PITFALL / JEALOUSY

April 20th at 7:30pm

NOIR CITY: HOLLYWOOD – THE 20th ANNUAL LOS ANGELES FESTIVAL OF FILM NOIR
Double Feature!

Presented by the American Cinematheque and the Film Noir Foundation.
Introduction by Eddie Muller of the Film Noir Foundation.

35 mm!
70th Anniversary!

PITFALL
1948, Paramount, 86 min, USA, Dir: André de Toth
Enjoy an adult dose of SoCal suburban angst as Dick Powell’s by-the-book insurance man, dissatisfied with his dead-end job and humdrum wife (Jane Wyatt), indulges an extramarital dalliance with tough-luck model Lizabeth Scott. Who will make him pay for his indiscretion? The thuggish private eye (creepy Raymond Burr) who has his own designs on Liz? Her jealous boyfriend, about to be sprung from prison? Or his own steel-spined spouse? Come see who survives the guilt-sodden affair, a remarkable and vastly undervalued noir masterpiece.

35 mm!
Not on DVD!

JEALOUSY
1945, Republic, 71 min, USA, Dir: Gustav Machatý
A perky female cabbie (Jane Randolph) gets embroiled in a dangerous triangle involving her suicidal writer husband (Nils Asther) and an aloof, high-toned doctor (John Loder) who takes a shine to her. Director Machatý, known for the scandalous 1933 ECSTASY, concocts a dreamy, off-kilter tale that touches all the tropes of “B” passion plays while also depicting the displacement of European artists adrift in sunbaked Hollywood. Part bargain-basement loopiness, part experimental art film … and, not surprisingly, the last film the artistically inclined Machatý made in America. Featuring Karen Morley (at her best!) and Hugo Haas.
35mm preservation print of PITFALL courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive. 35mm print of JEALOUSY courtesy of the British Film Institute.