TCM’s October Noir Alley Film Schedule Is Full of Girls, Guns & Trouble
If you feel like your life could use more dangerous beauties, shady underworld crime bosses, dramatic lighting and heroes who just can’t seem to catch a break, you’re in luck: Each week, at midnight ET, Turner Classic Movies airs noir films as part of its weekly Noir Alley program, hosted by film noir expert Eddie Muller. And October’s lineup is as cold-blooded as a dame with nothing to lose.
Oct. 5: Detour
In 1945’s Detour, a down-on-his-luck piano player hitchhikes to Los Angeles with the wrong bookie, who turns up dead at a very inconvenient time. But don’t worry, things get worse — a brutal femme fatale blackmails him, with tragic results all around. Detour was shot independently, outside the studio system, for about $100,000, and because of this, has some of the highest profit margins of any film noir.
Oct. 12: The Crooked Way
Everett Collection
The Crooked Way (1949) follows John Payne‘s Eddie, a veteran with amnesia. What happened before Eddie lost his memory? A trip to L.A. reveals that before he was a war hero, Eddie lived the kind of life you might want to forget. At the time of its release, The New York Times described it as “so-called entertainment that is only fit for savage beasts.” Endorsements don’t get more ringing than that! It has a similar plot to 1946’s Somewhere in the Night.
Oct. 19: Too Late for Tears
Everett Collection
Directed by The War of the Worlds‘ Byron Haskin, Too Late for Tears (1949) stars noir all-star Lizabeth Scott as Jane Palmer, a woman who suddenly comes into possession of a large bag full of cash. But her boring husband just wants to hand it over to the police. What’s a girl to do? Well, this is a film noir, after all, so the first thing she does is kill him. But that’s just the beginning of the fun in this oft-overlooked classic, which bombed during its initial release, but has been critically reconsidered in the decades since.
Film noir fun fact: Producers originally wanted Joan Crawford for the role of Jane Palmer, and Kirk Douglas as her partner in crime.
Oct. 26: I Walk Alone
Everett Collection
Get even more Byron Haskin and Lizabeth Scott — plus Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas! — with 1947’s I Walk Alone. Lancaster plays Frankie, a Prohibition runner who does 14 years in jail. When he gets out, he looks up his old partner, Noll (Douglas), who Frankie assumes will hold up the financial agreement they made back in the old days entitling each of the men to have 50% of their bootlegging fortune. Noll isn’t interested — and he has the muscle to back it up. Can Frankie, with the help of Noll’s girlfriend (Scott), get what’s rightfully his? This film was the first of six that Lancaster and Douglas would make together.
All films air Saturday at midnight, with a repeat showing on Sunday morning at 10am ET. Which one are you most excited to see?
Remind 
Tough Guys, Bad Girls
September 2017
Hard-boiled detectives, gangsters and their gals — a gritty look at the art of noir and the craft of going wrong.
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