The Cinematheque

“I like the American films noir better than anything.”

Jean-Pierre Melville

Forget the sunscreen. Film noir returns to The Cinematheque this summer for another lucifugous season of hard-bitten American crime fiction from arguably Hollywood’s most distinctive—and inarguably most misanthropic—chapter of moviemaking. This year’s lineup of eight shadow-steeped works were all forged in the canonical period of noir’s 1940s and ​’50s golden age; save for perennial favourite Pickup on South Street, all stem from the archetypal first decade of the cycle. Half of the films screen in stunning new digital restorations, with a refurbished Gilda, that pinnacle of prestige postwar noir, arriving on the back of a buzzy Cannes Classics premiere to mark the centenary of Columbia Pictures. Lauren Bacall also rings in the big 100, and her first Bogie match-up To Have and Have Not is one of four peak-caliber titles joining our roster for the first time ever (The Man I Love, T‑Men, and White Heat are the others)—a testament to the expansiveness of the noir catalogue and our audience’s insatiable appetite, year after year, for more!

Speaking of more: Threaded throughout our core program is a sidebar exploring the reach of American noir on international cinema, as well as a pair of Jean-Luc Godard pictures (part of our year-long ​“JLG Forever” series) underscoring the imprint of noir on the immortal auteur. Anthony Mann’s nocturnal 1947 procedural T‑Men, a veritable noir style-guide whose historical absence from our series we’re only too eager to put right, will also screen at The Cinematheque’s 2024 Open House (August 10) in a noir-themed ​“Deep Focus” presented by our crackerjack Learning & Outreach crew.

Before the opening-night screening of Gilda, gussy up for our annual courtyard shindig featuring vinyl jazz, cold brews, tasty treats, and the latest crop of noir swag.

Opening Night August 1 (Thursday)
6:00 pm – Courtyard Shindig
6:45 pm – Gilda
9:00 pm – Le samouraï