THE FRENCH HAD A NAME FOR IT '24 has come and gone. A wonderful time was had by all who attended at San Francisco's Roxie Theater, including those folks who viewed all 32 films in the two-part series.
For excellent overviews of the second half of the festival (18 films, including nine repeat screenings featuring past festival favorites, read Owen Field's fine write-ups at the Blackboard, which are organized into five daily updates. Access them at the links below:
All four decades of French film noir were covered in the full 32-film schedule. Though you'll know only a small number of the titles screened (that's why we've been showing them for the past ten years...), the diagram below provides a look at the full FRENCH 24 lineup, displayed by half-decades and color-coded both according to their screening dates (Part 1, the October schedule, in green; Part 2, the November-December schedule, in yellow) and whether they were repeat screenings (shown in red type):
As you can see, the only half-decade that was not represented in the full 32-film schedule was 1941-45, the heart of the Occupation Era.
The decades were reasonably well-balanced--1930s: 8; 1940s: 9; 1950s: 10; 1960s: 5.
Seven films directed by André Cayatte were screened across the two portions of FRENCH 24: five in Part One, two in Part Two.
Five films starring Erich von Stroheim were screened: one (TEMPETE) in Part One; four (L'ALIBI, LES DISPARUS DE ST-AGIL, LE MONDE TREMBLERA, LA DANSE DU MORT) in Part Two.
