Woodyanders Slimy and ambitious small-time hustler Harry Fabian (splendidly played to the sniveling wormy hilt by Richard Widmark) runs afoul of dangerous British criminals after he devices an ill-advised scheme involving aging famous wrestler Gregorius (a strong and dignified portrayal by real-life former wrestler Stanislaus Zbyszko).Director Jules Dassin keeps the riveting story moving along at a brisk pace, maintains a tough gritty tone throughout, offers a flavorsome and fascinating evocation of a seedy London underworld, and pulls out the stirring stops in the exciting last third. Jo Eisenger's taut and involving script not only presents a colorful array of back-stabbing low-life characters and a spot-on cynical attitude, but also trenchantly explores the meaty themes of greed, betrayal, and loyalty. The excellent acting by the first-rate cast helps a whole lot: Gene Tierney as Fabian's sweet and worried girlfriend Mary Bristol, Googie Withers as the conniving Helen Nosseross, Hugh Marlowe as smitten struggling artist Adam Dunn, Francis L. Sullivan as gross fat club owner Philip, Herbert Lom as suavely sinister kingpin Kristo, and Mike Msazurki as vicious brute the Strangler. The savage and sweaty fight between Zbyszko and Mazurki rates as a definite ferocious highlight. Best of all, Widmark brings a wired energy and jittery intensity to the role of Fabian that's absolutely exhilarating to behold. Mutz Greenbaum's crisp black and white cinematography provides an appropriately shadowy look. Franz Waxman's robust score does the rousing trick. A real on the money movie.

Richie-67-485852 They got it right. Who? The team that put this movie together and then acted it out to perfection. Its all here too. All the hopes, dreams, opportunities that humans come into contact with but not everyone handles them the same. Here, we see a guy who is driven, but not for the right reasons. Furthermore, on the way to trying to make a buck, he ignores what really counts and that is the tragedy that is delivered nicely and potently by Richard Widmark supported by Gene Tierney. Lot of nice miscellaneous players giving us memorable scenes which makes for good entertainment and moving the story along. They just don't make them like this but they should. I will say that this was remade with Robert Deniro in the lead part and it was good as well. Get a glimpse of one of the businesses that have girls as hostesses who hawk expensive drinks, gifts etc. just because they can and how people steer them customers too. This tactic still thrives everywhere on the globe too. Snack and a tasty drink with this one and enjoy this classic film

popcultureatemymonkey O.K. kiddies The Monkey has a terrific one for you today. It is a superb late Film Noir from England called Night And The City. Now, part of the reason The Monkey is such a bastard half the time, is because he watches way too much Noir. I mean here is a genre that screams ' it does not matter what you do, because you're screwed anyway' with a super happy fun-time sub-theme of, the harder you try to claw your way out, the further back you will find yourself.Night And The City is directed by the masterful Jules Dassin, who also directed the equally impressive noir The Naked City as well as two of the originators of the heist genre, Riffi and Topkapi. Dassin was blacklisted while he was shooting Night And The City, and let me tell you any person that is held suspect by THE MAN is my kind of people.Night And The City is about a two-bit bar hustler named Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark, my favorite Noir actor), who stumbles upon a plan to corner the market in wrestling. Unlike his numerous other schemes, this one just may work. Arrayed against him are the principal mobster in London Kristo (the appropriately shady Herbert Lom), Fabian's lover Helen Nosseros (Googie Withers), and his business partner (and Helen's husband) Philip Nosseross.One of the highlights of Night And The City is the cinematography. Unlike many Noirs where low-key light is simply a method representative of film noir, and the city is its setting, Night And The City imbues them with a living palpable menace. The darkness is not just a lack of light, but instead comes from the dark souls of those with whom Fabian has surrounded himself. The darkness shrouds the many dangers of Fabians own dark and exploitative nature. It also hides the assassins after Fabian, more than it hides him. It is in the darkness that Harry drags himself, and all those around him, to their inevitable demise.In other Noirs, there is often the false belief that protagonist can get ahead if he just leaves the city. Often they do, and their deeds follow them. In Night And The City, there is no such hope for Fabian. London is his prison, and its tenement's and towers only force him onward, onward, in his mad dash towards his hoped for impossible escape from the city. These hopes of escaping across the Thames by boat or by bridge are thwarted by the opportunistic waterfront thieves and swindlers he had once called his friends, the bridges guarded by thugs in the employ of Kristo.Night And The City also makes a fun drinking game. The rules are easy, every time someone uses a derivative of the phrase "You're a dead man" to Fabian you take a drink. Now The Monkey can't recommend this as you are likely to pass out long before the conclusion of the film. That is unless of course getting blind stinking drunk is your goal. Whatever your plan may be, I urge you to watch this movie as soon as you can. If nothing else, it will make all of your troubles seem trivial compared to those of Harry Fabian.

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.