NOIR CITY: Murder by Contract & Smog » The Colonial Theatre

NOIR CITY: Murder by Contract & Smog

Noir City: Philadelphia
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    NOIR CITY, the most popular film noir festival in the world, returns to the Colonial Theatre.  Join us for a 3-day extravaganza featuring 10 films with the theme “Darkness Has No Borders.”Eddie Muller has curated all the films and paired them for specific reasons. Eddie will reveal that reason at the event. 

    “This year’s NOIR CITY program is tailored to satisfy folks who love noir that’s full of the colorful vernacular slang so essential to American and British noir—as well as adventurous viewers intrigued by a familiar story–a crime committed for passion or profit—playing out in cultures with different values, mores, and styles.” —Eddie Muller

    Purchase a double feature ticket using the button to the left or an individual ticket to either Never Open That Door or Street of Chance using the buttons below.

    SINGLE TICKET FOR MURDER BY CONTRACTSINGLE TICKET FOR SMOG

    MURDER BY CONTRACT
    Cold, ruthless New Yorker Claude (Vince Edwards) has no prospects—so he decides to stake his place in the world as a contract killer—but when he’s sent to sunny Los Angeles to off a gangland witness, a sudden case of “ethics” could prove fatal. A low-budget gem (shot by veteran DP Lucien Ballard in only seven days) featuring a strangely hypnotic pace and haunting musical theme by guitarist Perry Botkin. A personal favorite of Martin Scorsese who’s admitted this film’s stylistic influence on Taxi Driver.

    UNITED STATES (1958) Dir. Irving Lerner. 81 min. DCP.

    SMOG
    A strange, spellbinding, and singular cinematic experience. Vittorio, a conservative and bourgeois Italian attorney (Enrico Maria Salerno), has a day to waste in Los Angeles while in transit to Mexico City. After making his first mistake—walking—Vittorio is absorbed into the orbit of a group of sexy and slightly sinister Italian ex-pats hustling to survive in modern America. Presaging later works such as Scorsese’s After Hours and Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, this is an astounding rediscovery, gorgeously restored by UCLA Film & Television Archive. In Italian and English, with English subtitles.

    ITALY (1962) Franco Rossi. 104 min. DCP.

    Event Schedule

    5:30 PM                             Doors Open

    6:00 PM                            Murder by Contract

    7:20-7:30 PM                 Intermission*

    7:30 PM                             Smog

    *times are approximate. 

    Ticket Prices

    Double Feature Members: $30.00
    Double Features General Admission*: $40.00
    Single Feature Ticket Members: $20.00
    Single Feature Ticket General Admission*: $25.00

    *Please note that all non-member ticket prices include a $5.00 processing fee.

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