2017 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival Opens in Palm Springs on May 11th

The 2017 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival opens in Palm Springs, California, on Thursday, May 11th.

The festival runs through Sunday, May 14th. All festival screenings take place at the Camelot Theatres located at 2300 East Baristo Road in Palm Springs.

I attended the 2015 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival and had a fantastic time. I had to miss it last year as it coincided with our son's college graduation, but I'll be back in Palm Springs to cover this year's festival!

In 2015 I especially enjoyed the way the festival mixed plenty of movies with a relaxed, convivial atmosphere. No need to stand in lines to get into the movies, and there's plenty of time to eat between films; restaurants are just blocks away.

There are also interviews with notable special guests, and film introductions are provided by top film noir experts.

Alan K. Rode of the Film Noir Foundation is the festival's producer and host. Additionally, some of the movies at the festival will be introduced by the Film Noir Foundation's Eddie Muller and Foster Hirsch.

The festival opens on Thursday evening, May 11th, with a screening of HOLLOW TRIUMPH (1948), also known as THE SCAR, starring Paul Henreid and Joan Bennett.

Monika Henreid, Paul's daughter, will be the festival's opening night guest. I saw Monika interviewed last year at a Noir City screening of DECEPTION (1946), and she was an interesting and knowledgeable speaker about her father's career.

Friday's slate of four movies starts off with THE CHASE (1946) at 10:00 a.m. THE CHASE is a terrific film starring Robert Cummings and Michele Morgan, seen at left, along with Steve Cochran and Peter Lorre.

Next up is Anthony Mann's moving SIDE STREET (1950), starring Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell.

SIDE STREET is followed by Broderick Crawford in ALL THE KING'S MEN (1949), which I've not seen before. John Ireland, Joanne Dru, and Mercedes McCambridge costar. ALL THE KING'S MEN won Best Picture as well as Oscars for Crawford and McCambridge and a nomination for Ireland.

The evening concludes with what might be my favorite Dan Duryea film, BLACK ANGEL (1946), costarring June Vincent and Peter Lorre. Duryea is superb in a heartbreaking role. His son Richard will be the evening's guest. I've also heard Richard speak at a past event and look forward to hearing more stories about his legendary father.

Saturday morning starts off with SPLIT SECOND (1953), directed by Dick Powell and starring Stephen McNally and Alexis Smith. I've never seen that one and especially look forward to it.

The second film of the day will be Paul Lukas in ADDRESS UNKNOWN (1944), a cautionary tale about Nazis and the dangers of "going along to get along" which I saw a few weeks ago at the Noir City Film Festival.

The day continues with the "jazz noir" MEET DANNY WILSON (1951), starring Frank Sinatra, Shelley Winters, Alex Nicol, and Raymond Burr. I really enjoy this film, which mixes a number of Sinatra standards into the story.

Saturday night concludes with a screening of CHARLEY VARRICK (1973), starring Walter Matthau and Felicia Farr. Costar Andrew Robinson will be in attendance that evening. I saw Robinson on stage with James Whitmore in THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER circa 1980 so it's rather fun to be able to see him again in person so many years later.

The festival draws to a close with a three-film day on Sunday, kicking off with another favorite of mine, Anthony Mann's DESPERATE (1947), starring Steve Brodie and the wonderful Audrey Long, seen at left.

Sunday afternoon there's another special treat: Boris Karloff's daughter Sara will be present for a screening of THE BODY SNATCHER (1945), starring her father and Bela Lugosi, directed by Robert Wise.

The festival wraps up late Sunday afternoon with NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950), starring Richard Widmark and Gene Tierney, directed by Jules Dassin.

Please visit the festival website for additional information and tickets.

I strongly encourage my fellow classic film fans to make the trek out to the desert for a long weekend of film noir; a great time is guaranteed!

Update: The 2017 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Review.