Glass-covered home aims to capture ‘the new Palm Springs’
With its tropical plants, resort-style pool, walls of windows and outdoor tiki torches, the recently renovated home for sale at the corner of South Manzanita Avenue and Cactus Road in Palm Springs' Deepwell Estates neighborhood has many of the trappings of high-end desert living. However, it's perhaps just as notable for what it doesn't have anymore: a traditional front door.
Architect and developer Teddy Lee, who bought the house at 1195 South Manzanita Ave. in 2021, said he decided to nix the traditional door in favor of a design with several glass entries because he was adding a large wraparound patio and wanted to further blur the lines between indoor and outdoor space.
“I just felt like there should be no beginning or end with your experience in the house," Lee said. “I mean, it'd be kind of crazy to call it antiquated, but I do feel like a front door, and a foyer — it's just a little too formal for Palm Springs.”
But while the choice to have no front door might feel thoroughly contemporary, Lee says it actually is rooted in the values of the mid-century modern era that the home is a product of.
“Back when all of the mid-century modern was being built, it was sort of about community and blurring the lines between neighbors and welcoming people in and out,” he said. “So to me, once you obliterate the front door you kind of create a more welcoming space.”
That change also provides an early indication of the extent to which the four-bedroom, six-bathroom house has been reimagined by Lee. He said he wanted to modernize the home while maintaining its distinctive mid-century architecture.
Perhaps the most substantial change he made was to "flip the floor plan" to address some awkwardness in the old layout. Switching the location of the kitchen and two of the bedrooms allowed him to take better advantage of the sun in the design while making the house both more cohesive and functional, he said.
Designed by Palm Springs architect Howard Lapham (The Desert Star hotel is one of his most wellknown buildings), the home was built in 1970. Lee said that when he bought the house, he observed bike tours that would pass by the house referring to it as "The Brady Brunch house."
Lee was initially puzzled until he looked closer and realized that the home's roof had what he calls a "Polynesian mid-century roof line" that resembled the roof from the family's house in the TV show. He said that when it came to landscaping the home, the choice was between traditional desert cactus or more lush plants and that the presence of that Polynesian roof pushed him toward the latter.
When it comes to curating the festival year after year, Rode said he tries to program for the audience, not for himself. Dedicated audience members always like to see a classic film on the big screen, he said, but they also enjoy being exposed to “new” discoveries.
To ring in 25 years, Rode has curated a list of films that encompasses both.
“Across the Bridge,” starring Rod Steiger, is one such lesser-known film, which Rode described as “a literal gut punch.” On the flip side, the festival ends with a screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Shadow of a Doubt,” which the famed director said in multiple interviews was his favorite film. Rode added that it’s also his darkest.
“Film noir, like beauty, is often in the eye of the beholder, I’m the beholder, and it’s the gift that keeps on giving cinematically,” he said. “I always try to program films that our audience in Palm Springs would like, and it seems as though that has been a formula that has really worked, along with the tradition of the guest stars.”
This year’s guests include actor/writer Jim Beaver (”Deadwood,” “Justified”), author Luis Reyes (”Viva Hollywood: The Legacy of Latin and Hispanic Artists in American Film”), actor/producer/ director Mike McGreevey (”The Way West,” “Riverboat”) and Emmy Awardwinning screenwriter/producer Kirk Ellis (”John Adams”). Additionally, Rode will show clips of previous guests that have come through the festival, including Nancy Olson, Ernest Borgnine and Norman Lloyd. Eddie Muller, host of Noir Alley on Turner Classic Movies, will also join during the four-day celebration.
“Time has no mercy, and so many of the folks that we’ve had have passed on, but there’s always new guests, new discoveries, new films,” Rode said. “In the end, I think this festival specifically and film noir in general is kind of a connective umbilical to introduce a new generation of people who love going to the movies to classic film.”
What movies are on the lineup?
