The Naked City

Infobox Film
name = The Naked City


caption = DVD cover
director = Jules Dassin
producer = Mark Hellinger
writer = Story: Malvin Wald
Screenplay: Albert Maltz Malvin Wald
narrator = Mark Hellinger
starring = Barry Fitzgerald
Howard Duff
Dorothy Hart
Don Taylor
music = Miklós Rózsa
Frank Skinner
cinematography = William H. Daniels
editing = Paul Weatherwax
distributor = Universal Studios
released = March 4, 1948 (U.S.A.)
runtime = 96 minutes
country = United States
language = English
budget =
amg_id = 1:34382
imdb_id = 0040636|

"The Naked City" is a 1948 black-and-white film noir directed by Jules Dassin. The movie, shot in documentary style, was filmed on location on the streets of New York City featuring such landmarks as the Williamsburg Bridge, and the Whitehall Building in Manhattan. William H. Daniels won an Academy Award for his cinematography. [imdb title|id=0040636|title=The Naked City.]

Based on a story by Malvin Wald, "The Naked City" portrays the police investigation that follows the murder of a young model. A veteran cop is placed in charge of the case and he sets about, with the help of other beat cops and detectives, finding the girl's killer. "The Naked City" producer Mark Hellinger's voice was used for the film's narration. Hellinger died of a sudden heart attack after a preview of the movie. The film was the inspiration for the 1958-63 TV series "Naked City."

According to the book "Noir Style" by Alain Silver and James Ursini, the visual style of "The Naked City" was inspired by New York photographer Weegee, who published a book of photos of New York life called "Naked City" (1945). [cite book | author=Silver, Alain and James Ursini | title=The Noir Style | publisher =Overlook | year=1999 | id=ISBN 1-58567-485-0]

In 2007, "The Naked City" was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Plot

In the late hours of a hot New York summer night, jewel thieves Willie Garzah (Ted de Corsia) and Peter Backalis (Walter Burke) kill Jean Dexter, an ex-model, by knocking her out and drowning her in her bathtub. When Backalis gets drunk after the murder, Garzah kills him, then dumps his body in the East River. Later, Homicide detective Dan Muldoon (Barry Fitzgerald) and his young associate, Jimmy Halloran (Don Taylor), are assigned to Jean's case, which the medical examination has determined was murder, not an accident.

At the scene, the police interrogate Martha Swenson (Virginia Mullen), Jean's housekeeper, about Jean's friends, who tells them about a "Mr. Henderson." They also discover a bottle of sleeping pills. Jimmy questions Dr. Lawrence Stoneman (House Jameson), who prescribed the pills, and Ruth Morrison (Dorothy Hart), another model.

Back at the police station, Dan questions Frank Niles (Howard Duff), who lies about everything, including claiming only a business relationship with Jean and denying knowing Ruth, to whom he is engaged. The police quickly discover the truth behind many of his lies. Later, Dan determines from the bruises on Jean's neck that she was killed by at least two men. That evening, Mr. and Mrs. Batory, Jean's estranged parents, arrive in New York to formally identify the body, and tell the detectives that they have no knowledge of Jean's acquaintances. The next morning, the detectives learn that Frank sold a gold cigarette case stolen from Stoneman, then purchased a one-way airline ticket to Mexico. They also discover that Jean's ring was stolen from the home of a wealthy Mrs. Hylton (Enid Markey). At Mrs. Hylton's Park Avenue apartment, the police learn that the ring actually belonged to her daughter, who, to their surprise, turns out to be Ruth.

Learning that Ruth's engagement ring is also stolen property, Dan and Jimmy rush to Frank's apartment, where they coincidently interrupt Garzah trying to murder him. The killer escapes onto the nearby elevated train, however, and when questioned about the stolen jewelry, Frank claims that they were all presents from Jean, which reveals his true relationship with her, much to Ruth's chagrin. Frank is then arrested for robbery, but the murder case remains open. When Backalis' body is found, Jimmy attempts to connect the ex-convict to Jean's murder.

Through further investigation, Jimmy discovers that Backalis' accomplice on a jewelry store robbery was Garzah. While Jimmy canvases the Lower East Side of New York with an old wrestling photograph of Garzah, Dan forces Frank to admit that Stoneman was Jean's mystery boyfriend, Henderson. Back at Stoneman's office, the married physician confesses that he fell in love with Jean, only to learn that she and Frank were using him in order to rob his society friends. Frank then admits that Garzah killed Jean and Backalis.

Meanwhile, Jimmy finally finds Garzah and, pretending that Backalis is in the hospital, tries to trick Garzah to accompany him back to the hospital, but Garzah sees through the ruse, and the ex-wrestler "rabbit punches" Jimmy, momentarily knocking him out. Garzah leaves to disappear in the crowded city, but as police descend upon the neighborhood, a by now panicked Garzah draws attention to himself when he shoots and kills a blind man's guide dog on the pedestrian walk of The Williamsburg Bridge. Garzah attempts to flee over the bridge but as police approach from both directions, he starts climbing one of the towers, and is shot and wounded. High on the tower, Garzah refuses to surrender, gunfire is exchanged, he is hit again and falls to his death.

Cast

* Barry Fitzgerald as Detective Lt. Dan Muldoon
* Howard Duff as Frank Niles
* Dorothy Hart as Ruth Morrison
* Don Taylor as Detective Jimmy Halloran
* Frank Conroy as Captain Donahue
* Ted de Corsia as Willie Garzah aka Willie the Harmonica
* House Jameson as Dr. Stoneman
* Anne Sargent as Mrs. Halloran
* Adelaide Klein as Mrs. Paula Batory
* Grover Burgess as Mr. Batory
* Tom Pedi as Detective Perelli
* Enid Markey as Mrs. Edgar Hylton
* Walter Burke as Pete Backalis
* Virginia Mullen as Martha Swenson
* Mark Hellinger as Narrator

Critical reception

Film critic Bosley Crowther, while having problems with the script, liked the location shooting and wrote, "Thanks to the actuality filming of much of its action in New York, a definite parochial fascination is liberally assured all the way and the seams in a none-too-good whodunnit are rather cleverly concealed. And thanks to a final, cops-and-robbers "chase" through East Side Manhattan and on the Williamsburg Bridge, a generally talkative mystery story is whipped up to a roaring 'Hitchcock' end." [ [http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C06E4DA143BE33BBC4D53DFB5668383659EDE Crowther, Bosley] . "The New York times," film review, "Naked City," Mark Hellinger's Final Film, at Capitol -- Fitzgerald Heads Cast," March 5, 1948. Last accessed: January 30, 2008.]

Awards

Wins
* Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, William H. Daniels; Best Film Editing, Paul Weatherwax; 1949.

Nominations
* Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Writing, Motion Picture Story, Malvin Wald; 1949.
* British Academy of Film and Television Arts: BAFTA Film Award, Best Film from any Source, USA; 1949.
* Writers Guild of America: WGA Award (Screen), Best Written American Drama, Albert Maltz and Malvin Wald; The Robert Meltzer Award (Screenplay Dealing Most Ably with Problems of the American Scene), Albert Maltz and Malvin Wald; 1949.

Notable quote

* Narrator: There are eight million stories in the Naked City; this has been one of them.

References

External links

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* [http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews28/the_naked_city.htm "The Naked City"] at DVD Beaver (includes images)