Night and the City - Criterion Collection

Rating:
Summary: Film Noir - London-style!
Review: After being blacklisted in Hollywood during the McCarthy-era witch hunts, director Jules Dassin moved to London and made the classic film noir, Night and the City for 20th Century Fox. He presents a shadowy underworld where life is cheap and money is king. Its inhabitants consist of drunks, thieves and other desperate people scrambling to eke out some kind of existence.

There is an audio commentary by none other than the DVD Savant himself, Glenn Erickson, author of The Film Noir essay on Night and the City. Erickson touches upon the film's troubled production history and references the book, the film's script and both versions, including cut scenes. This is a very knowledgeable track as Erickson covers many aspects of the movie.

In the "Jules Dassin Interview," he talks about how the Hollywood blacklisting made his life difficult. The veteran director tells some fascinating anecdotes in this substantial extra.

"2 Versions, 2 Scores" examines the musical score for the British version by Benjamin Frankel and the American one by Franz Waxman. Waxman's score is more dynamic while Frankel's is not as melodramatic.

"Cine-Parade Interview" is a 1972 French interview with Dassin who talks about his life and career, including an amusing anecdote about shooting a scene with Joan Crawford.

Finally, there is a theatrical trailer.

Rating:
Summary: A Man's Misled Fate - Brilliant Film-noir by Dassin...
Review: Building a sand castle complies several elementary difficulties in a long-term perspective, as weather and tide will have their affects on the sandy creation. Bathers and other visitors of the beach will trample the beach in quest for a dry and proper space for intake of sun and social interaction. Children play with beach toys and run around, as if they were looking for Christmas presents on Christmas Day. On this busy location which many visit on sunny days several people, children and adults, brings themselves to erect these sandy monuments in order to live up to some vision, or an idea. Initially, it seems like a good idea, and the building process might also encourage continued efforts on the sand castle. However, as wind picks up the drying sand begins to drift off the surface of the miniature monument, which is followed by a tide and trample. This will erase any memory of what once was built in the space where the sand castle existed. Most people see the limited opportunity of building sand castles, however, there are a few who base their existence on the same frail notion. One of these characters is Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark) who is busy building his own sand castles at night, which always tend to be gone in the morning.

Nighttime shots of London's famous landmarks such as Big Ben, the Thames, and the neon signs of Piccadilly Square take place while an ominous voice reminds the audience of the night and any night. This opening offers a powerful impression on the audience, as it presents a symbolic visual together with the narration of the dangers that lurk the streets during the dark hours. The visuals are accompanied by restrained tunes, which bring a feeling of a bad omen. Suddenly, the creepy tune is interrupted by an alarming fast-paced tune, as Henry Fabian is trying to escape someone who is following him. The chase brings Henry to his girlfriend's place where he seeks shelter from the following man. The brief meeting between Henry and his girlfriend Mary (Gene Tierney) displays the true nature behind Henry's character, which in essence, is an insecure flighty opportunist without morals or backbone. Mary, who has known him for a long time knows this, but is helpless due to her strong affections to Henry.

Henry's persona is built on only one thing - money. The job he has is to get people to give him, or more precise his boss, Phil (Francis L. Sullivan), money to the private Silver Fox Club. The dreams Henry has surround money, and it appears to the audience that only money can make him happy. Skillfully Henry cons men to visit the private club, which only exists to exploit the weakness of lonesome men. These visiting men have to pay excessive amounts of money to fill their insecurities with phony affection, as the women say nice things and ask the men to buy them chocolates and cheap champagne. Henry's existence is as hollow as this establishment for which he works, but he is completely unaware of his emotional neglect or lack of a real skill as his eyes are set on money. Mary's neighbor, Adam (Hugh Marlowe), points out the most important aspect of Henry by stating "Henry is an artist without an art."

