Directed by Jules Dassin and shot on location in London, Night And The City (1950) has the iconic look of the film noir genre down pat. From the chiaroscuro lighting of faces in close up to the placement of a suited individual against a dark cityscape, Max Greene’s cinematography is brilliant. The film is also served by the unique qualities of its story, from a bunch of American characters living and working within this British environment, and the way in which traditional wrestling is brought in as a sub-plot. It’s also a classic ‘operator against the odds’ story with the great Richard Widmark playing Harry Fabian, a hustler and a con man on the make, always selling a new get-rich-quick scheme to his long-suffering lady, Mary (Gene Tierney), a nightclub singer. When he gets wind of a falling out between the wrestling promoter Kristo (Herbert Lom, better known as Dreyfuss from the Peter Sellars Pink Panther movies, but here smooth and intimidating) and his wrestler father Gregorious (Stanislaus Zbyszko), and spots an opportunity to get into the wrestling business himself, he winds afoul of Kristo. Not to mention that his dalliance with the dissatisfied Helen (Googy Withers) offends and betrays Helen’s husband, the nightclub owner Phil (Francis L. Sullivan) that Fabian also works for. Sure enough, the back alley streets and night club circuit that Harry Fabian once operated through easily becomes a viper’s nest. What was great about Night And The City was that even though Harry Fabian is a big character, the film gives time to each of the supporting characters, offering them their own narratives and desires and interconnected subplots, all of which makes it a richer, more interesting story. Widmark gets across Harry’s insatiable desire to make it big while showing his latent anxiety, fear and eventual self-contemplation when the walls start closing in. There’s a 1992 remake with Robert De Niro that I’d like to catch up with as well. For fans of film noir and character-based thrillers, the original Night And The City is a classic I’d recommend.
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