Among other activities, our Palm Springs lifestyle includes the opportunity to see many great films during our annual festivals. One of these – the Film Noir Festival, returns to the Camelot Theatres May 28-31 under a new name – The Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival. An eclectic mix of Classic Film Noir “B” movies are typically shown, along with the occasional, very obscure and ‘not on DVD’ film, and sometimes a neo-noir film, such as Pulp Fiction. The new name this year honors the late Arthur Lyons, who along with Craig Prater, co-founded the festival in 2000.

The festival is now under the sponsorship of the Palm Springs Cultural Center, as announced recently by David Todd, Center Director. Another change this year is their redesigned Web site with many new features. As films are locked in for the upcoming festival venue, they are added to the schedule online. As of today, there are 10 entries, including two Burt Lancasterofferings, one of which is Criss Cross made in 1949 also starring Yvonne DeCarlo and Dan Duryea; another film which caught my eye is Female on the Beach from 1955, starrin gJoan Crawford and Jeff Chandler. When I read this next title, made in 1956 –The Bad Seed, I actually got goose bumps in remembering how shocking and sinister it was! A neo-noir film is included this year, entitled Thief, which dates back to 1981 and stars James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Willie Nelson, and Jim Belushi; the festival directors are touting it as the best neo-noir film of the last three decades.

One feature that makes this event so much fun is the attendance of stars and others in the industry who share their recollections from the Calssic Film Noir era. Last year’s appearances by Angie Dickinson and Jane Meadows were a real treat; they still have their star power. Jane proudly announced that she was pushing 80. Both looked fabulous. This year’s guests will include, among others, Patty McCormick of The Bad Seed, and Ann Jeffreys of Riff Raff, in which Pat O’Brien and Walter Slezak also starred.

The festival has steadily grown in popularity and draws noir aficianados from near and far. Last year, Dick and I had chosen seats on the left aisle, down front, each night, and we began to notice that a certain guy always sat there, as well. He came from out of state and told us that he attends the entire festival every year and buys the full pass. When it came time to say “good-bye”, we added, “See you next year!”

Go to Black is Back to learn more about this year’s films and special guests.

We were just driving away from the office en route to preview a property, when we came upon a happy group of joggers all dressed in lingerie, beach wear and exaggerated makeup – men and women alike. They were such a colorful and happy group, we just had to honk and wave to them. Who were they? Well, when we returned to the office, we encountered a guy who was using our parking lot hurriedly changing from his work clothes into pajamas and running shoes, and he gave us the scoop. It turns out that they were Hash House Harriers, or HHH, or H3 as they are also known. This crowd was in town for the annual Betty Ford XXIII Hash (or Run). For the weekend, they would run and drink and enjoy being together, using their hash names rather than their real names. Many don’t even know what their hash friends’ real names are!

HHH members are self described as “drinkers with a running problem.” They are organized worldwide, this group belonging to the Orange County Hash Harriers. When we first saw the group, they were running over from their hotel to join  fellow runners at the starting point or PreLube, where they might down a beer or two before taking off on their run, with a trail being laid down by their “hare” only minutes before the rest of the pack took off to follow the trail just laid down. The hare(s) often lay down false trails as well as the true trail, just to challenge the runners. It’s a non-competing event, so there is freedom to run together rather than to try to break away from the pack.

Palm Springs offered a friendly venue for their weekend activities. This is typical of the breadth of what we have to offer here in Palm Springs. So what I am saying is that the Palm Springs Lifestyle is what you choose to make it. This is a place where you can relax at home by the pool, play golf or tennis, hike the trails in the nearby mountains, attend antique and rare car auctions, revel in the plethora of international films during the annual festival and the smaller fests throughout the year; go shop, dine out, see the Palm Springs Follies, ride in or support the Tour de Palm Springs cycling event, grow roses, garden with native materials, kick back at the weekly VillageFest, go dancing, go listen to jazz, ride the Aerial Tramway up to 8000′, go boating and fishing an hour away, go skiing at the nearby mountain communities, attend all manner of concerts, recitals and live entertainment locally, or drive into LA or San Diego two hours away for all that they offer. Or just honk and wave to those who, for a weekend, have chosen to come to our city for fellowship and fun.

Our local paper turned up to photograph their getups, and invites you to take a look with the phrase, “Want to see hairy men in lingerie?” To see what they caught on film, go to Hash House Harriers Run.