FLESH AND FANTASY Synopsis: 

One of the greatest French directors (his Pepé le Moko launched the trend in “poetic realism” that informed film noir), Duvivier escaped the war at home by bringing his incredible style to several Hollywood films of the early ’40s. This anthology of supernatural tales—a proto-Twilight Zone—features a dazzling cast (Edward G. Robinson, Barbara Stanwyck, Charles Boyer, Robert Cummings, Thomas Mitchell) and amazing camerawork by Stanley Cortez and Paul Ivano. The removal of the film’s opening story by Universal executives so angered Duvivier that he abandoned Hollywood and returned to continue his career in postwar France.

Presented in 35mm courtesy of Universal Pictures.

DESTINY Synopsis: 

Originally intended as the opening segment of Flesh and Fantasy, Universal lopped this off and released it the following year as a stand-alone B. A pair of robbers on the lam (Alan Curtis and Frank Fenton) split up in rural Paradise Valley, where the town folk are so pleasant and trusting one of the crooks eagerly maps out a plan to rob them blind. But the farmer’s daughter (Gloria Jean), who really is blind, has a big surprise in store for the lecherous thief. NOIR CITY screens the four chapters of Duvivier’s Flesh and Fantasy—finally—as one complete program.

Presented in 35mm courtesy of Universal Pictures.