Title: Night and the City
Year: 1950
Director: Jules Dassin
Country: Britain
Language: English
Running Time: 101min
Rating: N/A
A film noir is only as good as the corruptness of the characters within it. Jules Dassin's Night and the City is a gripping British film noir about a man, admittedly a slimy and manipulative man, and his dreams vs. the soul crushing atmosphere of post war London. Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark) dreams of a life of "ease and plenty". He is a two-bit street hustler who has brilliant plans to invest in Greco-Roman wrestling and make a lot of money. Fabian seems to be the only optimistic person in this dark, decaying and incredibly pessimistic post war London, he also is also the only American in this British film. Richard Widmark brings a fury of energy to his role, never missing a step as he goes through the many mood swings, which range from hysterically energetic to suicidal unhappiness, as Harry Fabian. The pessimistic acting from the rest of the cast is incredible as well.
Night and the City is filled with seemingly apocalyptic landscapes, shadowy lighting and unconventional melancholy camera angles that put us in full view of Fabian’s corrupt and isolated world. Director Jules Dassin does a fantastic job of displaying the incredible isolation of Post war London from the rest of the world. The moody tone of the film is apparent even before the film begins, in the opening titles that are presented in flickering neon light against a foggy London night. The photography blends seamlessly with Jules Dassin’s masterpiece. The energetic score blends seamlessly with the quick and daring pace of Harry Fabian.
Harry Fabian represents post war America. Both have a very optimistic “we can do anything if we just try” attitude. On the surface both seemed very honest, but have had a checkered history. Post war Britain was not as optimistic, the people of this war torn country had to ration certain things and rebuild a lot after the war because of the German invasion in 1940. This is why I think the writing is superb, it captures the moods of both post war America and Britain and puts it into a gritty film noir.
The Greco- Roman wrestlers represent the anger of post war Europe, the self destruction, and the corruption within Britain. There is an incredible scene (one that could dwell among the greatest of scenes) where a young wrestler loses his temper and attacks an old but very experienced wrestler. They fight and fight and fight, but eventually the younger wrestler loses...however the older boxer is so exhausted he dies. What happened during the war? An old Empire, Britain, died and a new Empire, America, rose to power.
However if you don't take the film as a post war historical "lesson" and you choose to only view it for its entertainment value then you will still really enjoy this film. Night and the City is a film noir that rivals its American film noir counterparts. This film, as well as The Third Man, put British film noir on the map. Night and the City is an incredibly dark story about struggle, betrayal and desperation, it’s a tragedy about a man who is always looking for shortcuts and it is one of the best examples of the Film Noir in the history of the genre. Not to mention one of the greatest British films of all time. 5/5
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