The 2026 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival Schedule

The Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival returns to Palm Springs in May!

This year's festival opens on Thursday evening, May 7th, and runs through Friday afternoon, May 10th.

The festival takes place at the Palm Springs Cultural Center, formerly known as the Camelot Theatres, located at 2300 E. Baristo Road.

Passes are now on sale for the festival, which will feature a dozen movies.

The festival is programmed and hosted by Alan K. Rode. It will feature a mix of 35mm prints and digital screenings; some of the digital films shown will be world premiere restorations.

Rode's guests this year will be authors Scott Eyman and Kirk Ellis, along with Wyatt McCrea, the grandson of Joel McCrea and Frances Dee.

Here's the 2026 lineup:

Opening night on May 7th will feature a world premiere digital restoration of SLIGHTLY SCARLET (1956) starring John Payne, Arlene Dahl, and Rhonda Fleming. I haven't seen this since a "California Noir" series at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art many years ago and I'm excited to see it again, and in a great print.

Friday starts with an all-star cast in the British film HELL DRIVERS (1957), a great roller coaster ride of a movie.

That's followed by the world premiere digital restoration of Craig Stevens in GUNN (1967), a big-screen spinoff of Stevens' PETER GUNN (1958-61) TV series,

Next is a 35mm print of CITY GIRL (1938), a "B" film which I enjoyed seeing at Cinecon last fall. It stars Phyllis Brooks and Ricardo Cortez.

Friday wraps up with BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967). At the screening Kirk Ellis will be signing his new book THEY KILL PEOPLE: BONNIE AND CLYDE, A HOLLYWOOD REVOLUTION, AND AMERICA'S OBSESSION WITH GUNS AND OUTLAWS, published by the University of New Mexico Press.

I'm excited to see the world premiere digital restoration of MANHANDLED (1949) Saturday morning, May 9th. I've never seen it, and it stars Sterling Hayden, Dan Duryea, and Dorothy Lamour.

Next I'm looking forward to seeing Val Lewton's I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943) theatrically for the first time. Guest Wyatt McCrea will talk about his grandmother, Frances Dee, who stars. She's seen in this still with costar Tom Conway.

I've never seen THE MOB (1951), which stars Broderick Crawford and Richard Kiley; Kiley's a favorite of mine so this is yet another title I'm excited to see. It will be shown in 35mm.

Saturday concludes with one of Joan Crawford's very best films, THE DAMNED DON'T CRY (1950), which like SLIGHTLY SCARLET I saw many years ago at the L.A. County Museum of Art. Crawford biographer Scott Eyman will be on hand signing his new book JOAN CRAWFORD: A WOMAN'S FACE from Simon & Schuster.

Sunday, May 10th, will start with Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Sullivan in a 35mm print of LET US LIVE (1939), which I recall from a Noir City Hollywood screening over a decade ago.

The day continues with John McCallum and Googie Withers in the British "kitchen sink noir" IT ALWAYS RAINS ON SUNDAY (1947).

The final film of the day, and the festival, is the hard-hitting NO WAY OUT (1950) with Richard Widmark, Sidney Poitier, Stephen McNally, and Linda Darnell.

It promises to be another great series! For more information on the movies, tickets, and more, please visit the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival website and ticketing page.

For a look at past Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival coverage, please visit these links: 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.

I hope to see some of my readers in Palm Springs in May!

Tweet