In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond the City

June 6–July 24, 2025

Inspired by Imogen Sara Smith’s 2011 book, In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond the City, this series focuses on film noirs set in suburbia and small towns, on the road, in the desert, and along borderlands. Smith will travel from New York City to introduce the films on the series’ opening weekend, and we will also tap Bay Area film experts David Thomson and Eddie Muller to host additional screenings.

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Alfred Hitchcock: Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
John M. Stahl: Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
Michael Curtiz: The Breaking Point (1950)
Nicholas Ray: They Live by Night (1948)
Edgar G. Ulmer: Detour (1945)
Ida Lupino: The Hitch-Hiker (1953)

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In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond the City

June 6–July 24, 2025

Member-exclusive presale begins Wednesday, May 7 at 11 AM.

Tickets for the general public go on sale Friday, May 9 at 11 AM.

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In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond the City, inspired by author, film historian, and critic Imogen Sara Smith’s book of the same title, focuses on film noirs set in suburbia and small towns, on the road, in the desert, and along borderlands. Themes of alienation and the desire for escape, autonomy, and the search for freedom permeate these films. We welcome Smith to present the four films scheduled on the series’ opening...

Join us for films that plumb the depths of emotion and reveal the dark recesses of the soul with outstanding performances, such as John Garfield and Phyllis Thaxter in Michael Curtiz’s The Breaking Point; James Mason and Joan Bennett in Max Ophuls’s searing The Reckless Moment (one of Todd Haynes’s favorite films); and Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, and Orson Welles in Touch of Evil. Other highlights include Ida Lupino’s high-tension thriller The Hitch-Hiker, Edgar G. Ulmer’s brittle classic Detour, and the standout color films Lewis Allen’s Desert Fury and John M. Stahl’s Leave Her to Heaven. We are thrilled to have secured several rare 35mm archival prints for this series.

—Susan Oxtoby, Director of Film and Senior Film Curator

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Film Series Sponsor: Jacqueline Tully

Thanks to our colleagues at the UCLA Film & Television Archive, Library of Congress, Academy Film Archive, and British Film Institute National Film Archive for making 35mm archival prints available for this series. We also thank the Film Noir Foundation for its assistance with the promotion of this series.