Film professor Terry Meehan steps out from the shadows to host a series of films that shed light on the dark side of human nature. Film noir emerged as a cinematic style in the forties, partly as a result of post-war angst, and partly because filmmakers wanted to take their cameras out of the studio and onto the streets where existential anti-heroes and scheming femme fatales lurked in the dark corners of the city. Five classic noirs will be screened along with short documentaries featuring filmmakers who helped pioneer the genre. When the lights come up, Meehan will lead open discussions about the films, the directors and the genre itself.

The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Directed by John Huston
Not Rated <imdb>
A mysterious woman walks into the low rent office of a hard-boiled detective. We have seen it before; but here, in the office of Sam Spade, is where it all began. With a pace that quickens as tension mounts, Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre are after one thing: The Maltese Falcon, a jewel-encrusted statuette, "the stuff that dreams are made of."
Saturday, September 4 at 6:00 p.m. in the Main Library Auditorium

Double Indemnity (1944)
Directed by Billy Wilder
Not Rated <imdb>
Cynical insurance salesman Fred MacMurray wants to make a sale to sexy femme fatale Barbara Stanwyck. She buys a double indemnity accident policy on her husband and entices MacMurray into making sure that accident happens sooner rather than later. But wily claims agent Edward G. Robinson becomes suspicious before anyone can collect.
Saturday, October 2 at 6:00 p.m. in the Main Library Auditorium

The Killers (1946)
Directed by Robert Siodmak
Not Rated <imdb>
Two menacing gangster-types show up at a roadside diner, talking like characters from a Hemingway story—which they are. They’ve come to kill Burt Lancaster, the Swede, if he ever shows up. Who is the Swede and why do they want to kill him? These are the questions insurance investigator Edmond O’Brien wants answered. It’s a sure bet that deceitful dame Ava Gardner had something to do with it.
Saturday, November 6 at 6:00 p.m. in the Main Library Auditorium

Out of the Past (1947)
Directed by Jacques Tourneur
Not Rated <imdb>
Ex-gangster Robert Mitchum has finally found happiness in a small California town running a service station and going on blissful picnics with his lady love, Virginia Huston. But it’s not long before the plot catches up with the title, and characters from the past must be dealt with, including mob boss Kirk Douglas and femme fatales Rhonda
Fleming and Jane Greer.
Saturday, January 8 at 6:00 p.m. in the Main Library Auditorium

Gun Crazy (1949)
Directed by Joseph Lewis
Not Rated <imdb>
John Dahl has loved guns since he was a kid. After coming home from World War II, he and his pals attend a carnival sideshow featuring Peggy Cummins, a sharpshooting blonde whose love of guns equals his own. They marry, but the bride is not satisfied with small-town life and craves money and excitement. Reluctantly he joins her on a crime spree that would make Bonnie and Clyde envious. The law is never far behind—and they have guns, too.
Saturday, February 5 at 6:00 p.m. in the Main Library Auditorium