Kirk Douglas, Marilyn Maxwell in Champion

April 7, 2005 Tender is the Noir The Noir Film Festival is going on now at the American Cinematheque, and tonight's selection is a knock out. Fight your way to the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood for an evening of classic cinema. The main event is a boxing noir double bill. Round one is the highly influential 1949 film Champion starring Kirk Douglas as fighter Midge Kelly. In round two, Humphrey Bogart stars in the 1956 film The Harder They Fall, based on the true story of boxer Primo Carnera. On hand will be Eddie Miller with a one-two punch of his own. Muller is both the festival organizer and author of the award-winning boxing-noir novel The Distance. Pick up a copy and get it signed by the author between films. You'll also be ringside for the screening of a 16mm copy of a 1940s punch-up between middleweights Tony Zale and Rocky Graziano, arguably the greatest series of boxing matches in history (they fought three times). The film is on loan from a private collector and runs about 12 minutes. Watch and compare the real thing to the fights staged for the films. And if boxing isn't the noir you're after, there are still some highlights left in the festival including a double header of films featuring a young Lucille Ball. Catch the festival before it's down for the count April 13. The boxing double-header plays tonight at the Egyptian Theatre and repeats tomorrow night at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica.