Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival

Founded in 2000 by the local writer, noir enthusiast, and former Palm Springs City Council Member, Arthur Lyons, the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival now draws Film Noir enthusiasts to Palm Springs from cities throughout Southern California, nationwide, from Canada, and even from Great Britain.

The Palm Springs Cultural Center took the Festival over after Arthur died to ensure that the Festival could continue as a local cultural event. We renamed the event in Arthur’s honor and brought in Alan K. Rode to program, curate and direct it.

Known in the world of Noir for showing the very best of rare Noir classics, the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival is a favorite for fans of this genre. This Festival is one of several in the United States focused on this uniquely American Art Form. The festival regularly screens hard to find films that are not available anywhere else, and draws Film Noir enthusiasts from all over the country.

Film Schedule:

10:00 AM: The Scarlet Claw (1944) Universal/Paramount, 74 min. D: Roy William Neill. Definitely the most noir-influenced and gothic of the Sherlock Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce that became preeminent on American theater screens during World War II. The game’s afoot as a series of gruesome murders in a small Quebec village are ascribed to a supernatural monster with Holmes (Rathbone) and Watson (Bruce) proceeding to unravel a seemingly baffling case amid numerous plot twists. With: Gerald Hamer, Paul Cavanagh and Miles Mander.

1:00 PM: Border Incident (1949) MGM/Warner Bros. 94 min. D: Anthony Mann. Mexican and American federal agents (Ricardo Montalban and George Murphy) go undercover to foil a vicious smuggling ring exploiting Mexican farm workers in Southern California. An uncompromisingly stark film is highlighted by brilliant day for night photography by legendary DOP John Alton. Memorable performances by Montalban, James Mitchell, Howard Da Silva, Arnold Moss, Alfonso Bedoya and a merciless Charles McGraw.

Scheduled special guest: author Luis Reyes. Viva Hollywood: The Legacy of Latin and Hispanic Artists in American Film.

4:00 PM: No Man of Her Own (1950) Paramount, 98 min. D; Mitchell Leisen. Barbara Stanwyck stars as an impoverished woman who is dumped by her heel of a boyfriend (Lyle Bettger) after he discovers she’s pregnant. A desperate Babs assumes the identity of a wealthy railroad crash victim, settling in with the deceased’s well-to-do family until…. Adapted from Cornell Woolrich’s short story “They Call Me Patrice” later published as the novel I Married A Dead Man under the pseudonym of William Irish, this cinematic Woolrich fever dream is dominated by Stanwyck whose initial vulnerability morphs into murderous deceit. Co-starring John Lund, Jane Cowl and Phyllis Thaxter. Scripted by Sally Benson and Catherine Turney (Mildred Pierce, A Stolen Life, Of Human Bondage).

7:30 PM: Across the Bridge (1957) The Rank Organization, 103 min. D: Ken Annakin. A German born British millionaire (Rod Steiger) turns embezzler and flees via train to Mexico after his malfeasance is discovered. Along the way, he switches his identity with another passenger resulting in much more than he ever bargained for. Adapted from Graham Greene’s 1938 short story, this inexplicably overlooked picture is highlighted by Steiger’s gut-wrenching, tour de force performance and is capped by a mind-blowing finale. Director Ken Annakin (The Longest Day, Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines) said this was his favorite and best film. With: David Knight, Bernard Lee, Noel Willman, Maria Landi and Dolores.

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