Thursday, May 9 (opening night)
7:30 p.m.: “Body and Soul” (1947), directed by Robert Rossen, starring John Garfield, Lilli Palmer and Hazel Brooks: A talented boxer’s young career hits difficult terrain when an unethical promoter takes interest in him
Scheduled special guest includes Beaver. An opening night reception for all-access pass holders will follow after the screening
Friday, May 10
10 a.m.: “The Scarlet Claw” (1944), directed by Roy William Neill, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce: When a woman is found dead with her throat torn out, the villagers blame a supernatural monster. But Sherlock Holmes, who gets drawn into the case from nearby Quebec, suspects a human murderer
1 p.m.: “Border Incident” (1949), directed by Anthony Mann, starring Ricardo Montalban and George Murphy: Mexican and American federal agents go undercover to foil a vicious smuggling ring exploiting Mexican farm workers in Southern California (screening will feature special guest Reyes)
4 p.m.: “No Man of Her Own” (1950), directed by Mitchell Leisen, starring Barbara Stanwyck and John Lund: A pregnant woman adopts the identity of a railroad-crash victim and starts a new life with the woman’s wealthy inlaws, but is soon blackmailed by her devious ex
7:30 p.m.: “Across the Bridge” (1957), directed by Ken Annakin, starring Rod Steiger and David Knight: A wealthy businessman attempts to run to Mexico to escape capture for embezzlement. On the way, he switches identities for a visa but that only complicates matters
Saturday, May 11
10 a.m.: “Crime Wave” (1954), directed by Andre de Toth, starring Ted de
Corsia, Charles Bronson, Nedrick Young, Gene Nelson and Phyllis Kirk: Reformed parolee Steve Lacey is caught in the middle when a wounded former cellmate seeks him out for shelter
1 p.m.: “Dead Reckoning” (1946), directed by John Cromwell, starring Humphrey Bogart, Lizabeth Scott and Morris Carnovsky: A soldier runs away rather than receive the Medal of Honor, so his buddy gets permission to investigate, and love and death soon follow
4 p.m.: “Woman in Hiding” (1950), directed by Michael Gordon, starring Ida Lupino, Stephen McNally and Howard Duff: After her father is killed in an accident, mill heiress Deborah Chandler marries the plant manager, Selden Clark, but his motives are suspicious
7:30 p.m.: “Day of the Outlaw” (1959), directed by Andre de Toth, starring Robert Ryan, Burl Ives and Tina Louise: Blaise Starrett is a rancher at odds with homesteaders when outlaws hold up the small town. The outlaws are held in check only by their notorious leader, but he is diagnosed with a fatal wound and the town is a powder keg waiting to blow (screening will feature special guest McGreevey)
Sunday, May 12
10 a.m.: “The Enforcer” (1951), directed by Brentaigne Windust, starring Humphrey Bogart, Everett Sloane and Ted de Corsia: A crusading district attorney finally gets a chance to prosecute the organizer and boss of Murder Inc.
1 p.m.: “Escape in the Fog” (1945), directed by Budd Boetticher, starring Otto Kruger and Nina Foch: During
World War II, an army nurse on R&R in San Francisco has a premonition about witnessing a murder attempt against a G-man by Nazi agents (screening will feature special guest Ellis)
4 p.m.: “Shadow of a Doubt” (1942), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten: A teenage girl, overjoyed when her favorite uncle comes to visit the family in their quiet California town, slowly begins to suspect that he is in fact the “Merry Widow” killer sought by the authorities.
How can I get tickets/passes?
Tickets and passes are available for purchase at https://tinyurl.com/NoirFilmFest
Tickets for individual films cost $14.50, while an all-access pass (valid for entry into all film screenings and the opening night party) costs $149.
What’s to come
Rode said he’s not looking to change the festival just for the sake of change because it has reached 25 years. But he does have some ideas on how to keep moving forward, which involves looking to the past.
One idea is doing a greatest hits compilation of favorite films the festival has screened in its history. He’s implementing that in a way this year by showing past guest interviews.
“Being able to celebrate the past and the legacy that we’ve established with the festival by looking at the past ... I’m able to look forward into the future as well,” Rode said. “We’re going to keep going as long as the Cultural Center wants me to do this, as long as the audience wants me to do this and as long as I’m able to do it and still enjoy it.”
Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ema_sasic.