Sun 10 Jan 2010
A Movie Review by Mike Dennis: NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950).
Posted by Steve under Crime Films , Reviews[9] Comments
NIGHT AND THE CITY. 20th Century-Fox, 1950. Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, Googie Withers, Hugh Marlowe, Francis L. Sullivan, Herbert Lom, Stanislaus Zbyszko, Mike Mazurki, Charles Farrell. Screenplay by Jo Eisinger, based on the novel by Gerald Kersh. Director: Jules Dassin.
From the moment you see Richard Widmark running through dark alleys in the opening scene of Jules Dassin’s 1950 classic, Night And The City, you know he’s totally screwed. If only he knew it.
But such is the lot of film noir protagonists. Caught up in the backwash of their own bad choices, they can only hope to put off, not avoid, what inevitably awaits them. And they’re always the last to know.
Night And The City, adapted from the 1938 Gerald Kersh novel of the same name, takes a look at the London demimonde of the era, where Harry Fabian plies his trade as a nightclub hustler. He periodically “borrows” money from his girlfriend to finance his big dreams, not the least of which is setting up a life of ease and plenty without having to work.
Standing in his way are the sinister fat man, played by Francis L Sullivan, pursuing a personal vendetta against Fabian, and the East End godfather, played by the dark-suited Herbert Lom, whose intense presence fires up the proceedings every time he walks onscreen.
This is truly one of the greatest films, not only of the noir genre, but of all cinema. Dassin’s direction is flawless, capturing perfectly the seedy filth of London’s underbelly, while telling the riveting story of one man’s misplaced dreams.
Max Greene, the director of photography, is superb, never allowing the viewer to get comfortable. The expressionist look of the film is all sharp black-and-white contrast and angular shadows, and this, along with his off-center camera angles, produces an unsettling effect throughout. This is never more evident than in a nightclub scene, where a mirrored disco-type ball casts its little gleaming points over the oddly-lit club, bleeding into the office above.
Toward the end, as Fabian’s reckoning approaches, dawn breaks over London, and suddenly the film takes on a pasty, grayish cast. By then, I felt like I was covered with dirt and needed a shower.
Meanwhile, the stressful score of Franz Waxman pumps up the adrenaline in all the right places. As Fabian runs deep through the back streets of London, the music pulls you to the edge of your seat.
But most of all, this is Widmark’s tour de force. Fabian is a complex character, driven by his own twisted ambitions, and beset by deep emotions. When he whines to Gene Tierney, “I just want to be somebody,” he injects a whole new feeling, a real truth, into that tired line that has been uttered by countless lesser actors.
Widmark makes it all look so easy, so real, that he pulls you with him, deep inside Harry Fabian’s head and heart, as he’s sucked down into the whirlpool. Never again would he be given a role so challenging, showing us how he was so tragically wasted through his long career.
January 11th, 2010 at 12:00 am
I certainly agree about this fine film (I can’t stomach the remake with de Niro), and it is well worth looking up Gerald Kersh’s novel as well. Many credit Kersh with inventing the British gangster novel that also gave birth to the British gangster film.
In addition, Kersh is one of the finest short story writers of his time. Though virtually unknown in this country, his novel FOWLER”S END is a masterpiece about life and crime in London’s East End.
I don’t think Hollywood ever quite knew what to do with Widmark, but he did get to do films like this and Fuller’s PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET, and he was always an interesting lead if perhaps better in films where he was allowed to play a more nuanced character.
January 11th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
I agree about Kersh, David. I have a hardcover of NIGHT AND THE CITY, and as I’m sure you know, it bears no resemblance to the film. In fact, Kersh was paid $40,000 for the rights (a lot of money in those days) and when the film came out, he was asked what he thought of it. He said he couldn’t be disappointed since they’d paid him $10,000 a word. All they kept was the title!
January 11th, 2010 at 5:19 pm
Except for Tommy Udo and Harry Fabian, Widmark always played it cool & laconic. Pity this was such a gritty little film (by a black-listed director because his perf here was Oscar®-worthy if ever there was one.
