Night and the City - Criterion Collection | Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney

Night and the City - Criterion Collection | Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney | Noir masterpiece

DVDs:

Night and the City...

	Night and the City - Criterion Collection Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney Criterion, 2005 average customer review:based on 32 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Two-bit hustler Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark) aches for a life of ease and plenty. Trailed by an inglorious history of go-nowhere schemes, he stumbles upon a chance of a lifetime in the form of legendary wrestler Gregorius the Great (Stanislaus Zbyszko). But there is no easy money in this underworld of shifting alliances, bottomless graft, and pummeled flesh?and soon Fabian learns the horrible price of his ambition. Luminously shot in the streets of London, Jules Dassin?s Night and the City is film noir of the first order and one of the director?s crowning achievements.

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this is what film noir is all about, isn't it ?

NIGHT AND THE CITY...RIGHT?
almost like macbeth in nature, richard widmark makes choices in his life that can ultimately lead to only one conclusion...along the way are a loyal but weary girlfriend, shady husband and wife business partners, and a professional wrestler living glory days past his prime...standing in widmark's path to riches is the underworld organization....but it's the war torn city of london at night that takes center stage in dassin's shakespearean-like tragedy, which is certainly one of the best film noir's ever made.
(want to save yourself 20-30 bucks..buy the OOP factory original 20th century fox vhs instead of the criterion dvd...the videotape is clear, complete, and captioned.)

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Noir masterpiece

"Night and the City" is classic film noir based on the Gerald Kersh novel with Richard Widmark as Harry Fabian, a two-bit hustler scheming to become a big-time fight promoter in London.

Widmark is superb in what may be his best performance. He brings to mind James Cagney at times, but he's actually more like Bugs Bunny, full of bravado and nervous energy.

And let's not forget Mike Mazurski as the Strangler, as brutish as he was playing Moose Malloy in Murder, My Sweet but with a hint of more intelligence, and portly Francis L. Sullivan, a "fat man" in the style of Sydney Green street, but more tragic. Herbert Lom, Googie Withers, and Stanislaw Zbyazko, once a real star of Roman-Greco wrestling, are also excellent. Gene Tierney, however, is superfluous as Widmark's girlfriend, and Hugh Marlowe, who plays the sort of bland role he was often assigned in 20th Century Fox films, has little to do but express his disapproval for Fabian's way of life.

The look of the film is one of its strengths with scenes cast in a luminous black contrasted with almost ghostly whites.

Dismissed as lurid nonsense about undesirable characters when released (Variety chimed in with one of the few positive reviews), "Night and the City" is a masterpiece that hasn't dated a bit. It has a modern sensibility that makes it more contemporary than the 1992 remake (with Robert DeNiro in Widmark's role).

Brian W. Fairbanks

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Life on the Periphery of the Law

Jules Dassin's direction and Mutz Greenbaum's beautiful, expressionistic photography make Night and the City a masterpiece of the film noir genre. The story takes us through the tightly-controlled underworld of 1950 London's East End operated by an assortment of self-serving, low-lives eager to cash in on the slightest opportunity to hustle, sham or slam their way to the top.

The film begins and ends with restless, unscrupulous Harry Fabian; "An artist without an art" played by Richard Widmark, dodging pursuers, fleeing like a rat though a maze of dark streets. Quick-witted Harry desperately wants to realize his grandiose scheme of becoming a big-time wrestling promoter. Always on the run, carrying a sack of lies and deception possibly bestowed by the Olympian Hermes himself, he scurries through the movie along winding, treacherous streets and alleyways, while hastily creating the masterpiece of a lifetime. But when all else fails, he too is capable of making the supreme sacrifice to help his girlfriend Mary by executing the final con of his career.

