Music Box Theatre celebrates the darker side of life with Noir City: Chicago

CHICAGO (CBS) -- What do you get when you combine the appearance of a fortune teller, a lonesome cowboy, coupled with shady lawyers, a few criminals on the run, police investigations with Chicago reporters, and a glamorous femme fatale?

They're some of the characters movie lovers will see at this year's Noir City: Chicago film festival, opening Friday at the Music Box Theatre and hosted by the Film Noir Foundation. The event celebrates the cinematic film noir movement, exploring the dark corners of urban America in the post-war period.

Noir City events are held in the Bay Area, Boston, D.C., Chicago, Detroit, Hollywood, New York, and Philadelphia. This year's theme is movies from 1948.

"That was really the high point of the post-World War II film noir movement. And it really made itself known in Hollywood, even though it was kind of an organic type of thing," according to the author, film scholar, and Film Noir Foundation board member Alan Rode. 

Two of the 18 movies to be screened, "Chicago Deadline" and "Call Northside 777," center around Windy City reporters and investigations surrounding murders and alleged suspects. 

Rode, who'll introduce "Chicago Deadline" and a slate of other "Noir City: Chicago" movies, said the city is a perfect place for noir stories.

"I think Chicago has a rich tradition of being a great petri dish for film noir, based on the history of the city and the background and the colorful characters that came out of all that. What other city could have Carl Sandburg, Al Capone, and Mayor Richard J. Daley in the same century," Rode said.

This year, the Film Noir Foundation is celebrating films from 1948, and while those movies were made decades ago, many of their themes are still around today.

"Once you get past those accouterments of the culture of the times of 75 years ago, I think you get back to the basic human condition of greed, lust, larceny, betrayal, love, striving, and finding out that wanting is often a better thing than having," Rode said.

He added, "I think there's a definite connectivity with those basic human traits and emotions and foibles. Because I think as much as technology has changed our lives and in modern life, and 2023 bears little resemblance in many ways to 1948. I think people essentially have not changed that much."  

While the film festival showcases noir actors, cinematographers, and stories, it's also a fundraiser for the Film Noir Foundation, which, to date, has saved 37 movies through its restoration efforts.

"It's a celebration of cinema. And I think people who are first-timers will feel very welcome. It's a very collegial, friendly environment. Because everyone's there, essentially, to enjoy these movies."

Noir City: Chicago runs at the Music Box Theatre from August 25 through August 31. TCM Host Eddie Muller opens the festival on Friday and will be on hand to sign his latest book "Noir Bar." Rode will host films beginning Monday, August 28th, and sign copies of his new book "Blood on the Moon" as well as introduce the Western noir of the same title on August 30. Check out the Music Box's website for films and times. 

In:
• Chicago
• Film Preservation