Esotouric to offer James M. Cain bus tour

L.A. Bus Tour Traces Film Noir's Path from James M. Cain's Fiction to the Screen

WHAT: Esotouric's The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's Southern California Nightmare tour

WHEN: Saturday May 30, 12pm-4pm

WHERE: Departing from Philippe The Original, 1001 Alameda, downtown LA

COST: $58/person (15% off for KCRW or KPCC members)

INFO: http://www.esotouric.com, 323-223-2767

SPECIAL OFFER: Anyone buying Esotouric tickets, season passes or gift certificates is entered into one of four May Mania drawings, for a chance towin a free Pair Pass for a future tour. One entry per ticket purchased.

Southern California, 1931: Amongst the burgeoning urban sprawl built atop bulldozed orange groves and the bitter realization that you can't eat the sunshine, recent emigré James M. Cain found a kernel of truth and his voice. That voice would become the dominant note in the developmentof a unique American genre, Film Noir, which spawned the abiding Los Angeles myth of the solitary, relentless detective.

This four-hour luxury bus tour celebrates 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" 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 artisans who transformed Cain's tales into movies, including 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 beloved dining landmark Philippe the Original, where passengers can enjoy delicious pie inhonor of Mildred Pierce. 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 Forest Lawn Memorial Park (site of the funeral of Mildred Pierce's "other" daughter, Ray), the Glendale Train Station where the "Double Indemnity" murder plot played out, and the punchline to a Billy Wilder joke so subtle, it's taken six decades for anyone toget. Get on the bus to share in the laughter and the pathos of Cain's SoCal.

Upcoming Esotouric bus tour schedule
Thurs May 14 - The Hippodrome (Downtown Art Walk Shuttle, free)
Sat May 16 - Weird West Adams
Sat May 23 - Pasadena Confidential
Sat May 30 - The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's SoCal Nightmare
Sun June 7 - South LA architecture tour
Thurs June 11 - The Hippodrome (Downtown Art Walk Shuttle, free)
Sat June 13 - Vroman's edition: Blood & Dumplings
Sat June 20 - Route 66 architecture tour
Sat July 11 - Raymond Chandler's LA
Sat July 18 - Charles Bukowski's LA
Sat July 25 ­ John Fante's Dreams from Bunker Hill
Sat Aug 1 - The Real Black Dahlia Saturday
Sat Aug 8 - Pasadena Confidential
Thurs Aug 13 - The Hippodrome (Downtown Art Walk Shuttle, free)
Sat Aug 15 - Blood & Dumplings
Sat Aug 22 - Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice
Sat Aug 29 - Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles: The Lowdown on Downtown-The Secret History of LA

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