Six movies over five nights will bring stylistic crime cinema to central Illinois with Peoria’s 9th annual Film Noir Festival starting Oct. 14 at downtown Peoria’s nonprofit Apollo Theater.
The setting for the motion pictures this fall is Los Angeles, but the movies run the gamut with the broad genre of film noir, the dark, mostly black-and-white crime dramas with doom and gloom, femme fatales and anti-heroes, and regular people who get in trouble before things get worse.
The schedule –
Friday, Oct. 14: “Kiss Me Deadly” (1955) with Ralph Meeker as Mike Hammer, involved with a mystery woman, a conspiracy against a scientist, and radioactive material. (Journalist and WIU professor Bill Knight will introduce.)
Saturday, Oct. 15: The Peoria Public Library’s main location downtown will have a free showing of “Murder My Sweet” (1944) with Dick Powell as Raymond Chandler’s great detective hero Philip Marlowe at 3:00 p.m.
That night at 7:00, the Apollo will show “L.A. Confidential” (1997), starring Kevin Spacey and Russell Crowe in a color noir about corruption in Hollywoodland. (Journalist and Apollo board president Steve Tarter will introduce.)
Friday, Oct. 21: “Mildred Pierce” (1945) stars Joan Crawford and a supporting cast ranging from Jack Carson, Zachary Scott and Eve Arden to Ann Blythe, Moroni Olson and Butterfly McQueen in a melancholy melodrama about an obsessive woman, based on a James M. Cain novel. (ICC professor Craig Shurtleff will introduce.)
Saturday, Oct. 22 (double feature): “Quicksand” (1950) stars Mickey Rooney and Peter Lorre in a story about an ordinary working man who makes a minor mistake that cascades into increasingly disastrous circumstances beyond his control; and “This Gun for Hire” (1942), starring Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake and Robert Preston in a tale of a disturbed assassin mixed up with a interesting woman and Nazis, based on a Graham Greene novel. (Local historian and author Norm Kelly will introduce.)
Except for the Saturday afternoon matinee, all shows are at the Apollo, where show times are at 7:00 p.m. Donations are $5 and $4 for kids, students and seniors. For details call (309) 673-4343.