The Naked City

Starring: Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart, Don Taylor, Frank Conroy, Ted de Corsia, House Jameson
Directed by: Jules Dassin
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Crime, Drama, Film Noir
1948

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: The New York City police seek to find the killer who murdered a model in her bathtub.

Review:

Tim: The opening moments of the film features the producer of the film narrating the story. He promises that The Naked City will be unlike any movie you've seen before. What's funny is that he is right. This film is hyper-realistic, almost feeling like a quasi-documentary. I loved the gritty realism of the film. The movie was filmed almost entirely in New York City, and the city is on full display here. This movie transports you to NYC in the 1940s, and the journey is a pretty unforgettable one.

The story tells of one murder, but it's told in a way that helps you to see that this is just a microcosm of the real New York City. It almost feels like you could have a thousand of these movies, all depicted various crimes in the Big Apple. We have this film, and it's not trying to tell the most famous New York crime, just an average day on the police force, trying to track down a killer. It felt very realistic to me.

At first, the film's narration threw me off. I like to lose myself into a film, so when a narrator mentions that this is a movie, we're pulled out of the movie and reminded we are the audience. I expected to hate the continued narration. Surprisingly, it adds such a great deal to the movie. The narrator was unlike what you would expect, but it worked in the context of this film. It added to the overall story, and I found myself entranced by what the narrator was saying. I didn't expect it, but it was one of my favorite aspects of the film.

The story is a fascinating one. It's fairly intricate, and brings in an extensive number of characters. I was enraptured by the story and propelled forward by the mystery. The movie's plot twists and turns and the unexpected events keep the audience interested. The film is very well made, and I enjoyed the realism of the story.

The cast is pretty good. I'm a huge fan of Barry Fitzgerald, and I really enjoyed him here. He's such an excellent character actor, and he added a good deal to this film. Fitzgerald easily gave the best performance of the film. I was less impressed with Howard Duff. Duff seemed like he was in over his head here, forcing his performance too much and occasionally slipping into over-the-top territory. He was average in the film, nothing more. Don Taylor was pretty good, and had a few strong moments throughout the film. This movie has such a huge cast that not all of them get enough time to shine. While there are some good performances here, Fitzgerald was definitely the star.

The cinematography in this film is pretty outstanding. The whole of New York City is captured here, in all its glory. The city looks amazing, and the cinematography really transports us there. It felt like we were in NYC, on the beat with the detectives. This was one of the strongest aspects of the film, and it's no surprise that this movie won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography (and the other went to Film Editing).

I really enjoyed The Naked City. While it's missing any kind of instantly memorable, classic moment, the film as a whole is a solidly made, memorable, and entertaining film noir. It is an exceptionally made crime story, and keeps the audience guessing. This might not be one of the all-time greats, but it is a movie that's well worth seeing.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



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