What’s Playing At Coolidge Corner, Brattle Theatres This November

BROOKLINE, MA — Greater Boston’s two iconic art house cinemas - Brookline’s Coolidge Corner Theatre and Cambridge’s The Brattle Theatre - have unveiled a lineup of film noir in celebration of “Noirvember.”

"Hard-boiled antiheroes and seductive femme fatales. Haunting shadows and rain-drenched streets. Stunning black & white cinematography. All of these are among the hallmarks of film noir, a term coined by French film critics in the mid-1940s to describe the burgeoning crop of films that took a hard-edged look at moral complexities and shattered dreams of postwar life in America,” the theatres said in a news released.

All of the titles in The Brattle’s Noirvember program are celebrating their 75th anniversary this year. Offerings include heavy hitters such as "The Lady From Shanghai," "Kiss of Death," and "T-Men," a Humphrey Bogart double-feature with "Dark Passage" and "Dead Reckoning," and rare 35mm prints of "Born to Kill," “Crossfire," "Johnny O’Clock,” and "Ride the Pink Horse.”

“Celebrating film noir is a year-round effort here at The Brattle—it’s one of the genres that is most associated with our cinema and, on top of that, it’s personally one of my favorite genres,” Ned Hinkle, Creative Director of The Brattle, said in a statement. “I just can’t get enough of the double-crosses, dirty dealings, femme fatales, and jaded detectives that populate these fantastic films. It’s only natural that The Brattle would get in on the Noirvember festivities and the only mystery is why it took us 10 years to make it a regular thing."

The Coolidge lineup features some of the seminal film noirs from the ‘40s, as well as reimaginings of the genre that took place in the waning years of the 20th century. Four of the screenings,"Double Indemnity," "Out of the Past," "Devil in a Blue Dress," and “Gilda," will be preceded by Coolidge education seminars taught by local film professors.

“As the days grow darker, there’s no better time of year to gather together and learn about one the most influential genres in cinema history!” Coolidge Director of Special Programming Mark Anastasio said in a statement. "We’re really excited to offer Coolidge education seminars as part of this year’s Noirvember. With our new Community Education and Engagement Center, which is slated to open in early 2023, we’ll have even more opportunities for our audiences to learn more about this endlessly fascinating genre."

Noirvember kicks off on Monday, November 1 at the Coolidge with a 35mm screening of Billy Wilder’s "Double Indemnity." Subsequent titles include a rare 35mm screening of Kurosawa’s "Drunken Angel," a new restoration of David Lynch’s "Lost Highway," and a 35mm print of iconic ‘70s neo-noir “Chinatown.” Screenings at The Brattle kick off with "T-Men" on Friday, November 11.

A full schedule for Noirvember 2022 is listed on the Coolidge’s website at coolidge.org and The Brattle’s website at brattlefilm.org.