Underworld figures in Night and the City are cold and calculating, yet they are also real people: hard, but vulnerable. Absent are the emotionless psychopaths of modern film, possessing an inexhaustible supply of ammunition loaded by tireless fiends with superhuman ability to snuff out life without remorse. We see the major characters in Night and the City, Harry Fabian, Kristo, Helen and Philip Nosseross, as frail human beings in an anything-goes wrestling match with the vicissitudes of life, "scheming their way through unpredictable circumstances." (DVD commentary) The struggle against fate always lays them open to defeat, because of a tragic flaw, inner weakness, or simply being too smart or crooked for their own good. Motivated by greed and ambition with a slosh of conceit, they believe life is unfair, and owes them a big score. Capable of genuine affection, they love "not wisely, but too well."

Gene Tierney's role as Mary Bristol, Fabian's all-forgiving girlfriend, is disappointingly small for such a great talent; she exists only on the periphery. Controversy surrounds her singing `debut' in one club scene. It was dubbed-in for the British version, but there is a veil of uncertainty surrounding the American version. A sample of her singing voice can be heard in the jail scene in "That Wonderful Urge" 1948. Let the viewer decide. Mary serves as the unwilling patron of Fabian's artifice; a significant source of ready cash, which he continuously purloins; and subject of the one good deed he attempts, presenting himself as an offering. Dassin's Fabian is a scapegoat for the sins of the world: greed, ambition, conceit. Cornered by Kristo's men, he expresses remorse to an old woman in a beautifully, composed shot strikingly reminiscent of Michelangelo's "Pieta".

The highlight of the movie is a King Kong vs. Godzilla style clash between two titan wrestlers fighting to prove the superiority of their style and values. This after-hours, out of control, grudge match, between Gregorius, master of the Greco-Roman style, and The Strangler, champion of the faked spectacle we see today, is arguably one on the best fight scenes ever filmed. The commentary for Night and the City is excellent providing a rich background of the script, actors careers, and the life and times of Jules Dassin.

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Visual Tour de Force

When friends who are unfamiliar with film noir ask me to explain just what it is, inevitably the answer turns to the visual aspects of light, shadow and rain in an urban landscape. In this respect, Night and the City is prime material: the cinematography captures it all, and in this new Criterion transfer, is all one could ask for. Filmed in London, the fog, rain and darkness are used to great advantage.

When I continue with my explanation of film noir, I mention the interpersonal intrigue, and the character -always male- who gets into trouble. In this case it's Richard Widmark's Harry Fabian, who plays his enthusiastic, almost adolescent huckster role to the hilt. It's here - in overall plot interest - that I regrettably relegate to second-tier noir. To each his own, but the story just didn't grab me the way some other noir does (check out 'DOA' or 'Kanas City Confidential' for some great story telling). What's missing here is a sense of mystery and intrigue, and if you seek that in your cinema, this is not the best place to look.

Criterion has offered an interview with director Jules Dassin who, at the time this film was made (1950) was about to be blacklisted as a communist, and move to Europe permanently. There is also a featurette comparing the scores of the American and British releases of the film. The main feature uses the American version (Dassin's pick as the definitive score for the film). Alternately over-dramatic during chase scenes, and cloying during tender moments, it detracted from my experience. The examples of the British score are more understated, which may be a benefit, but we only treated to bits and pieces.

The ultimate noir? Not in my book, but Criterion has done its usual good job, and this can be recommended for serious collectors. Casual viewers wanting to take in the visual aspects of noir will do very well here, but as a story, it's merely average, and you might consider spending your dough on something else, such as Dassin's 'Naked City', which trades some of the arresting visuals for a gritty urban documentary-style story.

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Intense but sad tale of the hands life deals

Decent noir with a variety of sharp, memorable performances, especially one by Richard Widmark as wheeler-dealer Harry Fabian. Most of the characters are pretty shady, Fabian included, but all of them elicit at least a little sympathy on one level or other, too. I particularly felt bad for Fabian, who wasn't particularly evil, just someone who needed that one big score... a score that would deliver luxury but, more importantly, the respect of his peers. But the score, and the perfect alignment of the angles to bring it about, always seemed to be just out of his grasp. Unfolding mostly in an unusual after-hours London setting, this is a noir entry that doesn't hit the same beats as hundreds of other noirs, and at a little over an hour and a half, doesn't overstay its welcome. The Criterion Disc features a sharp, pristine image and good sound. There's the usual array of generous extra features.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

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