The 2021 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Review

I'm back from the 21st Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Palm Springs!

After over a year and a half without any film festivals, it was almost surreal to attend not one but two festivals this month! The Lone Pine Film Festival back to back with the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival was a classic film fan's dream come true.

A dozen movies were shown at the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival between Thursday evening and Sunday afternoon; some were shown in 35mm and others were digital prints. I found the movies to be a great mix of new discoveries and old favorites. It was also a wonderful opportunity to catch up with friends in person!

This was my fifth time to attend the Arthur Lyons Festival. In addition to enjoying the festival itself, it was terrific to be back in Palm Springs. We visited some favorite restaurants for the first time in two and a half years and also tried out some new places. We also had a great experience staying somewhere new, which might get a post of its own!

The Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival was once again programmed and hosted by Alan K. Rode, who did his usual fantastic job bringing together a wonderful collection of films and special guests. He's seen below outside the Palm Springs Cultural Center's Camelot Theatres on a beautiful Friday morning. (Click on this or any photo to enlarge it for a closer look.)

The Film Noir Foundation's Eddie Muller was back this year to introduce some of the films as well as sign copies of his books.

Also on hand for the weekend were Max Steiner biographer Steven C. Smith, seen here discussing THE BIG SLEEP (1946) with Alan Rode...

...and director Richard Fleischer's son Mark, who chatted with Alan Rode Saturday night after a screening of his father's film VIOLENT SATURDAY (1955).

Dana Andrews' daughter Susan was the special guest on opening night to celebrate her father with a screening of WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS (1950), costarring Gene Tierney. Here's Susan with a marvelous poster from the film:

And here's Susan again with another special guest, Victoria Mature, the daughter of film noir star Victor Mature:

Victoria introduced her father's film THE LONG HAUL (1957) on Sunday afternoon.

After WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS there was a very enjoyable chat between Alan and Susan.

Susan shared that she had never seen WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS from start to finish, as she had avoided watching her father playing a "bad guy." She was delighted to discover that she loved the movie!  (I very much enjoyed revisiting it myself, having previously seen it at the 2017 Noir City Film Festival.)

Before introducing the final film on Sunday, Alan Rode announced that the festival will return to Palm Springs in May 2022.  I highly recommend attending, as another wonderful weekend in the dark is guaranteed!

During the festival I provided ongoing Twitter updates using the hashtag #ArthurLyonsFilmNoirFestival. In the near future I'll be providing overviews of each day of the festival here at my blog, along with reviews of the new-to-me films.

As usual, I'll be adding the links for this year's coverage below so that all of my festival coverage may be easily found in one place.

Additional Festival Posts: 2021 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival Opens in Palm Springs October 21st; Off to Palm Springs!; Tonight's Movie: The Cruel Tower (1956) at the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival; Tonight's Movie: Angels With Dirty Faces (1938) at the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival; Tonight's Movie: Violent Saturday (1955) at the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival; The Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival: Looking Forward and Back.

Related post: A Visit to Old Ranch Inn.

Coverage of previous Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festivals: The 2015 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Review; The 2017 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Review; The 2018 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Review; The 2019 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Review.

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.

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