Arlene Dahl at Noir City 7

Hi Folks,

Well, Saturday's evening double feature with Arlene Dahl was a lot of fun. Early in the evening, there was a special reception for her in the mezzanine of the Castro Theatre. This was an opportunity for people who had bought festival passes to meet the star of the evening.

Glamorous Arlene, with her son Lorenzo, greeted fans and posed for a flurry of photographs. The reception started out calmly, but the crowd, and its excitement, quickly grew.  Down the middle of the room there was a long line of fans waiting to meet Arlene. Parallel to that, was another long line of people waiting to get to the bar. (...The noir bar that only served bourbon or vodka.) 

I was able to snap a few fuzzy pictures of Arlene, but because I didn't immediately jump into line when I first arrived, I missed my chance to meet her. That's OK because there were diehard Arlene Dahl fans in attendance who needed that time.

The first film of the evening was Wicked As They Come starring Dahl and Phillip Carey. The theatre was packed, and when "Noir Tzar" Eddie Mueller finished his introduction to the film, he said, "San Francisco, when we show a bad girl film -- you turn out in droves!" 

True.

Well, Wicked As They Come absolutely lived up to the hype. I was impressed by this movie, partly because I had watched Arlene Dahl and Phillip Carey back in the early '80's when they were both on the soap opera One Life to Live. They had great chemistry on screen. Let's hope this film makes it to DVD someday soon.

After Wicked As They Come, Eddie Mueller interviewed Arlene Dahl onstage and the crowd gave her a standing ovation.

Then it was time for the second movie on the bill, a movie quite different from the first...

Slightly Scarlet, which is considered a classic film in France, is primarily a showcase for Rhonda Fleming's bustline. When it isn't, it becomes a showcase for Arlene Dahl's legs. In the background of all of this is Escape regular Ted de Corsia, who gives a standout performance as the bad guy.  Slightly Scarlet is based on the novel Love's Lovely Counterfeit by James M. Cain, and it is available on DVD. Catch it if you get the chance!

That is all for now, more later...

Christine

Comments

[Grigs]

Noir bar...noir tsar...how did you get there? A noir car or a streetcar named noir?

[cmillinsf]

Very funny. Actually, I rented a Zipcar, but now I'll refer to it as my noir car.