Biography

Alan K. Rode’s affinity for classic cinema is part of his DNA. His mother grew up in Hollywood and was an extra in Our Gang comedy shorts and studied acting at Ben Bard Drama. His grandfather was a silent film violinist who went from bit actor to Universal Studios house composer and eventually founded Corelli-Jacobs Recording Inc. A great-uncle doubled Gary Cooper in The Virginian (1929) and fought Jack Dempsey. Yet another grandfather promoted rodeos with cowboy star Hoot Gibson at Gilmore Stadium.

Before the advent of classic films on cable, video or streaming, Alan incessantly watched and catalogued movies on television. He is the author of a pair of notable cinema biographies. Charles McGraw: Film Noir Tough Guy is a critically acclaimed saga of the rough-hewn actor’s life and times. Michael Curtiz: A Life in Film is the first comprehensive biography of the director of Casablanca, Mildred Pierce, Yankee Doodle Dandy and The Adventures of Robin Hood among other classic films. The Curtiz book has received enthusiastic reviews from the New York Review of Books (David Thomson), the Wall Street Journal (Scott Eyman), the Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan) and Leonard Maltin.

Alan has been the producer and host of the annual Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Palm Springs, California since 2008. He has hosted and programmed classic cinema events for a variety of organizations including: The American Cinematheque, the Los Angeles Conservancy, the Alex Film Society and the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Alan is also charter director and treasurer of the Film Noir Foundation. With FNF president Eddie Muller, Alan has spearheaded the preservation and restoration of “lost” films and co-programs and co-hosts several of the annual NOIR CITY film festivals.

With a variety of talented partners including TVP Enterprises, Ballyhoo Films, Flicker Alley, Kit Parker Films, Rivendell Films and Via Vision Imprint, Alan has produced, written and appeared in documentaries for many classic film releases on Blu ray physical media.

Alan’s video interviews with numerous Golden Age of Hollywood personages can be found on his web site and the Film Noir Foundation’s video archive. His blog ONE WAY BLOG and writing and interviews for a variety of publications (several are archived on his web site) have been supplemented by his commentaries and featurettes on numerous Blu-Ray®/DVD classic film releases. He can be contacted via email at: moxie160@gmail.com.

Alan’s IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5023636/