Is that the smell of cigarette smoke filling the room? Did a thick layer of fog just descend on the city skyline? Has your inner voice started monologuing more than usual and with an air of suspicion? That’s right folks, Noir City Film Festival at Detroit‘s Redford Theatre is set to return this month for it’s seventh annual showcase of murder, intrigue, trenched coats, and brimmed hats. As with every year, the festivities will be hosted by Eddie Muller of Turner Classic Movies‘ “Noir Alley” and will feature an international theme this year with foreign selections, as well as Hollywood films directed by non-American filmmakers like Otto Preminger and Hugo Fregonese.
2024’s Noir City: Detroit begins on Friday, September 20 with a double feature of “Victims of Sin” (1951) and “Night Editor” (1946). Directed by Emilio Fernández, one of the most prolific filmmakers from Mexican cinema’s Golden Age during the ’40s and ’50s, “Victims of Sins” is a seedy Spanish-language melodrama set against Mexico City’s underworld. In addition to capturing the margins of society, it also delivers an electric examination of post-war culture, with stunning mambo numbers to counter-balance the tragedy faced on the streets and in the nightclubs. In contrast, Henry Levin’s “Night Editor” serves as more of a B-movie offering. Based on the popular radio series of the same name, the script came from the episode “Inside Story,” which tells the story of a cop in the midst of an affair who soon gets wrapped up in a crime he can’t report without implicating his own infidelity.
On Saturday afternoon, the Redford will be showing what is widely considered one of the greatest mysteries of all time, “Laura” (1944) followed by the lesser known Glen Ford thriller, “Framed” (1947). Later that night, they’ll be playing the prison classic “Brute Force” (1947), starring Burt Lancaster and written by “Key Largo” scribe Richard Brooks, as well as another nail-biter set behind-bars, “Black Tuesday” (1954), featuring noir legend Edward G. Robinson. To close out the festival on Sunday, the Argentinian anthology piece “Never Open That Door” (1952) will screen ahead of the child-led “The Window” (1949). For those interested in seeing all the films, an all-access pass is available that includes tickets to a separate meet-and-greet and private Q&A with Muller.
Detroit’s Redford Theatre was built between 1927 and 1928, initially designed to emulate the “atmospheric” style of outdoor Japanese theaters, but developed over time as this look fell out of favor with American audiences during WWII. Though it now only seats 1550, when it first opened, it held a capacity of 2000. The Redford is owned by the Motor City Theatre Organ Society, who have run operations since the 1970s, overseeing multiple preservation and renovation initiatives.
