Main Cast: Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, Googie Withers, Hugh Marlowe, Francis L. Sullivan
Release Year: 1950
Country: UK
Run Time: 95 minutes
Plot
Jules Dassin's Night and the City opens with cheap grifter Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark) running for his life through the streets of London. Harry wants to be big-time, and he does not care how he raises cash for his schemes. Like a junkie, he uses and steals from his girlfriend Mary (Gene Tierney), a singer at the Silver Fox, a seedy nightclub owned by the physically grotesque Phil Nosseross Francis L. Sullivan. Harry, who also works for Phil steering unsuspecting customers to the club, comes up with a plan to wrest control of professional wrestling from promoter and underworld kingpin Kristo (Herbert Lom) by manipulating Kristo through his father, retired wrestling great Gregorius (Stanislaus Zbyszko). For financial backing, Harry turns to Phil and Phil's wife Helen Googie Withers, both of whom give him the money, but only to further their own ends. When Gregorius is accidentally killed by his protege's upcoming opponent, Strangler (Mike Mazurki), and Phil realizes that Helen is leaving him for Harry, the scheme quickly unravels. Truly a glimpse of hell, Night and the City's distorted visuals and dark symbolism depict an underworld from which there is no escape and in which redemption comes at a very high price. ~ Steve Press, All Movie Guide
Review
Night and the City is a grim, film noir adaptation of Gerald Kersh's similarly grim source novel. Director Jules Dassin, forced to leave Hollywood because of the 1950s blacklist, effectively uses his London setting to create an urban nightmare. The film is dominated by its downbeat ambience and the moral ambiguity of its characters. There is a protagonist, but he is neither a hero nor an anti-hero. As might have been expected, the film did poorly in its initial US theatrical release. The performances are consistently strong, particularly the lead performance of Richard Widmark. While never greatly popular with audiences, Night and the City presages such intense urban films as Taxi Driver and Seven; the star of the former, Robert De Niro, also starred in a subsequent remake of Night and the City. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide
C.P. Norman - Art Director, Oleg Cassini - Costume Designer, Margaret Furse - Costume Designer, Jules Dassin - Director, Sid Stone - Editor, Nick De Maggio - Editor, Franz Waxman - Composer (Music Score), Mutz Greenbaum - Cinematographer, Samuel G. Engel - Producer, Peter Handford - Sound/Sound Designer, Roger Heman - Sound/Sound Designer, Joe Eisinger - Screenwriter, Gerald Kersh - Book Author
