The Dryden Film Society will feature a season of 11 classic films noir in January and February at the Dryden Theatre in Rochester, NY, with the theme What Exactly Is Film Noir?.

Jim Healy, the Assistant Curator, has posted an excellent short essay on this theme to introduce the program, which includes new 35mm prints of The Big Sleep and Night And The City.

The release of The Big Sleep was originally held back by Warner Brothers until 1946 when the film was recut. The Society will screen a new 35mm print of the restored 1945 version, which will be followed by a short documentary about the two versions.

The full program:

Thursday, January 3
8pm THE BIG SLEEP (Howard Hawks, US 1946, 116 min.) New 35mm print

Thursday, January 10
8pm THE KILLERS (Robert Siodmak, US 1946, 105 min., 35mm)

Thursday, January 17
8pm OUT OF THE PAST (Jacques Tourneur, US 1947, 97 min., 35mm)

Thursday, January 24
8pm NIGHTMARE ALLEY (Edmund Goulding, US 1947, 111 min., 35mm)

Thursday, January 31 Double-Feature
7 pm THE BIG HEAT (Fritz Lang, US 1953, 90 min., 35mm)
8:45 pm HUMAN DESIRE (Fritz Lang, US 1952, 90 min., 35mm)

Thursday, February 7
8pm NIGHT AND THE CITY (Jules Dassin, US 1950, 101 min.) New 35mm print

Thursday, February 14
8pm LAURA (Otto Preminger, US 1944, 85 min., 35mm)

Thursday, February 21 Double-Feature
7 pm FORCE OF EVIL (Abraham Polonsky, US 1948, 78 min., 35mm)
8:30 pm HE RAN ALL THE WAY (John Berry, US 1951, 77 min, 35mm)

Thursday, February 28
8pm KISS ME DEADLY (Robert Aldrich, US 1955, 106 min., 35mm)