Watch Fate on the rampage in noirs

Trouble is going my way

FATE TORTURING THE WORKING STIFF is a subset of film noir and includes Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) Scarlet Street (1945) D.O.A. (1945) Quicksand (1950) Kansas City Confidential (1952) The Hitch-Hiker (1953) and 99 River Street (1953)

What made the real-life story surrounding Quicksand both poignant and ironic was working stiffs,  director  Irving Pichel, and musical composer Louis Gruenberg, were blacklisted after it and one of the lead actors, Peter Lorre, was bankrupted by bankrolling it.

The full story about the behind-the-scenes turmoil of Quicksand is yet to be told. It cries out to be turned into a film noir directed by Martin Scorsese or the Coen Brothers.

30 Free Films Noir Emerge from the Dark Past

Welcome to your personal cinema

LET's venture back in time to the suburban cinema of 70 and 80 years ago.

        The seats are long rows of canvas industrially stapled to wooden supports. Your bottom finds the seats comfortable though they are unappealing to your eye.

        The projectionist, perched above in his booth, shines the reels of film onto the screen. For one silver coin, you will be treated to a newsreel of drama and comedy, a serial with a cliff-hanging ending, and two feature films. Black and white films, of course. Both noir.

        In 15 screenings, I will discuss 30 noir films, all in the public domain. All free to view.