The 2017 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Review

This weekend my husband and I had a wonderful time at the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Palm Springs, California.

This was my second time attending the festival, which I first attended in 2015. I missed last year due to our son's college graduation, and I was very happy to be back in sunny Palm Springs this year for a dark weekend of film noir.

A dozen films were screened at the Camelot Theatres between Thursday evening and Sunday afternoon, all but one in 35mm. The Camelot is a wonderful venue, with a huge screen -- and all films properly masked, an increasing rarity these days -- and comfortable new seating.

Take a look at the terrific titles in the schedule program:

Click on the photos to enlarge them for a closer look.

There's additional info on the films, including links to past reviews of some titles, in last month's preview post.

Alan K. Rode of the Film Noir Foundation is the festival's producer and host. As has been the case in the past, some of the weekend's introductions were delivered by Alan's Film Noir Foundation colleagues, Eddie Muller and Foster Hirsch.

Here's a shot of Alan and Eddie outside the Camelot:

The weekend's special guests were Monika Henreid, daughter of Paul Henreid; actor Andy Robinson; and Sara Karloff, daughter of Boris Karloff. Dan Duryea's son Richard had to cancel due to illness, and our best wishes are with him.

On Sunday afternoon I snapped this photo of Eddie and Alan with Monika (left), Sara (right), and Victor Mature's daughter Victoria (center), who was there simply to enjoy the movies. All of the ladies were delightful!

A side note for those who may be thinking about attending the festival in the future: This year we stayed at a different hotel, the Courtyard by Marriott, which coincidentally was the festival's official hotel. It was even closer to the theater than the Best Western Plus Las Brisas where we've enjoyed staying in the past. The Marriott's landscaping is less resort-like than the Las Brisas, but we had a good experience there, and you can't beat the proximity to the festival. Based on my experiences, either hotel is a good option.

During the festival I Tweeted extensively, using the hashtag #ArthurLyonsFilmNoirFestival. Check out the hashtag for coverage of the festival as it unfolded, including numerous photos. For those considering making the trip in a future year, there are also recommendations of things to see and places to eat in the Palm Springs area.

In the coming days I'll be posting overviews of each day's screenings and guest appearances, as well as share photos of a couple of short side trips we took in the area.

I'll also have separate reviews of four new-to-me films seen at the festival. Additionally, I'll have a post on HOLLOW TRIUMPH (1948), aka THE SCAR, combining an account of the opening night screening and interview with Monika Henreid with a review of the new Blu-ray from Kino.

As the posts go up I'll be adding the links to the end of this post so that all of my festival coverage may be easily found in one place.

Additional Festival Posts: 2017 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival Opens in Palm Springs on May 11th; Tonight's Movie: Hollow Triumph (1948) at the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival (Plus Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review!); The 2017 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival: Friday; Tonight's Movie: All the King's Men (1949) at the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival; The 2017 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival: Saturday; The 2017 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival: Sunday; Tonight's Movie: Split Second (1953) at the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival; Tonight's Movie: Charley Varrick (1973) at the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival.

Related posts: A Visit to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway; A Visit to Desert Memorial Park.

Previously: The 2015 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Review.

As I wrote last night, the festival was wonderful from start to finish, and I'm delighted I was able to attend. I highly recommend the experience. See you there in 2018!

Sincere thanks to Alan K. Rode and the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival for providing an All Access Pass to help facilitate my festival coverage.