Dbl Feat: NEVER OPEN THAT DOOR/IF I SHOULD DIE...
Special Features: Intro by Eddie Muller, host of TCM's NOIR ALLEY, on October 11
NEVER OPEN THAT DOOR [NO ABRAS NUNCA ESA PUERTA]
AFI Silver and Noir City are proud to present a new Film Noir Foundation restoration of this duo of suspense stories from the pen of Cornell Woolrich, adapted by Argentina's Estudios San Miguel. Originally a three-part anthology of his tales, NEVER OPEN THAT DOOR was released separately from IF I SHOULD DIE BEFORE I WAKE, also adapted by filmmaker Carlos Hugo Christensen and screening here as part of a double feature. Highlighted by the incredible cinematography of Pablo Tabernero, NEVER OPEN THAT DOOR features masterful sequences of spine-tingling suspense. Critic Horacio Bernades declared, "Rarely has an Argentine film been more purely cinematic than this." (Note courtesy of Noir City.) DIR Carlos Hugo Christensen; SCR Alejandro Casona, from the short stories "Somebody on the Phone" and "Hummingbird Comes Home" by Cornell Woolrich (as Willam Irish). Argentina, 1952, b&w, 85 min. In Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Digital restoration by the UCLA Film & Television Archive with funding by the Film Noir Foundation.
Followed by:
IF I SHOULD DIE BEFORE I WAKE [SI MUERO ANTES DE DESPERTAR] in 35mm
Estudios San Miguel originally intended IF I SHOULD DIE BEFORE I WAKE to be the third part of a Cornell Woolrich trilogy that began in NEVER OPEN THAT DOOR, but instead decided to release it as a stand-alone feature. Anticipating the haunting imagery and breathless suspense of THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER by three years, this intensely Woolrichian coming-of-age story contains poignant echoes of the author's own fearful childhood. A carefree young boy, thought hopelessly delinquent by his police-officer father, learns harsh lessons in life, loyalty and courage when he realizes several female classmates are the victims of a serial killer — and he attempts to track down the culprit on his own. Framed as a children's fairy tale, the film grows relentlessly darker, culminating in a terrifying sequence that never would have made it past Hollywood censors. (Note adapted from the Museum of Modern Art.) DIR Carlos Hugo Christensen; SCR Alejandro Casona, from the short story by Cornell Woolrich (as Willam Irish). Argentina, 1952, b&w, 73 min. In Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
35mm print courtesy of the Film Noir Foundation Collection at the UCLA Film & Television Archive.
Run Time: 173 Minutes
Opening Date: Friday, October 11, 2024
Genre: Film noir