Film Noir series at Winchester

Friday, March 27, 1998 | 10:28 a.m.

Film noir is the style typified by night, darkness, shadows and strange camera angles, which took a pessimistic, even paranoid, view of the new American city, focusing on crime, alienation and fear while introducing a new kind of hero who faced ultimate defeat, often by mysterious forces, with a grim resignation.

"Film Noir III" consists of five films which emphasize the woman in film noir. The series opens March 31 with "Phantom Lady" (1944) starring Franchot Tone and Ella Raines, with two film noir regulars, Thomas Gomez and Elisha Cook Jr. The film was directed by Robert Siodmak, who also directed such noirs as "Criss Cross," "The Killers" and "The File on Thelma Jordon." The "phantom lady" of the title acts by her absence as the man-destroying femme fatale typical of film noir. "Phantom Lady" is recognized as a key film of the noir style.

"The Strange Love of Martha Ivers" (1946, showing April 7, features the only true fatal woman of the series. She is played by Barbara Stanwyck. The film marked the high-profile debut of Kirk Douglas and also stars Lizabeth Scott and Van Heflin. Directed by Lewis Milestone, "Martha Ivers" is another noir classic, focusing on noir's view of the nearly absolute power of the past and the notion that we cannot escape from what we have done.

"Gilda" (1946), scheduled for April 14, stars Rita Hayworth as a woman unfairly blamed for the troubles of two men, played by Glenn Ford and George Macready. The film, directed by Charles Vidor, is remembered for Hayworth's musical number, "Put the Blame on Mame." Another essential noir film, set in Rio, it helped build Hayworth's international mystique.

"The Reckless Moment" (1949), scheduled for April 21, is the rare film noir focusing on a woman protagonist. It stars James Mason and Joan Bennett, with Bennett as an upper middle-class mother suddenly enmeshed in killings and blackmail. In "The Reckless Moment," the floor suddenly opens under a tidy, ordered existence to reveal the horror of the ever-present noir universe. The film was directed by Max Ophuls.

The Final film on April 28 is "In a Lonely Place" (1950, directed by Nicholas Ray. Hymphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame, two classic noir actors, play mature adults whose love is destroyed by suspicion against the backdrop of cynical Hollywood.

The series is presented by Clark County Parks and Recreation's Cultural Affairs Division. Winchester Community Center is at 3130 S. McLeod Drive, just north of Desert Inn Road. For more information, call 455-7340.