Night and the City poster & wallpaper

Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, Googie Withers

Richard Widmark never had better exercise for his Cagney-like bouncing-ball energy than Night and the City, a classic film noir about a hustler's meteoric flame-out. Although acknowledged as on...( read more  read more... )e of the great noir pictures, it's actually set and shot in London, which gives an exotic, displaced novelty to the usual noir universe. Widmark's performance as Harry Fabian is a jibbering, wheedling, giggling tour de force, as Harry schemes his way to setting up a wrestling match and finally establishing himself as a "somebody." Instead, he manages to irritate the underworld heavies (memorably, Herbert Lom and Francis L. Sullivan) whose fingers are already deeply into the criminal pie. Gene Tierney and Googie Withers are the women--one good, one bad--who witness Harry's descent. This was director Jules Dassin's final project for a Hollywood studio before the blacklist forced him out, and he packs the film with tortured camera angles and spidery noir shadows; the movie's a real visual clambake. Night and the City was remade, tiredly, with Robert De Niro in 1992. Bonus: See how strongly this movie has influenced Martin Scorsese. --Robert Horton

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89% liked it

2,297 ratings

Critics

75% liked it

16 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 41 min.

Directed by: Jules Dassin

Release Date: April 1, 1950

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DVD Release Date: February 1, 2005

Stats: 160 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (160)

  • kenstachnik
    May 12, 2008
    kenstachnik
    A perfect film noir using every film convention to their utmost potency.

    Distilled Noir

    100% Columbian Noir

    This shit will make you crazzzy.
  • DrZeek
    April 30, 2007
    DrZeek
    Phil Nosseross, Silver Fox Club: You don't know what you're getting into.
    Helen Nosseross: I know what I'm getting out of.

    Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood, but this classic Noir, did not grasp me the way the other recent Noirs that I have seen did.

    Here we have basically...( read more) a con man work his way into a wrestling promotion career. Gene Tierney is also around and good looking as the women involed.

    To me the plot just wasn't to engaging I guess. The dialogue hits the right notes for the most part, with a few unintentionally funny scenes, but still not enough.

    Although, the film was shot on location in London, and the director of photography puts that aspect to great use, as this is a very good looking movie.

    Googin the Forger: If you ain't got socks you can't pull 'em up, can you?
  • mjgildea
    April 15, 2007
    mjgildea
    NOT the 92 version, the 1950 version. One of the watermarks of film noir.
  • flynnparadox
    September 13, 2006
    flynnparadox
    A great example of noir. Style to the max.
  • codyfranklin2
    July 30, 2007
    codyfranklin2
    Best Film ever made about the London Wrestling scene.
  • alexroy69
    October 29, 2009
    alexroy69
    Après une grande déception avec "Naked City", me voilà complètement charmé par "Night and the City", un film plus noir que noir qui met en vedette le anti-héros le moins sympathique de toute l'histoire du genre. Ceux qui sont friands de films sans aucun bon gars à qui s'attacher ...( read more)seront vraiment combler. C'est à la fois sombre et réaliste.

    Contrairement à "Naked City", les acteurs ici sont excellents. La réalisation démontre une connaissance approfondie de la facture des films noirs en vogue à l'époque, tout en déployant un style qui confère à l'ensemble une touche d'originalité indéniable. C'est extrêmement vivant; les gros plans de visages tordus, les courses folles à travers la ville, les matchs de lutte, tout est filmé avec élégance et habileté. Un film noir de haut rang.
  • RThornhill
    August 24, 2009
    RThornhill
    Withers and Sullivan were terrific in their supporting roles and this film is definitely "noir" through and through. However, I felt a critical moment in the plot failed to create the recipe for Fabian's demise.
  • ristrawn
    August 21, 2009
    ristrawn
    Richard Widmark & Googie Withers were fantastic as Hustlers...
  • hossein13
    August 17, 2009
    hossein13
    One of the best noirs ever and amazing is the situation in which this one was made. Richard Widmark is just fantastic, one of the best anti-heros of all times.
  • jjnxn
    February 21, 2009
    jjnxn
    Richard Widmark offers up his usual superlative performance, Gene Tierney is underused but all in all a fine gritty noir.

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Critic Reviews

February 15, 2005
Nick Schager, Slant Magazine

The archetypal film noir. full review

View more Night and the City reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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Night and the City Trivia

  • I've grew up over night, been stuck on a desert island, uncovered an ancient mystery, had trouble sleeping in a major city, got shot in the buttocks, and lived in an airport. Who am I?  Answer »
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  • In The Crow, what is the name of the holiday that the bad guys celebrate by robbing and destroying the city?  Answer »
  • This sci-fi movie starring, amongst others, Kiefer Sutherland and Jennifer Connelly, is about a city where it's always night and an alien race has control over the people.  Answer »
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