“The Naked City” is an early movie by a lesser-known legend of film noir. Jules Dassin, an American director of Greek descent, is best known for his similar films “Rififi” and “Topkapi,” but those were both made after the genre’s height on the movie history timeline.
“Naked City” on the other hand was made in 1948, and like many A and B movies like it, it boasted that it was unlike any film you had ever seen before. It’s big selling point was that it was shot on location in New York, and the film practically makes the city it’s main character.
And for making such a bold claim upfront, the film rightfully won that year’s Oscar for best black and white cinematography. There is a chase that spirals through the Brooklyn Bridge at the film’s finale that must have been a groundbreaking visual for its time and still looks pretty impressive.
This chase very likely inspired other cinematographers down the line, and although it comes at the movie’s end, it’s lucky that the rest of the film is an engaging and witty crime drama with the noir setting. It follows two homicide detectives tracking down the murderers of a young woman found naked in her bathtub. There are few leads, except one man who keeps acting as though he were one of Hollywood’s noble leading men (Howard Duff), but at every turn he gives the two cops the run around.
Such goes with the territory in film noir, and so occasionally does the dry humor of some of the main characters. In this case, it’s Barry Fitzgerald’s character, a veteran Irish detective with a sharp tongue and a smooth edge. He lightens the film’s investigation in every scene he’s in, and he’s more interesting than the film’s narrator occasionally jumping in to make obvious commentary.
The film is no masterpiece but a staple and a must-see in such a cool genre.