THE MAN WHO CHEATED HIMSELF

A veteran San Francisco homicide cop (Lee J. Cobb) spirals into a moral morass when his married socialite lover (Jane Wyatt, in a rare fatale role) "accidentally" bumps off her husband. Instead of playing it by the book (would that be noir?), he covers up the crime, only to have his younger brother (John Dall) - a rookie homicide dick - start putting together the pieces. This James M. Cain-style thriller gets maximum impact from its San Francisco locations, including a memorable climax at Fort Point. (Note courtesy of Film Noir Foundation.) DIR Felix E. Feist; SCR Philip MacDonald, Seton I. Miller; PROD Jack Warner, Jr. U.S., 1950, b&w, 81 min. NOT RATED
New DCP restoration courtesy of the Film Noir Foundation, UCLA Film & Television Archive and Flicker Alley

Followed by: 

ROADBLOCK (1951) 

After several years playing either tenacious cops or cruel torpedoes, supporting actor Charles McGraw was elevated to leading-man status by RKO boss Howard Hughes, becoming the studio's B-unit version of Robert Mitchum. Nobody could clip off tough-guy dialogue like McGraw. In this prototypical noir, he finally reveals a soft center, as an insurance investigator who goes crooked trying to satisfy an avaricious dame (Joan Dixon). An unjustly overlooked classic "B." (Note courtesy of Film Noir Foundation.) DIR Harold Daniels; SCR Steve Fisher, George Bricker; PROD Lewis J. Rachmil. U.S., 1951, b&w, 73 min. NOT RATED

Saturday, October 20th at 11:00am

Tuesday, October 23rd at 7:30pm

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