Femmes fatales, hardboiled heroines and the poor saps that fall for them are the focus of the Humboldt County Library’s latest “Based on the Book” movie series, Dark City Dames: the Women of Film Noir. “Based on the Book” is a quarterly series, offering classic film screenings every Tuesday night in July at the Main library branch in Eureka.

“Film noir perfected a character rarely seen in movies up to that point—the powerful, complicated, formidable woman,” said Michael Logan, Humboldt County Library employee and series co-organizer. “And this being film noir, they turn out to be tempted by the same things their male counterparts are: power, lust, greed, revenge. Throw in a little smoldering attraction, some snappy dialogue, and a fair amount of action, and you’ve got some very interesting and entertaining films.”

July’s movies will be hosted by Wynston Jones, former film instructor, actor and screenwriter; Bob Doran, Arts & Entertainment Editor for the North Coast Journal; and Charlie Myers, former HSU film instructor and current film critic for the North Coast Journal.

July 21: Gun Crazy (1950)— Hosted by Wynston Jones

Based on a Saturday Evening Post story by MacKinlay Kantor and a forerunner to *Bonnie and Clyde, * Gun Crazy was considered “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation by the U.S. National Film Registry. Peggy Cummins and John Dall star as the young, foolish and doomed lovers on a crazy crime spree.