Don Shanahan
Beginning the weekend of September 4th, Noir City: Chicago returns to Chicago’s famed Music Box Theatre for its 2026 program. This year, the favored annual event will present “Face the Music!,” a 19-film program of crime and mystery films featuring musicians! So often, gifted individuals from that performative genre have talents that translate well from the microphone to the film camera. From early examples of Hollywood noir like 1941’s Blue in the Night to jazzy gems of the 1960s like All Night Long from 1962 and 1966’s A Man Called Adam, classic noir films have featured legitimate musical legends like Elvis Presley, Sammy Davis Jr., Hoagy Carmichael, Doris Day, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, George Rhodes, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Harry Belafonte, Coleman Hawkins, Josh White, Dave Brubeck, John Scott, Charles Mingus, and Dexter Gordon performing alongside film noir acting favorites, including Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Ida Lupino, Dan Duryea, Linda Darnell, and Rita Hayworth.
To the delight of Noir City: Chicago attendees and devoted fans of cinema’s favorite heart-darkening and screen-darkening genre, several of the event’s films are presented in their proper 35mm film formats. For another treat, the event’s screenings bring back a pair of dignified hosts presented by the Film Noir Foundation. Eddie Muller, host of Turner Classic Movies’ Noir Alley, covers September 4th–6th, while Michael Curtiz: A Life in Film author and Film Noir Foundation board member Alan K. Rode will handle hosting duties on showings from September 7th–10th.
For passes, tickets, information, and the full schedule of Noir City: Chicago 2026, please check out the series page. A series pass runs for $150 for general admission and $120 Music Box Members. Individual screening tickets cost $15 for general audiences, $14 for seniors, and $12 for Music Box members.
Here’s the full film selection slate and schedule for Noir City: Chicago 2026
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4
SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (1957, 35mm), 7 pm
Directed by Alexander Mackendrick and starring Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, and Susan Harrison.
THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM (1955, 35mm), 9:15 pm
Restored by the Academy Film Archive with funding from The Film Foundation and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, directed by Otto Preminger and starring Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, and Kim Novak.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5
TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT (1944, 35mm), 2:15 pm
Starring Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Walter Brennan, Dolores Moran and directed by Howard Hawks.
NOCTURNE (1946, 35mm), 4:45 pm
Directed by Edwin L. Marin and starring George Raft, Lynn Bari, and Virginia Hutson.
BLACK ANGEL (1946, 35mm), 7 pm
Starring Dan Duryea, June Vincent, and Peter Lorre, and directed by Roy William Neill.
BLUES IN THE NIGHT (1941, 35mm), 9 pm
Directed by Anatole Litvak and starring Richard Whorf, Priscilla Lane, and Lloyd Nolan.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6
KANSAS CITY (1996, DCP), 2 pm
Directed by Robert Altman and starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, Miranda Richardson, and Harry Belafonte.
KING CREOLE (1958, DCP), 4:15 pm
Starring Elvis Presley, Carolyn Jones, and Walter Matthau, and directed by Michael Curtiz.
LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME (1955, 35mm) 6:45 pm
Directed by Charles Vidor and starring Doris Day, James Cagney, and Cameron Mitchell.
PETE KELLY’S BLUES (1955, DCP), 9:15 pm
Directed and starring Jack Webb, alongside Janet Leigh, Edmond O’Brien, and Lee Marvin.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
THE MAN I LOVE (1947, 35mm), 4 pm
Starring Ida Lupino, Robert Alda, and Andrea King, and directed by Raoul Walsh.
GILDA (1946, DCP), 6:45pm
Directed by Charles Vidor and starring Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, and George Macready.
FACE THE MUSIC (1954, 35mm), 9:15 pm
Directed by Terence Fisher and starring Alex Nicol, Eleanor Summerfield, and John Salew.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
HANGOVER SQUARE (1945, 35mm), 7 pm
Directed by John Brahm and starring Laird Cregar, Linda Darnell, and George Sanders.
THE WRONG MAN (1956, 35mm), 9 pm
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Henry Fonda, Vera Miles, and Anthony Quayle.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
ROUND MIDNIGHT (1986, DCP), 6:30 pm
Starring Dexter Gordon, François Cluzet, Gabrielle Haker, and directed by Bertrand Tavernier.
THE CRIMSON CANARY (1945, 35mm), 9:15 pm
Directed by John Hoffman and starring Noah Beery Jr., Lois Collier, and John Litel.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10
ALL NIGHT LONG (1962, DCP), 7 pm
Starring Patrick McGoohan, Keith Mitchell, and Betsy Blair, and directed by Basil Dearden.
A MAN CALLED ADAM (1966, DCP), 9:15 pm
Starring Sammy Davis Jr., Louis Armstrong, and Ossie Davis, and directed by Leo Penn.
About Music Box Theatre:
Operating since 1929, the Music Box Theatre has been the premier venue in Chicago for independent and foreign films for more than four decades, playing host to over 300,000 patrons annually. It currently has the largest theater space operated full time in the city. The Theatre is independently owned and operated. Its sister company, Music Box Films, is dedicated to curating a diverse repertoire of films from around the world and distributing them throughout the U.S. Music Box Theatre and Music Box Films both engage audiences with exciting alternatives to mainstream entertainment.
Regular events produced, presented, and hosted at Music Box Theatre include the 70mm Film Festival; Music Box Christmas Sing-a-long and Double Feature, the annual 24-hour horror-movie marathon Music Box of Horrors; and Noir City: Chicago, co-presented by the Film Noir Foundation.
Become a member: https://www.musicboxtheatre.
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