major part; others are based on actual performers, like the 1955 Doris Day vehicle Love Me or Leave Me in which Day gives a scintillating performance as 1920s singing and dancing sensation Ruth Etting. Similarly, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Dexter Gordon give memorable portrayals in, respectively, A Man Called Adam (1966) and Round Midnight (1986), playing composites of real-life jazz artists. Other highlights include Dan Duryea’s rare sympathetic turn in Black Angel (1946), based on the Cornell Woolrich story, and Sweet Smell of Success featuring powerful performances by Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster.
➤ Go to SIFF website for showtimes, passes, and tickets.
CONFIRMED 2026 NOIR CITY DATES
NOIR CITY: Seattle: Feb 13-19
SIFF Cinema Downtown, Seattle, WA
NOIR CITY: Hollywood: Apr 3-5 & 10-12
Egyptian Theatre, Hollywood, CA
NOIR CITY: Boston: June 12-14
The Brattle, Cambridge, MA
NOIR CITY: Portland: Aug 21-23
Hollywood Theatre, Portland, OR
NOIR CITY: Chicago: Sep 4-10
Music Box Theatre, Chicago, IL
NOIR CITY: Detroit: Sep 18-20
Redford Theatre, Detroit, MI
NOIR CITY: D.C.: Oct 8-22
AFI Silver Theatre & Cultural Center
Silver Spring, MD
FNF prez Eddie Muller's newest book, NOIR BAR: Cocktails Inspired by the World of Film Noir combines two of his greatest passions, film noir and cocktails.
In the words of the author, "Noir Bar offers a booze-based excursion through America's most popular film genre, pairing easy-to-master recipes with the kind of behind-the-scenes anecdotes that I like to include in my film intros and books." Some of the drinks are the ones being imbibed on screen and some are named after the films, the characters or the actors themselves. The recipes came from a variety of sources including Ernest Hemmingway and Sam Fuller. Some were even created by Eddie himself. Eddie also draws on his past as a bartender to coach you on the supplies and the techniques you will need to create these libations in your own home. The book is stylishly laid out and filled with movie stills, poster art, behind-the-scenes images, and cocktail photography. The book is available from Running Press.
Preserved by the Film Noir Foundation in 2013 and now beautifully restored through the UCLA Film & Television Archive, Never Open That Door (No abras nunca esa puerta) is a significant example of the cross-cultural cinematic legacy shared by the United States and Argentina during the post-WWII era. Based on two short stories by American master of suspense fiction Cornell Woolrich, the film is brilliantly directed by Argentine filmmaker Carlos Hugo Christensen with extraordinary cinematography by Pablo Tabernero. ORDER YOUR COPY
Says FNF founder Eddie Muller about this recent restoration, “It is a revelation to experience the work of an all-American author, in Spanish, and rendered as well – or perhaps better – than any Hollywood adaptation of his work.” + READ MORE
Argentine director Román Viñoly Barreto's El vampiro negro (The Black Vampire) is available from Flicker Alley in a deluxe Blu‑ray/DVD edition. A virtually unknown remake of Fritz Lang's seminal 1931 thriller M, this 1953 Argentine noir is a female-centered take on the tale. + READ MORE
The revised and expanded edition of FNF prez and Noir Alley host Eddie Muller's Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir is now available for purchase from the TCM Shop or your favorite bookseller. + READ MORE
We are proud to announce the release of two FNF restorations as Blu‑ray/DVD combos from Flicker Alley: The Bitter Stems and The Beast Must Die, two classics of Argentine noir.. → READ MORE
Did you know that The Film Noir Foundation regularly livestreams on our Facebook page in which Eddie Muller answers questions submitted by our e‑mail subscribers? All previous broadcasts are available on our YouTube broadcast archives page.
→ Subscribe to our mailing list, so you can get your question answered.
The latest ASK EDDIE broadcast on Facebook on February 5 and on YouTube the following day.
We are having a donation drive to celebrate our new issue of NOIR CITY Magazine.
Three winners in random drawings will receive five NOIR CITY Magazine digital back issues — #16, #25, #28, #38, #40 — sent via WeTransfer file transfer service to their email addresses, donate $20 or more to the FNF between now and Friday, February 20. Your name will be entered in a random drawing. Three winners will receive the issues.
For a donation of $50 or more, two winners in a random drawing will receive Flicker Alley’s Blu-ray/DVD releases of two FNF restorations: Repeat Performance (1947) with Joan Leslie, Louis Hayward, and Richard Basehart and The Man Who Cheated Himself (1950) with Lee J. Cobb, Jane Wyatt, and John Dall. Special features produced by the FNF included on each Blu-ray/DVD.
All winners will be announced Wednesday, February 25, here on the FNF's news page.
Everyone who donates $20 or more and signs up on our e-mail list, will automatically receive the digital version of NOIR CITY e-magazine for a year! In our new issue Sloan De Forest investigates the women who wrote noirs under pseudonyms, Eddie Muller answers the question, “Is It’s a Wonderful Life” a noir?”, and more!
