Noir City Double Feature

It was so crowded for the Noir City double feature at the Castro Theatre on Saturday that I ended up sitting in the balcony. I was curious to see the 1949 version of The Great Gatsby, with Alan Ladd in the title role. Alan K. Rode introduced the movie & interviewed David Ladd, Alan Ladd's son, after the screening. Mr. Ladd accurately described the movie as a "simplistic" re-telling of the novel & averred that it wasn't as bad as he remembered. It was a financial failure and never shown on TV or released on DVD. A bright spot is the casting of Shelley Winters as Myrtle, though her character is reduced to a cameo. The audience laughed at the crude process shot showing her being run over. The director's daughter, Nancy Nugent, was present in the audience.

I enjoyed the 2nd feature, Three Strangers, more. John Huston has a script credit. The O'Henry-like plot involves 3 London strangers whose lives intersect during Chinese New Year. Each owns a share of a winning racing ticket, & 2 out of the 3 behave badly. The movie has good performances by Sydney Greenstreet, Geraldine Fitzgerald and Peter Lorre, who is cast against type as a loveable, Shakespeare-quoting alcoholic.

§ Noir City

The Great Gatsby
1949, Paramount [Universal], 91 min.

Three Strangers
1946, Warner Bros., 92 min.

Castro Theatre
Saturday, Jan 28