Inverness Film Fans season offers film noir season at Eden Court cinema stuffed with classics – including Double Indemnity, The Killers and Criss Cross
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EDEN Court’s cinema is set to feel a little darker than usual next month with the start of InFiFa’s next film season.
The Inverness film collective will be screening a series of classic film noirs at the city cinema and theatre – Double Indemnity, Criss Cross and two versions of The Killers (from 1946 and 1964).
Influenced by the German expressionist movement of the early 20th century, film noir as a style of cinema is known for its tinges of melodrama, cynicism and sexual motivations.
Hardboiled detectives and ordinary Joes clashing with femme fatales, ruthless mob bosses and an unfeeling world.
The films screening as part of this season are as follows:
Double Indemnity (PG) – Monday, September 2
Billy Wilder’s 1944 film noir, co-written by Wilder and Raymond Chandler, stars Fred MacMurray as an insurance salesman, Barbara Stanwyck as a provocative housewife who wishes her husband were dead, and Edward G. Robinson as a claims adjuster whose job is to find phony claims.
The term "double indemnity" refers to a clause in certain life insurance policies that doubles the payout in rare cases when death is caused accidentally.
Widely regarded as a classic, it is often cited as having set the standard for the films that followed in that genre.
The Killers (1946) (PG) – Monday, September 16
Two professional killers invade a small town and kill a gas station attendant, "the Swede," (played by Burt Lancaster in his debut film) who's expecting them.
Insurance investigator Reardon (Edmond O’Brien) pursues the case against the orders of his boss, who considers it trivial.
Weaving together threads of the Swede's life, Reardon uncovers a complex tale of treachery and crime, all linked with gorgeous, mysterious Kitty Collins (Ava Gardner).
Criss Cross (PG) – Monday, September 30
The seedier side of 1940s Los Angeles makes a fitting noir background for this film starring Burt Lancaster as the lovelorn hero, Steve, foolish enough to go back to his ex-wife Anna (an excellent Yvonne de Carlo) who has since taken up with a bunch of hoodlums headed by the sinister Dan Duryea.
Steve commits himself to a dangerous course of action that quickly takes everyone somewhere unintended…
The Killers (1964) (18) – Monday, October 14
The same basic plot as the 1944 film, this time looking at the story from the viewpoint of the ageing hitman Charlie Strom (a terrific Lee Marvin), who's eager to know why their victim (John Cassavetes) didn't attempt to escape, and his psychopathic, hero-worshiping assistant (Clu Gulager).
Tickets for each screening cost £7.50 and are available from www.eden-court.co.uk
For more information, go to http://www.invernessfilmfans.org/