Your donations help the FNF locate, restore, and exhibit films that, without our intervention, would be lost forever.
For $20 donors: three separate donors in a random drawing will receive the Flicker Alley Blu-ray/DVD release of the FNF restoration of the 1953 Argentine film El vampiro negro.
For $50 donations: a winner in a random drawing will receive the Criterion Blu-ray release of the 2K digital restoration of Nicolas Ray’s They Live by Night (1948), with numerous special features including a 2007 audio commentary by Eddie Muller with actor Farley Granger, plus a Warner Archive Blu-ray of The Beast of the City (1932) reviewed this issue by Sean Axmaker in the Noir-at-Home section.
For $65 donations and gothic noir fans, in honor of Sloan De Forest’s “Undercover Authors” story, a winner in a random drawing will receive from the FNF Archives an original 1947 Moss Rose magazine ad 8-1/2” x 10-7/8” featuring Peggy Cummins and Victor Mature.
For $75 donations: 3 winners in a random drawing will receive copies of the out-of-print NOIR CITY Annual #3 (published 2011). These out-of-print pristine editions were recently gifted to the FNF in very limited quantities by a donor who wishes to remain anonymous.
For $80 donations and fans of French cinema, a winner in a random drawing will receive Kino Lorber’s French Noir Collection II, reviewed by Sean Axmaker this issue, including Rhine Virgin (1953), The Beast Is Loose (1959), Trapped by Fear (1960), and Passion of Slow Fire (1961), plus the Fantagraphics Jacques Tardi/Jean-Patrick Manchette book Run Like Crazy Run Like Hell.
For $100 donations: a winner in a random drawing will receive the new release of Kino Lorber’s Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XXVI featuring the films Dr. Broadway (1942), Smooth as Silk (1946), and The Great Gatsby (1949), plus the Warner Archive Blu-ray of Dark Passage (1947) with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Plus, the Fantagraphics book My Gun Is The Jury, illustrated by Jack Davis and Wallace Wood.
For a $500 donation: one winner in a random drawing will receive the 27” x 40” mounted NOIR CITY 23 display poster from the January 2026 festival. Lobby/display poster is mounted on black gator board. FNF pays $250 for professional packing (44” x 35” x 7” box) and FedEx shipping to U.S. address.
For a shot at any of these goods, make your donation to the FNF between now and Friday, February 20. Your name will be entered into the random drawings for your donation amount.
All winners will be announced Wednesday, February 25, here on the FNF's NEWS page. Your donations help the Film Noir Foundation locate, restore, and exhibit films that, without our intervention, would be lost forever.
In this revised and expanded edition of his essential volume Dark City Dames, Eddie Muller—FNF founder and Turner Classic Movies host—offers a uniquely intimate look at the women who defined film noir, now featuring updated text, photos, and ten new star profiles.
In Dark City Dames, acclaimed film historian Eddie Muller takes readers into the world of six women who made a lasting impression in this cinematic terrain—from veteran “bad girls” Audrey Totter, Marie Windsor, and Jane Greer to unexpected genre fixtures Evelyn Keyes, Coleen Gray, and Ann Savage. The book provides in-depth profiles of these formidable women during the height of their careers, circa 1950, as they balanced love and career, struggled against typecasting, and sought fulfillment in a ruthless business. Their personal stories—teeming with larger-than-life characters like Howard Hughes, Louis B. Mayer, Robert Mitchum, Otto Preminger, and John Huston—offer a fascinating counterpoint to their movies. Then, Dark City Dames revisits each woman fifty years later to witness their hard-won—and triumphant—survival. On every page their own voices ring through, reflecting on their lives with as much passion, pain, intelligence, energy, and humor as any movie script. Muller conducted far-ranging interviews with the original six women profiled in Dark City Dames, in the process becoming a friend and confidante to each.
In this revised and expanded edition, he updates their stories and shares illuminating, never-before-told memories of his time with them. This edition also includes compelling new profiles of ten additional women who left an indelible mark on film noir, including Joan Bennett, Gail Russell, Rhonda Fleming, and Claire Trevor—all packaged in a stunning redesign that offers the ultimate look at performers who helped define a still-resonant and inspiring epoch of Hollywood history.
➥ ORDER from publisher Running Press
➥ ORDER from Amazon
Come follow us on Tumblr to indulge your passion for noir! We'll be posting daily, celebrating all things noir with exclusive stills and images you won't see anywhere else, as well as trailers, film clips, and more.
Share our posts with your friends; your love of the art form is the Foundation's biggest asset in its mission to preserve and restore classics of the genre. We are also fully committed to present our rescued films in the way they were meant to be seen: in 35mm at our NOIR CITY festivals around the country.
NOIR CITY MAGAZINE - DIGITAL VERSION
For access to the best writing on noir available today, and to enjoy one of the most cutting-edge interactive multimedia cinema publications in the world, subscribe to NOIR CITY®.
Start by adding your name to our mailing list and then making a donation to the FNF of $20 or more. View the Table of Contents for the current issue here.
Keep us posted on noir news and events in your area! Email Anne Hockens, Film Noir Foundation news and events editor.