NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950)
Directed by: Jules Dassin.
Produced by: Samuel G. Engel.
Written by: Jo Eisenger, based on the novel by Gerald Kersh.
Director of Photography: Max Greene.
Edited by: Nick DeMaggio.
Music by: Franz Waxman.
Released by: Criterion Collection.
Language: with English subtitles.
Country of Origin: USA. 101 min. Not Rated.
With: Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, Googie Withers, Hugh Marlowe, Francis L. Sullivan, Herbert Lom, Stanislaus Zbyszko, Mike Mazurki & Charles Farrell.
DVD Features: Commentary by film scholar Glenn Erickson. New video interview with director Jules Dassin. Excerpts from a 1972 French program, Ciné-Parade. Compariosn by Christopher Husted of the two recorded scores. Restored high-definition digital transfer. Essay of film critic Paul Arthur. Trailer.

"The night is tonight, tomorrow night or any night.” This voice over begins Jules Dassin's 1950 film noir masterpiece Night and the City. Its connection with the McCarthy hearings gives it an added level of interest and depth. Filmed during the onset of the Hollywood blacklist, its director, Jules Dassin, was a likely target. When the smoke before the fire was obvious, 20th Century Fox production chief Daryl F. Zanuck sent Dassin to England to make this movie, advising him to shoot the most expensive scenes first lest his board of directors shut the production down. Did this scheme work? For Dassin's career, no. He was ousted from Hollywood and found it near impossible to get work. For the movie, definitely. Night and the City is a magnificently shot film that makes great use of the London scenery.

All Harry Fabian (played excellently by Richard Widmark) wants is to "be somebody." He's not a good guy by any stretch of the imagination but he's not a particularly bad one (you can't imagine him killing or stealing on a high level, just taking a bit here and there). Surprisingly sympathetic, he's a mostly harmless con man who is always looking to get rich quick. His latest scheme involves becoming a wrestling promoter, working with the has-been Gregorius the Great. That Gregorius is the estranged father of Kristo, the town's crime boss (played by future Inspector Clouseau nemesis Herbert Lom) leads to further problems. Also thrown in the mix is the Sidney Greenstreet-esque nightclub owner Phil Nosseross (Francis L. Sullivan), who is Fabian's only backer until he betrays Fabian and sides with Kristo. Fabian realizes he's at the end of his rope a little too late and ends up going out in one of the least glorious ways of any heel in cinema.

DVD Extras: As usual, Criterion has packed the film with extras. The interview with Dassin today is arguably its least fulfilling feature. An audio commentary with film scholar Glenn Erickson gives a lot of insight into the filming itself and the blacklist but not enough, however, about the film itself. A mini-documentary exploring the two different scores made for the film - one for the British and one for the American release - serves mostly to show scenes cut from the American version. (Criterion has released the American version; Dassin claims this version is closest to his true intention.) Without a doubt the best extra is a 1972 French interview with Dassin that gives insight into the star and studio system as well as his bitterness towards Elia Kazan, who cooperated with the House Un-American Activities Committee. Brett Harrison Davinger
April 20, 2005