I came across this interesting piece in of all places, an actuarial journal, Contingencies. After obtaining the permission of the author, Dan Skwire, I have posted the on line PDF link. Enjoy! http://www.contingencies.org/mayjun08/film.pdf  ...

  After hosting the eighth annual Palm Springs Film Noir Festival, from May 29 - June 1, I made it back home in time for screenings of Mildred Pierce at the Million Dollar Theatre and The Damned Don't Cry - the latest entry of my continuing Femme Fatale Hall of Fame series at the Silent Movie Theatre. I'll be posting a detailed low down about the wildly successful Palm Springs noir fete - complete with photos - this coming week. For the present, I wanted to share some details about the Mildred Pierce event. It was a distinct privilege to host a sold-out screening of Mildred Pierce (1945) at the restored Million Dollar Theatre at 307 South Broadway in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday June 4th. The screening was part of the Los Angeles Conservancy's Last Remaining Seats series that is now in its 22nd year. For more about the LRS,...

  In the wake of the fire that swept through Universal Studios last Sunday, there are a lot of rumors, emails and the like concerning the damage to vintage film prints. Instead of playing Chicken Little, here is some information from my partner-in-noir, Eddie Muller that I would like to put up for some balance and clarification. Thanks, Alan   "To my colleagues, I'm sending this note to short-stop rumors that have been swirling around in the wake of Sunday's devastating fire at Universal Studios. Conflicting reports have emerged regarding the extent of the damage, especially as it concerns the safety of studio's archival films. Film Noir Foundation director Anita Monga has spoken with our contacts at Universal as of this morning, and it has been confirmed that, while many prints of Universal films were destroyed in the fire, no archival source material was lost. Our good friend Paul Ginsburg, Universal's...