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Night: check. City: check. Appellate Judge Rob Lineberger suspects that this may be a film noir.

When the city and the night come together, you know that naughty misdeeds are
at hand.

Night and the City

is one of the rare noirs that redefines the
film noir standard while simultaneously breaking free of noir's constraints. The
hero has absolutely no redeeming quality, the plot is marked by cocksure
optimism instead of gloomy pessimism, and there isn't a true femme fatale.

Night and the City

runs its own show and gives us a stellar example of
the genre.

Director Jules Dassin was on the cusp of deportation by the House Un-American
Activities Commission, so his savvy producer sent him to London to create one
last film under the Hollywood banner. Frantic but capable, Dassin launched into
an adaptation (a very loose one, as it turns out) of Gerald Kersh's novel

Night and the City

.

American expatriate Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark,

Pickup on South Street

) slips into
his girlfriend Mary's apartment to steal 300 pounds for a get-rich-quick scheme.
Mary (Gene Tierney,

Laura

) discovers him and
asks him to get a job as a milkman, a butcher…anything, as long as it is
done in the daylight. Harry could use some daylight; he is pallid, sweating from
the tension of running from creditors, full of nervous energy.

Harry and his gal work for the owner of the Silver Fox Club, Phil Nosseross
(Francis L. Sullivan, who, appearances to the contrary, is no relation to an
actual rhinoceros) and his wife Helen (Googie Withers,

The Lady Vanishes

). Helen aspires to leave
her husband and form her own club, since she runs the show at the Silver Fox. To
do that, she'll need Harry's unique talents. But Harry has his own scheme, one
unlike the scams he's latched onto in the past. This one is different because it
has a chance of working—if Harry can keep Phil, Helen, and the notorious
gangster Kristo (Herbert Lom,

Spartacus

) at bay.

Film noir has long been the darling of film critics and other literate
naysayers. To the casual movie fan, the term has been deeply misunderstood; the
subtleties of film noir haven't exactly been a hot topic around the water
cooler. But film noir has experienced a sudden, powerful resurgence in the last
couple of years. Film noir is no longer a niche discussed by clove-inhaling,
black-turtlenecked cynics in the coffee house at 2:00 AM. No, film noir is in,
not just among critics and entertainment writers, but among a steadily
increasing number of "regular" moviegoers. Warner Brothers released
their

Shadows, Lies, and Private Eyes

collection to great acclaim, then
followed it up with the noir precursor

Gangster Collection

. Fox released
a set of film noir titles concurrent with the

Shadows, Lies, and Private
Eyes

set, and it was so successful that they're releasing another wave of
film noir in June. In fact, Fox recently released the quintessential noir

Laura

as spine number 01 for their new noir line.
Criterion partner Home Vision Entertainment got into the act a year ago,
releasing a string of Japanese noirs like

Underworld Beauty (Ankokugai No Bijo)

and

Zero Focus

. It hasn't always been so;
had

Zero Focus

been released in 2000, without the buzz mounting around
film noir, HVE would have heard crickets chirping.

This resurgence is not limited to releases of classic films, either. Pop
media is leaning toward the dark side. In fact, while browsing the gloss rag

Maxim

the other day, I was surprised to find a brief discussion of film
noir in their "Hot Zone" section. In a panel discussion titled
"Miller's Crossing," Frank Miller discusses the upcoming

Sin City

movie, in which Jessica Alba,
Bruce Willis, and a host of other big names bring his dark comic book to life.
What better evidence of film noir's freshly reclaimed status than this exchange
in a magazine more famous for airbrushed women than film criticism:

Maxim: Are you reinventing noir?




Miller: I want to
remind everyone what noir really is and get rid of the nostalgia. People make
mistakes thinking that if you light it spookily, it's noir. The darkness needs
to be inside the characters.

Criterion has long been the film snob's best friend. When the blithe antics
of the 1990s encouraged us to seek "extreme" sensations and watch
reality television (which is decidedly removed from reality), Criterion forged
ahead with releases of interesting niche titles, which included a steady trickle
of noir. But the last four months has brought us a particularly potent dose of
Criterion noirs, including a re-release of

M

(a Special Edition, no less…a term you don't hear Criterion use very
often),

Thieves' Highway

,

Pickup on South Street

, and

Night
and the City

.

Night and the City

is a worthy noir title, no doubt,
but it is a curious choice for the lofty Criterion Collection. The film
completely bastardizes the book on which it is based, it was unpopular in London
and the United States, and Dassin was effectively removed from the American
public eye shortly after the film's release. Why

Night and the City

? Why
now?

Film noir was a reaction to a blatant disconnect between reality and
culture. The 1930s and 1940s brought the world a stream of unfathomably dark
imagery, from genocide to fascism to atomic bombings. America, generally chipper
and reasonably united, was sharply divided in the face of these horrific
ordeals, some of which happened at our hands. As the curtain of
naïveté grew ever more transparent, Americans saw gruesomeness and
grimness in every shadow. So the media, Hollywood in particular, redoubled their
efforts to present an upbeat face. Glib musicals ruled the day; optimism and
patriotism were the preferred channels of self-expression. This whitewashing was
not merely symbolic. HUAC began seeking and deporting unpatriotic individuals
with extreme prejudice. Is it any coincidence that many of the prime HUAC
targets were directors of film noir (among them Jules Dassin), the very
embodiment of dissatisfaction, pessimism, anger, and rebellion?

