Programmed September 2023

Noir by Gaslight

The moody glow of the Victorian-era gas lamp suffuses these diabolical period thrillers that wring maximum atmosphere from their turn-of-the-century settings. Though noir is typically associated with the fedoras, trench coats, and hard-boiled slang of the postwar era, its style and themes—shadow-carved chiaroscuro lighting, dark motivations, and ill-fated characters—proved deliciously effective when applied to crime melodramas set in the late nineteenth century. With their mysterious mansions, rain-slicked cobblestone streets, and tales of (usually) female protagonists embroiled in danger and romance, these films—including triumphs of style and mood by noir greats like Robert Siodmak ( The Suspect ), John Brahm ( Hangover Square ), and Jacques Tourneur ( Experiment Perilous )—offer up gothic pleasures galore.