The theme of this year's festival is Newspaper Noir, with many of the films set in the world of newspapers, or, in some cases, publishing or radio. Come see how mid-20th-century media stacks up against today's fourth estate. We’ve made a special effort to have Noir City’s nightly double bills (two movies for the price of one!) reflect the traditional programming of theaters in the 1940s, seeking out rare, legitimate B films—shorter movies that were intentionally made to fill out the second half of a double bill. “I think this will probably be as close as you're going to get to actually going to the movies in 1948,” says Noir City denizen and host Eddie Muller.
Presented in association with KUOW 94.9 FM Public Radio, and Seattle P-I
All films in Noir City are double features! See two films for the price of one!
Buy a series pass and see all 14 Noir City films for just $50 ($35 SIFF Supporters). Click here to purchase.
Films
 | Dir. Billy Wilder, 1951, 111 min.
On its release, critics called this the most bitter, cynical, mean-spirited movie ever made. It still might hold the honor. What’s certain is how scarily prescient Wilder’s tale of media manipulation turned out to be. more |
 | Dir. John Farrow, 1949, 93 min.
This Faustian tale of soul corruption has campaigning politician Thomas Mitchell making a pact with Lucifer (Ray Milland), while succumbing to delectable devil-doll Audrey Totter. more |
 | Dir. John Farrow, 1948, 95 min.
The editor of America’s most popular true crime magazine (Ray Milland) finds himself framed for murder after tangling with his tyrannical Murdoch-like publisher, played with sinister relish by Charles Laughton. more |
 | Dir. Lewis Allen, 1949, 86 min.
Alan Ladd is a reporter obsessed with a young woman he finds dead in a cheap brothel. Connecting the dots all around Chicago, he cobbles together the sad history of a good girl (Donna Reed) gone wrong. more |
 | Dir. Joseph H. Lewis, 1953, 80 min.
We discovered this crazy “swamp noir” last year and promptly booked it for Noir City! Barry Sullivan is an LA cop hunting a Cajun fugitive back to the bayou, “assisted” by a hateful partner. more |
 | Dir. Richard Brooks, 1952, 87 min.
Noir City kicks off with one of the most exciting and elegiac movies ever made about the fourth estate. Humphrey Bogart is Ed Hutcheson, veteran editor of the New York Day, which is about to be sold to its main competitor. more |
 | Dir. Anthony Mann, 1947, 73 min.
A newlywed truck driver (Steve Brodie) is tricked into aiding a gang of robbers led by (who else?) vicious Raymond Burr. Soon he and his bride (Audrey Long) are fleeing from both the crooks and the cops. more |
 | Dir. William Castle, 1949, 76 min.
Originally entitled “Cocaine,” this is one of the first Hollywood films to focus on the drug smuggling trade. Agent Howard Duff uses paroled gangster Dan Duryea to infiltrate the dope racket—but can he trust him? more |
 | Dir. Henry Levin, 1946, 66 min.
One of Noir City’s most popular rediscoveries! A cop (William Gargan) and his married socialite lover (long and leggy Janis Carter) witness a brutal murder while necking in Lover’s Lane. more |
 | Dir. Phil Karlson, 1952, 82 min.
Broderick Crawford stars as managing editor of a scandal-mongering tabloid who murders his ex-wife, covers it up, and then—unable to resist the allure of a juicy circulation-booster—assigns his young star reporter to track down the culprit. more |
 | Dir. Joe Pevney, 1980, 80 min.
Howard Duff is terrific as an unscrupulous “Weegee”-style newspaper photographer in this slam-bang tabloid-style programmer, set entirely in 1950 San Francisco, shown in all its glory from skid row to Nob Hill. more |
 | Dir. Ray McCarey, 1946, 65 min.
From deep within the Fox vaults we have extracted this wonderfully taut but nicely complex murder mystery featuring Scandinavian screen siren Signe Hasso as one of the coldest and most calculating femme fatales of the forties! more |
 | Dir. Michael Curtiz, 1947, 103 min.
This clever murder mystery from novelist Charlotte Armstrong gets the deluxe noir treatment from director Curtiz and cameraman Woody Bredell (The Killers). more |
 | Dir. Fritz Lang, 1956, 100 min.
When the head of a media conglomerate dies, the business goes to maniac son Vincent Price who pits the top newspapermen against each other in a race to crack the story of a serial killer. more |