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Bristol-based Film Noir UK presents two post-Christmas double bills of British premieres
Launched in 2021 by the people who brought you South West Silents, Bristol-based Film Noir UK is the first national organisation to celebrate the world of noir, showcasing the best examples of the genre from the 1940s and 1950s. And they’ve got a real post-Christmas treat in store for local noir enthusiasts in the form of two double bills of recently restored Argentinian classics, making their UK premieres.
The Beast Must Die. Credit: Film Noir Foundation
First up on December 27 are The Beast Must Die (1952) and The Bitter Stems (1956). Finally showing in the UK 70 years after its release and not to be confused with the 1974 Brit horror flick of the same title, The Beast Must Die is a dark thriller about a mystery writer whose son is killed in a hit-and-run. Determined to seek justice, our hero adopts a new identity and sets out to track down the culprit. Hailed as one of the best noirs of the 1950s, Fernando Ayala’s The Bitter Stems has a dissatisfied Buenos Aires newspaperman teaming up with a clever Hungarian refugee to establish a bogus correspondence school, which succeeds beyond their wildest dreams but sets in motion a train of events that eventually leads to tragedy.
Two days later, on December 29, The Black Vampire is teamed with Jacques Tourner’s Val Lewton-produced The Leopard Man. A virtually unknown 1953 remake of Fritz Lang’s M by Argentine director Román Viñoly Barreto, The Black Vampire casts Olga Zubarry as a cabaret performer trying to protect her young daughter from a mysterious murderer while parrying the advances of the prosecutor pursuing the killer. The Leopard Man, Tourneur’s New Mexico-based thriller from the golden age of RKO, is a skilful blend of horror and noir in which a supposedly tame leopard escapes from a nightclub, whereupon young girls start to perish . . . in ‘orrible ways.
is needed now More than ever
Olga Zubarry in The Black Vampire. Credit: Film Noir Foundation
“I’m really excited to be bringing these incredible new restorations of these rare Argentinian thrillers to the UK and especially to Bristol; the home of Film Noir UK,” says Film Noir UK’s co-director James Harrison. “Plans are already afoot to bring more of these rarities to our screens so do watch this space.”
Both double bills are showing at the Watershed, presented by Film Noir UK as part of the BFI’s epic In Dreams are Monsters season. Advance tickets are available here.
Main image: The Bitter Stems. Credit: Film Noir Foundation.
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