“Black and white tones, grainy film, dramatic and intense dialogue, suspenseful action and dark themes—these are all elements of film noir, and they’ve helped the genre stay relevant and engaging 80 years after the genre’s golden age.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year is the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival, happening at the Palm Springs Cultural Center with 12 films from Thursday, May 9, through Sunday, May 12. Tickets are $14.50 per film, or $149 for a festival pass, which includes the opening night party.
“It started back with Arthur Lyons and Craig Prater and the Supples, who owned what was then the Camelot Theatre,” festival director Alan Rode said during a recent interview. “Arthur and I became friends around 2001, and I started helping him with the programming and the guests and doing film introductions. This was back in the days of having guests like Jane Russell and Tony Curtis and people like that. … Very sadly, Arthur died in 2008, and the Supples asked me to take over the festival, which I was glad to do. It was formerly known as the Palm Springs Film Noir Festival. In honor of Arthur, we changed it to the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival, and it has been named as such since 2008…”
