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The Naked City (1948)

Rate: 9
Viewed: 6/14, 10/19

NakedC
6/14: The Naked City is truly a cut above most motion pictures while taking advantage of the New York City environs.

It has a distinctive style that's a tour de force, especially how the scenes are shot in black and white. It's pretty much The French Connection before there was The French Connection.

A unique aspect is the step-by-step explanatory manner of how crime is solved which is wonderfully narrated by Mark Hellinger. It's the venerable Barry Fitzgerald who guides me through how a detective thinks and processes information. There's a detour here and there that rings true to life, making the picture fascinating.

All in all, there's nothing like The Naked City which is a solid, thrilling New York City film noir.

10/19: "There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them."

So it goes in The Naked City, one of the better pictures in Jules Dassin's oeuvre that stands the test of time which was shot on location in New York City. This has to be earliest film that touches upon police procedural: the gathering of forensic evidence, the interrogation of suspects, and the beat aspect to canvass the city for tiny morsels of information to solve a murder case.

Just because a person is good-looking doesn't automatically mean he's in the clear. Fact-checking goes a long way. That much is found out through Frank Niles, Ruth Morrison, and Dr. Lawrence Stoneman, all complicit in the murder of Jean Dexter who was only good for a 5-cent news story to keep the bored New Yorkers slightly awake for six days.

The narration can be heavy-handed at times, but the cast is wonderful. Barry Fitzgerald is remembered the best for this. Don Taylor, who'll go on to be a long-time director, looks like a mix of Gary Cooper and Alan Ladd while Howard Duff makes for a great pathological liar.

All in all, The Naked City is the originator of the police procedural genre.