ASK EDDIE - July 9, 2026

FNF prez Eddie Muller responds to film noir fan questions fielded by the Foundation's Director of Communications Anne Hockens. FNF prez Eddie Muller responds to film noir fan questions fielded by the Foundation's Director of Communications Anne Hockens. In this edition, we discuss NOIR CITY New York, the increase in inappropriate laughter at film screenings, the best titles in film noir, who we would have liked to seen cast together in a noir that never were, and more. The lightning round returns and we discuss “Widow’s Bay”. On the cat front, Lino and Bruno were busy doing important cat things for the government and couldn’t join us. A list of all the films discussed in this episode is available on Anne’s Letterboxd account: https://letterboxd.com/AudieDan/lists/ 0:00 NOIR CITY: NYC preview; Eddie's AI & customer service nightmare 15:26 Anne's "Haddonfield High School" shirt & San Francisco's North Beach 18:18 Viewer Follow-up: John Wayne and Noir 20:40 Viewer Follow-up: "Sudden Fear" and Stark House Press 22:21 Viewer Follow-up: fictional towns in film noir 27:31 Viewer Follow-up: Casting a Jane Fonda biopic 29:40 Q1: Why are audiences laughing during tragic scenes in noir? 41:26 Q2: Has the audience perception of women in noir evolved? 46:33 Q3: Is excessive lipstick application a sign of a femme fatale? 51:20 Q4: Did Shirley MacLaine have an uncredited role in "Hot Summer Night"? 54:34 Q5: Where should a collector donate a massive physical media collection? Lightning Round Begins 57:34 Q6a: Any chance of seeing "Il Grido" on Noir Alley? 59:05 Q6b: Adding film ratings to the foundation website 1:00:26 Q6c: Truffaut's "Shoot the Piano Player" fitting the festival theme 1:01:11 Q6d: Could "The In-Laws" be considered a noir-tinged comedy? 1:04:12 Q6e: The possibility of restoring Universal's 1944 film "Destiny" 1:09:08 Q7: What are some of your favorite film noir titles? 1:14:44 Q8: Has clout replaced talent in Hollywood? 1:17:18 Q9: Why wasn't the 1958 TV show "21 Beacon Street" renewed? 1:18:14 Q10: Which noir actors do you wish had worked together? 1:22:43 Q11: Which studio was the definitive studio of film noir? 1:24:46 Latest Viewing: "Widow's Bay" on Apple TV 1:31:04 Wrap-up & final thoughts on NOIR CITY: New York City Want your question answered in a future episode? We solicit questions from our email subscribers in our monthly newsletters. Sign up for free at https://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/si... Contribute here to support our restoration efforts: https://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/co... Everyone who signs up on our email list https://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/si... and contributes $20 receives the digital version of NOIR CITY Magazine for a year.