Sun, Mar 9, 4:00 pm; Mon, Mar 10, 9:30 pm; Tue, Mar 11, 9:15 pm
Introduction by assistant curator Deborah Sorensen on Sunday, March 9

“Nobody came. Nobody Cares. It’s not about anything.” Robert Culp and Bill Cosby trade in their playful “I Spy” repartee for more sardonic commentary in this rarely seen neo-noir to end all noirs—the big screen directorial debut from multi-talented Culp, with a lean script from action director Walter Hill. As Al Hickey and Frank Boggs, Cosby and Culp are down on their luck private investigators that stubbornly refuse to back down from a fight, even when hopelessly trapped between the Mob and competing Black and Chicano activists, who are themselves fighting over stolen cash.  The film’s extensive location work reveals a sunbaked, car-filled L.A. landscape of useless cops, seedy bars and beach houses falling off cliffs—all shot in gorgeous deep focus by Bill Butler. Running gags about the pair’s unwieldy guns provide some dark comic relief, while Rosalind Cash shines as Hickey’s conflicted ex. DIR Robert Culp; SCR Walter Hill; PROD Fouad Said. US, 1972, color, 111 min. RATED PG

Ticket Information:
The National Building Museum is proud to partner with the American Film Institute (AFI) Silver Theatre and Cultural Center on this film series, "L.A. Modern, 1960–2000," which surveys mid-century to postmodern views of Los Angeles as the city of angels evolved into the nation’s second largest, and most modern, metropolis. The AFI Silver Theatre is located at 8633 Colesville Road in Silver Spring, Maryland, Silver Spring Metro, Red Line.

BUY TICKETS THROUGH AFI.com/Silver. $8.50 AFI and NBM members | $12 General Admission | $10 Seniors (65+), Students (with valid ID), and Military | $7 Children (12 and under). Tickets may also be purchased at the box office (opens 30 minutes before the first show of the day). Please note that tickets are not available for purchase through the National Building Museum.

Overdrive: L.A. Constructs the Future, 1940-1990 is generously supported by the Milton and Dorothy Sarnoff Raymond Foundation, ZGF Architects LLP, Lois England, and the Reinsch Pierce Family Foundation, Lola C. Reinsch and J. Almont Pierce.