Perhaps Norman Bates said it best: “We all go a little mad sometimes.” And though Bates, the dangerously eccentric inheritor of his family’s motel in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic Psycho, will neither be featured nor, we hope, attending the ninth San Francisco Film Noir Festival, which opens at the Castro tomorrow, his cryptic wisdom will echo in every one of Noir City’s 24 selections.
This year’s theme? Who’s Crazy Now, celebrating two-dozen tales of stark, raving madness, all with gloriously restored 35-milimeter prints, presented over 10 nights of double features priced at an insanely reasonable $10.
As always, the festival will include a twisted mix of classic noirs and obscure, never-before-released-on-DVD gems, including: Boris Ingster’s Stranger on the Third Floor (1940), widely regarded as the first American film noir; Gaslight (1944), George Cukor’s acclaimed Victorian-era thriller, highlighted by Ingrid Bergman’s Oscar-winning performance as a bride whose aunt’s murder drives her to the brink; Cukor’s A Double Life, in which Ronald Colman plays a Broadway star flirting with lunacy; and Don’t Bother to Knock (1952), featuring Marilyn Monroe’s most inspired performance as a babysitter unhinged.
All proceeds from Noir City 9 will benefit future film restorations and preservation. For tickets and showtimes, visit the festival’s official site. To follow the Film Noir Foundation on Facebook, click here.