When Henry visits a wrestling match to recruit more visitors to the club he overhears the infamous wrestler Gregorius the Great (Stanislaus Zbyszko) loudly discredit the wrestling match. Gregorius finds the wrestling match to be a circus, as he finds it offensive in regards to the true nature of Greco-roman wrestling. His son Kristo (Herbert Lom) responds to the accusations that wrestling must change with the times. However, Gregorius is offended and walks off. Henry discovers that he sits on a golden egg, as he rushes off to convince Gregorius that Greco-roman wrestling can still conquer the audience and that it is far superior. During this scene it is evident that Henry does not care about wrestling, as he seeks the quick way to riches for himself without consideration for others.

Quickly Henry seeks people with capital to invest in his idea, as he is about to erect his biggest sand castle ever. Initially people laugh at him, however, it only infuriates him. This anger provides an internal motivation for him to seek investors, as Phil has promised to match his assets that are put into the financial venture. On Henry's quest for an investor he finds that no one wants to have anything to do with him, or his idea, until he meets Helen (Googie Withers) Phil's wife. Helen is willing to put up the money for a favor to which Henry agrees. With the starting capital Henry seems to be in heaven, as he can now begin rake in the money. Kristo sets stops to Henry's attempts to start the Greco-roman wrestling organization in a lawful way, but when Kristo finds out that he has turned his father against him it begins to turn very ugly.

Night and the City is a magnificent story depicted through skillful cinematography, which is enhanced through how each scene is framed. In addition, the mise-en-scene helps develop the strong undercurrents in the film, as feelings such as envy, greed, love, and deceit are depicted. The cast performs very well and they enhance the feelings through their body language and how they look upon one another--not to mention, the script, which is brilliant. However, it is the final product, the story, which generates a truly brilliant cinematic experience, which will leave the audience with thoughts to reflect on while having experienced an intriguing tale of a man's misled fate.

Rating:
Summary: RUN HARRY RUN....
Review: Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark) always seems to be running. From thugs, backfired schemes, rip-offs, etc. In London, he hits upon a surefire get-rich-quick scheme: to promote a one-time famous wrestler, Gregorius (Stanilaus Zbyszko), in direct opposition to the current wrestling kingpin Kristo (a young Herbert Lom), Greogorius' son. But, as always, money is the problem. He finds backing from an oily night club owner's wife (Googie Withers) who has big plans of her own. But the night club owner Nosserus (Francis L.Sullivan) is on to Fabian's scheme and the double-cross has disastrous results as Fabian tries to keep the gig going at all costs. Jules Dassin created a small masterpiece with this 1950 film noir and Criterion has done it justice on the disc with fine extras and a good print. The film boasts an excellent British/American cast and a great score by Franz Waxman. Widmark is dynamic as Fabian and Gene Tierney is good as Mary, his long suffering girlfriend who works in Nosserus' club, The Silver Fox. But the best female role is Withers as Helen, who reveals a ruthlessness that surpasses even Fabian's wild schemes. "Night and the City" pulls no punches in showing what happens to some people who stop at nothing to get what they want at the expense of others...and how big dreams can turn into nightmares. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A delicious slice of classic film noir!
Review: This has always been one of my favorite Richard Widmark films, and it's also one of the most underated film noirs of all time. Widmark plays Harry Fabian, a hopeless hustler and conman in London who dreams of making it big. Gene Tierney plays his girlfriend, who also falls prey to Fabian's schemes and tricks. Fabian comes up with a plan to become a "bigshot": be a promoter in the wrestling world, and arrange for one of the biggest matches in London's history. The problem is that he has to meet the approval of the leader of London's underworld, and that's where his plans fall apart. The suckers who supported Fabian soon realize their error, and the mob comes looking for Fabian with a vengeance, in one of the most memorable chases in film noir history. Fabian has no one left to turn to, except his helpless girlfriend, but even she can do nothing to save him. The ending is one of the best (in my opinion) of all film noirs. Even though Widmark's character is totally unlikable, I consider this one of his finest performances. Gene Tierney is also great, but she gets far too little screen time. I've waited years for this classic to be released on dvd, and finally my wish has been answered! If you're even remotely interested in classic film noir, this dvd is a definite must-have!