poe426 In NIGHT AND THE CITY, Richard Widmark plays a petty, sulking, sneering, scheming grifter named Harry Fabian who, as Hugh Marlowe points out in the movie, is "an artist without an art." As the very dangerous criminal kingpin Kristo (Herbert Lom) warns: "Born a hustler, you'll DIE a hustler." Fabian proceeds to weasel his way into promoting professional wrestling; not exactly standard fare for your upper-class films noir, but so beautifully directed by Jules Dassin that it doesn't really matter WHAT the storyline's about. Mike Mazurki as "Strangler" comes dangerously close to stealing the show (NIGHT AND THE CITY is nothing if not a showcase for this VERY underrated performer), especially since Widmark often comes across as little more than a petulant child, but, by the end, Widmark's hitting on all four cylinders and the end is absolutely fantastic. (Gene Tierney is also outstanding as Widmark's long-suffering enabler.) One of the Great Ones.

oOgiandujaOo_and_Eddy_Merckx Why is it that films noir have such spurious titles? The German title, "Die Ratte von Soho" / "The Rat of Soho" seems a more suitably lurid fit, certainly as a hook. To go with the spurious title there's a spurious introduction on the theme of Night and the City, which is at least easy on the eye, though fortunately brief. What the film is really about is the existential failure of one Harry Fabian, a cheap conman, but full of life. The movie is a very sordid one, an initial lecture is given to a bunch of *ahem* companions in the Silver Fox nightclub about how to fleece the customers, there is however to be no actual theft from them on the premises, although, suggestively, what happens to the customers on leaving the club is of no concern to the management. A friend of my brother has post-traumatic stress from being the victim of such a honey trap whilst drunk in London this year, so I really connected with the cutting edge of nastiness this film provides. Although this movie is set in a moonlit criminal demi-monde, there are about five separate love stories, arranged in a complicated geometry. These are what pull the heartstrings and kept me rapt throughout. The central love story is Mary's love for Harry, who does little more than use her. She sees a vitality in him that attracts her helplessly, as if he's a magnet, and overlooks all his faults for this. He's a hamstrung man, who's damaged heart spills out in a final scene of electrifying intensity. Richard Widmark, who I have rarely appreciated as an actor, here throws everything at his role but the kitchen sink and deserves all the praise he gets.Night and the City is an absolutely heartbreaking film that I realised had really shaken me up after I left the cinema. I had fish and chips to celebrate in Cockney style. Peripherally I think it's worth mentioning that there is more than one version of this movie, and it can look a bit strange because a lot of the build up to the, possibly overwrought, action of the denouement is cut in what I believe is the American version. Would pay to rent out the Criterion DVD of this movie as it apparently has explanatory extras on this subject. I would also like to express my admiration for the seductive qualities of Googie Withers' portrayal of Helen Nosseross, and for the horrid wrestling scene in the movie which actually aroused this hysteric feeling in me, that happens when a fight starts in real life, and which films very rarely manage to achieve.

Ben Larson Jules Dassin (Never on Sunday) does an excellent job of directing Richard Widmark and Gene Tierney in an outstanding example of the noir genre.Harry Fabian (Widmark) is a loser who comes up with a great idea after seeing Gregoriuos (Stanislaus Zbyszko), a famous wrestler. Harry is full of ideas, seldom coming up with anything that works. Unfortunately, most know his track record, and he runs from one to another trying to get the money to make his idea a reality. He gets help from the most unlikely source.Widmark was excellent in this role, showing a wide range of emotions.Francis L. Sullivan is equally excellent as Harry's silent partner, and the husband of an ungrateful wife (Googie Withers).Gene Tierney's role as Harry's girlfriend was small, but significant.Dassin really ratchets up the action and suspense at the end when everything turns sour. Widmark also ratchets up his performance to give us what is probably the best he has done.Great film.

CineasteWest I waited many years to see this film that had been given new life by a reassessment of the film noir period. "Night and the City" became one of those must-see films which was difficult to catch through normal channels. Luckily, NetFlix recently added it to their list of streaming films and I was overjoyed by the prospect of screening this film. However, as I watched "Night and the City," a gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach told me something was amiss. Did I have the wrong film? Was the hyper overplayed about this little B&W ditty? Was this film as mediocre as I was making it out be? Well, I did have the right film, but my suspicions were correct in the other two areas. "Night and the City" has some redeeming graces such as excellent photography and some very good performances. But the film's story is pure B-picture hokem. Although it has been "revisited" by the film noir crowd, I think the New York Times original review of the film still stands"Bosley Crowther in The New York Times: "Dassin's evident talent has been spent upon a pointless, trashy yarn, and the best that he has accomplished is a turgid pictorial grotesque...he tried to bluff it with a very poor script—and failed...the screenplay is without any real dramatic virtue, reason or valid story-line...little more than a melange of maggoty episodes having to do with the devious endeavors of a cheap London night-club tout to corner the wrestling racket—an ambition in which he fails. And there is only one character in it for whom a decent, respectable person can give a hoot."I agree completely with this assessment, in fact, I labored to sit through the entire film. It's simply a waste of good direction, acting and atmosphere thrown away on a pointless story. I appreciate the efforts of recent critics to restore the prominence of little films important in the development of the cinema, but this little film noir "gem" is in actuality, a faux stone. One is tempted to make comparisions between it and "The Third Man" (for atmospherics) but "The Third Man" was scripted by the brilliant Graham Greene, while "Night and the City" is more reminiscent of a desperate Bowery Boys plot line than Mr. Greene's thoughtful entertainments.