Alan K. Rode
Alan K. Rode is an American film scholar and preservationist, cinema host and producer. He is best known for his books, "Michael Curtiz: A Life in Film" and "Charles McGraw: Biography of a Film Noir Tough Guy". Life and career. Rode was born in Orange, New Jersey. His mother was born and raised in Hollywood, where she was an extra in "Our Gang" comedy shorts and studied at Ben Bard Drama. His maternal grandfather was a violinist and composer who ascended from playing mood music on silent film sets and movie bit parts to Universal Studios house  composer and eventually founded Corelli-Jacobs Recording Inc. A great-uncle doubled Gary Cooper and fought Jack Dempsey. Another grandfather promoted rodeos with cowboy star Hoot Gibson at Los Angeles Gilmore Stadium. After graduation from Summit High School, he enlisted in the United States Navy. He transitioned to his next career in the aerospace and services industries while earning advanced degrees in education and management. He began writing about film in 2000. Rode is a charter director and treasurer of the "Film Noir Foundation" and co-hosts the NOIR CITY, Hollywood and Chicago film festivals. He has been the producer  and host of the annual Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Palm Springs, California since 2008 and has hosted numerous other cinema events. In addition to his many filmed interviews of Hollywood artists, he has produced numerous classic film Blu-ray commentaries and special features and appeared as a Spotlight co-host on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) in 2018. Filmography. As producer/writer As actor