Main Cast: Charlton Heston, Lizabeth Scott, Viveca Lindfors, Dean Jagger, Don DeFore
Release Year: 1950
Country: US
Run Time: 88 minutes
Plot
Though he had previously appeared in David Bradley's film adaptation of Julius Caesar, Dark City marked Charlton Heston's first role in a major Hollywood production. Danny (Heston) and his pals Augie (Jack Webb), Soldier (Henry Morgan), and Barney (Ed Begley Sr.) set up a poker game to take Arthur Winant (Don DeFore) for all his money, but after the fact they discover that the money he lost wasn't really his and, in desperation, Arthur killed himself. Arthur's brother Sidney (Mike Mazurki), a large man not known for his emotional stability, becomes enraged when he learns the facts about Arthur's death, and he vows to kill the men responsible. When his friends start dropping like flies, Danny hides out with his girlfriend, nightclub singer Fran Garland (Lizabeth Scott), and pays a visit to Arthur's widow Victoria (Viveca Lindfors) in hopes of finding out who the killer might be. Jack Webb and Henry Morgan later reformed after their first appearance together as criminals when they co-starred in the TV show Dragnet. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
This is indeed a dark film about two-bit crooks on society's fringes. Charlton Heston is excellent in the lead role, playing a fellow who walks the line between evil and not-so-bad. Everyone, especially the female characters in the film and the police captain (Jay Morley), seems to think Danny Haley (Heston) isn't living up to his potential. Poor Lizabeth Scott can't do much with her role as Danny's neglected girlfriend, Fran Garland, but she shines in her scenes singing in a nightclub. Danny's relationship with the widow, Victoria Winant (Viveca Lindfors), of the man he helped push toward suicide, is definitely on the dark side. With a tough noir script filled with plenty of one-liners (Morley and Heston get most of the best lines), Dark City is a great little film worth scouring video stores for. ~ Adam Bregman, All Movie Guide
Jack Webb - Augie; Ed Begley, Sr. - Barney; Henry Morgan - Soldier; Walter Sande - Swede; Mike Mazurki - Sidney Winant; Fred Aldrich - Civilian detective; Walter Burke - Bartender; Robin Camp - Boy; William J. Cartledge - Bellhop; Sally Corner - Woman; Mike Pat Donovan - Sergeant; Byron Foulger - Motel Manager; Greta Granstedt - Margie; Stan Johnson - Room clerk; Mark Kenning - Billy Winant; Mike Mahoney - Cashier; Jay Morley - Capt. MacDonald; Ralph Peters - Proprietor; Dewey Robinson - Gambler; Franz Roehn - Photographer; Jeffrey Sayre - Gambler; Billy Sheehan - Gambler; Otto Waldis - Benowski; Stanley Prager - Sammy; James Dundee - Detective; John Bishop - Fielding
Dark City is a 1950film noir. The casting of Charlton Heston—in his first film appearance—as a petty hood is unusual in light of his subsequent career. The film also features Jack Webb and Harry Morgan, who both went on to co-star in Dragnet. The musical score was composed by Franz Waxman.[1]
A group of hustlers take a man for $5000 in a poker game. When the man ends up killing himself, the heat is put on the gamblers in the game. The dead man's vengeful brother begins picking off the gamblers one by one.
Man by the Roadside •Behind the Altar (with Julius Brandt) •The Saint and Her Fool •Sex in Chains •The Brandenburg Arch (with Max Knaake) •Triumph of Love •Frühlingsrauschen •Das Schweigen im Walde
