The Damned Don’t Cry

Friday, May 25, 2012 | 7:30 pm
The Sun Sets in the West: Mid-Century California Noir
1950/b&w/103 min.
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Scr: Harold Medford; Jerome Weidman; dir: Vincent Sherman; w/ Joan Crawford, David Brian, Steve Cochran, Kent Smith; cinematography: Ted McCord

A smash hit upon its release, this torrid potboiler follows the take-no-prisoners rise of Ethel Whitehead (Joan Crawford) as she claws her way to the top of society from rural housewife to a gangster’s moll poolside in Palm Springs. Along the way she becomes the center of a love quadrangle as her former beau (mild-mannered accountant Kent Smith), obsessive paramour (snarly crime boss David Brian), and ultimate prey (hot-tempered playboy Steve Cochran) angle for her affection. Replete with double and triple crosses, staccato pulp patter, and modernist desert décor, The Damned Don’t Cry is a piercingly fatalistic noir disguised as a woman’s picture.

Bing Theater | $10 for the general public, $7 for LACMA members, seniors (62+), and students with valid ID; and $5 LACMA Film Club members | Tickets: 323 857-6010 or purchase online.