Cinematheque: Siodmak's Universal Noirs

Don't be fooled by the title; Christmas Holiday is one of the bleakest film noirs of the 1940s as Deanna Durbin recounts her marriage to gentleman-turned-killer husband Gene Kelly in flashbacks. Casting both lead actors against type and working with screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz's very loose adaptation of a W. Somerset Maugham story, Robert Siodmak directs with his usual flair, adding elements of satire and German expressionism. (USA, 35mm, 93 min.)