D’joo get the disc with the alternate scenes & score used in England?
January 11th, 2010 at 11:58 pm
Re what Hollywood often does with literary material I’m reminded of the story of Clarence Mulford who created Hopalong Cassidy. When asked what he thought of Bill Boyd’s much different take on Hoppy and his other creations he wisely answered: “He has his Hoppy and I have mine.”
That or Kersh’s take is probably preferable to the mess Clive Cussler got into when he attacked the film adaptation of his book SAHARA. Due to some contractual obligations Cussler’s comments on the film have cost him a $13 million dollar settlement against him plus legal fees — though as yet the fight is still going on. Most writers, even those who are screenwriters, take the safer point of view that they still have their book no matter what the film is like.
Re Widmak he had a few good outings in westerns where he was something more than cool and laconic as in THE LAW AND JAKE WADE, and his MADIGAN was a complex character, but I would agree that in KISS OF DEATH, STREET WITH NO NAME, NIGHT AND THE CITY, and PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET he turned in Oscar worthy performances that were ignored by the Academy because of the type of film he gave them in.
On Gerald Kersh, I simply suggest that anyone that enjoys good writing find his work and get to know him. Whether it is his offbeat short stores, his tales of the Great Karmesian, his Bo Raymond tales, his London novels like NIGHT AND THE CITY, PRELUDE TO A CERTAIN MIDNIGHT, and FOWLER”S END, or the entertaining adventure tale THE SECRET MASTERS he is an exceptional writer you’ll be glad you got to know.
January 12th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
Dan–I did get the DVD with the alternate scenes and the British score. The alternate scenes very nearly put the movie in a different light, and had they used the alternate ending, the film wouldn’t have had the impact it did. Those scenes found their rightful place on the cutting room floor.
The British score was much more reserved that Waxman’s, which I called “stressful”. It did very little to heighten the tension and in one spot, during a key scene where Fabian is being chased, there was no music at all!
The final version that we all know and love is truly the best one.
January 12th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
David–I agree with you about MADIGAN. I loved that movie, as I did PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET. DEATH OF A GUNFIGHTER was another very underrated Widmark performance. But those films, along with KISS OF DEATH, are starting to feel dated. NIGHT AND THE CITY continues to resonate with me, both as a story and as a cinematic achievement.
January 12th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
I’d like to add a couple more titles that haven’t been mentioned: “Road House” Widmarkplays a great opposite of “Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Scorned” (of course it was a very sexy Ida Lupino which sets him off), and “The Bedford Incident” which I still find very watchable every time it’s on TCM. I think the Cold War tension it emits for those of us who lived through it still works. Love that Wally Cox part too.
Hey, Widmark did say “Fire One” didn’t he?
January 12th, 2010 at 11:07 pm
Paul
I do love THE BEDFORD INCIDENT too. And one of many great performances. I always liked him as the Hemingwayesque writer in RUN FOR THE SUN, a remake of “The Most Dangerous Game.” The nice thing about Widmark is you never knew going in if you were going to get Tommy Udo or a stalwart hero in a film, or some combination of both.
ROAD HOUSE is a damn good performance too. One of my favorite Widmark roles is the laconic gambler in THE GARDEN OF EVIL with Gary Cooper and Susan Hayward. Right up until very near the end you aren’t sure which side of the coin Widmark is going to land on, good or evil, though it is all done with subtle inflection and playing off audience expectations.
And though it didn’t run very long, the series MADIGAN was one of the most interesting of its time with Widmark making a real effort to get first class material even approaching Ross Macdonald to write for the series.
January 13th, 2010 at 8:54 pm
David,
I never heard that Widmark wanted Ross Macdonald to write for TV. I can only imagine what those shows would have been like. I still think Macdonald is one of the top three writers of detective fiction (next to Chandler & Hammett)but that would start us all off again! Thanks for the info.
Any chance you’re coming to the Windy City pulp show? I’m sure Steve and myself would love to meet you. Probably stay up all night along with Walker talking about movies and books!