NOIR CITY XMAS RETURNS TO SAN FRANCISCO

NOIR CITY XMAS returns to San Francisco's historic Castro Theatre on Wednesday, December 14, as the Film Noir Foundation celebrates the holidays by tossing aside the Christmas treacle for a headlong dive into a double bill of danger and darkness: Quentin Lawrence's Cash on Demand (1961) at 7:30 and Harold Ramis' Ice Harvest (2005) at 9:30.

Lawrence's late-era noir Cash on Demand reimagines A Christmas Carol as a tense bank-heist thriller with Peter Cushing in the lead as a Scrooge-like bank manager in need of a Dickensian makeover. Can the machinations of a master thief (Andre Morell) wind up bringing him the Christmas spirit?

In Ramis' neo-noir Ice Harvest, mob lawyer Charlie Arglist (John Cusack) and his shifty accomplice Vic (Billy Bob Thornton) conspire to steal $2 million from Wichita's sleaziest gangster (Randy Quaid) on Christmas Eve. But as an ice storm descends on the region, Charlie's associates prove more treacherous than the forces of nature.

In addition to the yuletide noir double feature, host Eddie Muller will be revealing the complete schedule (and gorgeous new poster!) for the eagerly anticipated NOIR CITY 15 festival coming to the Castro Theatre January 20-29, 2017. Passports (full series passes) and tickets to all the festival's double features will go on sale at NoirCity.com the same evening. NC15 Passports will also be sold at NOIR CITY Xmas, along with new FNF promotional goodies, upstairs on the Castro Mezzanine. Visit the Film Noir Foundation's merchandise table during NOIR CITY Xmas for your noir-inspired gift shopping.

Tickets for NOIR CITY Xmas are only $12 for the double bill—less than the cost of a single holiday eggnog at any bar in town! Tickets are now on sale at Brown Paper Tickets. Tickets will also be available at the Castro box office the day of show.

Holiday Giving at NOIR CITY Xmas
NOIR CITY Xmas will have collection bins for both the San Francisco Firefighters Toy Program and the SF-Marin Food Bank at the event and we encourage everyone to give what they can.
 
The San Francisco Firefighters are looking for toys for kids — infants through 12-years old. Toys must be unwrapped. Their biggest need is toys for girls, ages 8 through 12. Donation suggestions: sports equipment- basketballs, footballs, soccer balls, baseballs and gloves; arts and crafts items; baby items — blankets, bottles, rattles; dolls of all nationalities and stuffed animals; iPods; books; and toy trucks. They do not accept toy guns. If you donate a game system, please include a game.
 
Here are the most needed foods for the SF-Marin Food Bank: peanut butter, low sugar cereal, whole grain rice, pasta and oats, low sodium soups and stews, tuna and canned meats, canned fruits and vegetables. Please, no glass, opened items, perishables, or items past their "use before" date.