The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's Southern California Nightmare June 16, 2012

Father's Day Special: L.A. bus tour traces film noir's path from James M. Cain's fiction to the screen

WHAT: Father's Day weekend edition of Esotouric's The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's Southern California Nightmare tour
WHEN: Saturday June 16, 12pm-4pm
WHERE: Departing from The Daily Dose, 1820 Industrial St., Los Angeles, CA 90021
COST: $58/person, includes coffee and cookies
TOUR INFO: http://www.esotouric.com, 213-373-1947
ALSO THIS WEEKEND: Birth of Noir host Richard Schave presents a free LAVA tour of Pio Pico's historic Whittier Adobe El Ranchito on Sunday at 1pm. For details or to reserve http://lavatransforms.org/elranchito

LOS ANGELES- This Father's Day weekend, why not take dad on a guided tour of the dark side of American letters as Esotouric offers its occasional BIRTH OF NOIR bus adventure?

ABOUT THE TOUR: Southern California, 1931: Musing over fresh urban sprawl atop bulldozed orange groves and the bitter realization that you can't eat the sunshine, newly arrived writer James M. Cain found a kernel of truth and his voice. That voice would become the dominant note in the development of a unique American genre, Film Noir, which spawned the abiding Los Angeles myth of the solitary, relentless detective.

THE BIRTH OF NOIR is a four-hour luxury bus tour celebrating the life, work, myths and passions of hard-boiled American novelist James M. Cain through his best known books, "The Postman Always Rings Twice," "Mildred Pierce" (coming to HBO as a new Todd Haynes-directed mini-series starring Kate Winslet in Spring 2011) and "Double Indemnity," and how their screen adaptations shaped Film Noir.
How did East Coat sophisticate Cain go from editor of "The New Yorker" to populist novelist accused of writing dirty books? The tour explores the writer's life and work with a focus on his time in Southern California, where his observations on Malibu, Hollywood, Pasadena and the low rent 'burbs of Glendale are as provocative today as they were seventy years ago.

The tour also covers the gifted people who transformed Cain's tales into movies, among them Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler, Joan Crawford and Lana Turner. "The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's Southern California Nightmare" is a complex portrait of a fascinating character who was seduced and transformed by his time in the Southland, a hard working movie industry professional who sank into drink and despair, ultimately a uniquely Californian artist.
Hosted by Esotouric's Richard Schave, the tour departs from downtown L.A.'s historic produce district, in honor of the doomed Frank Chambers, who found love, death and day labor work toting fruit boxes in "The Postman Always Rings Twice."

The tour itself draws on Cain's essays, short stories, novels, films and the memories of his friends and colleagues to paint a portrait of LA in the 1930s and 1940s through the eyes of the writer. The tour spans Hollywood to Glendale and along old Route 66, and includes illuminating visits to the actual "Mildred Pierce" house, the Glendale Train Station where the "Double Indemnity" murder plot played out, and the punch line to a Billy Wilder joke so subtle, it's taken six decades for anyone to get. Get on the bus to share in the laughter and the pathos of Cain's Southern California.

Upcoming Esotouric bus tour and special event schedule (free events starred)
*Thurs May 17 - Union Rescue Mission Walking Tour: 121 years on Skid Row (info at lavatransforms.org)
*Thurs May 17 - Of Scrap & Steel: free rooftop screening of rare 1949 color film (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat May 19 - Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles
Sun May 20 – Blood & Dumplings crime bus tour
*Sun May 27 - The Flâneur & The City: Dutch Chocolate Shoppe Redux (info at lavatransforms.org)
*Sun May 27 - The Flâneur & The City: Hill Street walking tour (info at lavatransforms.org)
*Mon May 28 - Savannah Cemetery tour (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat June 2 - Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles: The Lowdown on Downtown
Sun June 3 - Crime lab seminar: The Killer Behind the Camera (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat June 9 - Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice
Sat June 16 - The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's Southern California Nightmare
*Sun June 17 - El Ranchito: Tour of Pio Pico's Historic Whittier Adobe (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat June 23 - Weird West Adams
Sat July 14 - Pasadena Confidential (weekend pass available)
Sun July 15 - Eastside Babylon (weekend pass available)
Mon July 23- The LAVA Salon at Musso & Frank: Dorothy Parker & F. Scott Fitzgerald (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat July 28 - The Real Black Dahlia
Sat August 4 - Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles: Route 66 (weekend pass available)
Sun August 5 - Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles: South LA (weekend pass available)
Sat August 11 - Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles
Sat August 18 - Haunts of A Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowski's Los Angeles
Sat August 25 - Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles: Boyle Heights & The San Gabriel Valley

For more info on Esotouric, visit http://www.esotouric.com

Esotouric's Richard Schave, Kim Cooper and Joan Renner are proud members of LAVA - The Los Angeles Visionaries Association. http://www.lavatransforms.org

Official Website: http://www.esotouric.com