Images
Journal

puts it this way:

"While soldiers went to war, film noir exposed a darker side of life,
balancing the optimism of Hollywood musicals and comedies by supplying seedy,
two-bit criminals and doom-laden atmospheres. While Hollywood strove to help
keep public morale high, film noir gave us a peek into the alleys and backrooms
of a world filled with corruption."

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Writings of the time support our historical perspective on the roots of
noir. In the August 5, 1945 edition of

New York Times Magazine

, Lloyd
Shearer wrote in his discussion of film noir (titled "The growing crop of
homicidal films poses questions for psychologists and producers"):

"Hollywood says the moviegoer is getting this type of story because he
likes it, and psychologist [

sic

] explain that he likes it because it
serves as a violent escape in tune with the violence of the times, a cathartic
for pent-up emotions. These learned men, in a mumbo-jumbo all their own, assert
that because of the war the average moviegoer has become callused to death,
hardened to homicide and more capable of understanding a murderer's
motives."

As I mentioned above, film noir hasn't exactly been the prom queen over the
last few decades. When most people encounter it for the first time, they are a
little confused and often write it off as unreasonably dark. Of late, noir makes
sense. I can't help but draw parallels to our current cultural climate. As our
cities are razed to rubble, our journalists are beheaded on national television,
and our bombs fall on the Iraqis, America finds itself mired in an unpopular
war. Not just Americans, but most nations across the world publicly debate the
legitimacy of our actions, and America struggles to come to a consensus on what
to do next. There is clear support both for the war and against the war, and
resolving that question is not the purpose of this argument; I support Americans
and their right to their opinions no matter which side they favor. The point is
that we're in the midst of a national crisis.

For a time, a time that is not entirely past, voicing dissent was viewed as
treasonous or un-American. Journalists who have covered the White House for
decades are finding themselves distinctly uncomfortable with straightforward
reporting. Homeland Security aggressively seeks out terrorists on our soil. The
television doesn't always show us what is happening overseas; we're encouraged
to go about our business while the war is waged. The presidential election was
fought more closely than any election ever has been. I feel confident in saying
that America is once again divided, and the media is torn in its representation
of a grim reality. Coincidentally, film noir is red hot and selling like
gangbusters. We no longer need to intellectualize film noir to comprehend it; it
has become intuitive.

Enter

Night and the City

. Perhaps more than any other noir,

Night
and the City

exemplifies noirish staples such as claustrophobic shadows,
extreme compositions, the city as trap, and fallen men as doomed antiheroes. The
characters in

Night and the City

are rarely comfortable, and when they
are comfortable it is the prelude to a nasty downfall.

Night and the City

gives us everything we're looking for in film noir (with the exception of a
vicious femme fatale, which I'd argue strengthens this film).

The London in

Night and the City

is not the London I experienced as a
tourist, but it is one I believe in. Hucksters shill their way into the wallets
of rubes, operating in a network just outside of the well-trodden paths. The
people we follow in this film ooze a thin layer of protective slime,
discouraging us from touching them. (The exception is Gene Tierney, who manages
to act ordinary while her flawless face, wide-set eyes, and dark curls make my
heart burst.) Bombed-out buildings house dens of illicit commerce, while bridges
and river banks swarm with a second society. The portrayal is not flattering,
and London is among the most image-conscious cities in the world. But the
locations filmed in

Night and the City

form a perfect backdrop for a tale
of twisted ambition gone wrong.

Richard Widmark is riveting as he takes us through this labyrinth of
frustrated ambition. We start the film by viewing Harry as his underworld
acquaintances do: a second-string huckster with looks and charm, but
insufficient nerve and concentration to rise higher. He clutches at small-time
opportunities, disparaging the practical aims of his contemporaries. Harry seeks
a life of "ease and plenty," passing up concrete means in favor of
lucrative wisps. But we eventually come to see in Harry what his girlfriend Mary
sees, a sharp and determined mind with the drive to see an idea through. We
become unwitting accomplices to Harry's vision through some directorial
trickery; afterward, we can readily understand his exasperation at his
investors' lack of vision while simultaneously knowing what they see in Harry.
Widmark never makes Harry an admirable man; in fact, he plays up Harry's thinly
veiled, contemptible nature. And yet, we are fascinated by his schemes and his
personality. I didn't care whether or not Harry won the day; either fate would
give me something worthwhile to watch while Widmark experienced it. Harry goes
through an impressive gamut of emotions and character transformations in the
course of the film, and Widmark always hits the right crazed, glassy-eyed
note.

If Widmark's inspired performance is the melody, the rest of the cast
delivers pleasing harmony. Each character is convincingly portrayed, from the
crime bosses to the street sweepers. The net result is that

Night and the
City

feels surrealistically exaggerated and sharply realistic at the same
time. Francis L. Sullivan gives Phil Nosseross just the right note of arrogance
as he navigates the crises of club ownership. He could be Nero Wolfe or Winston
Churchill instead of an exploitative booze peddler. Herbert Lom's Kristo is
appropriately intense and shrewd, the kind of man who would jealously preside
over a wrestling operation. Yet he comes from somewhere; we see his devotion to
his father, his ability to step back and let his father compete with his
wrestling empire. The character is realistic, and Lom imbues him with
understandable severity. Kristo's father Gregorious is played by Stanislaus
Zbyszko with stirring passion, evoking the past honor of the discipline of
wrestling. His scenes resonate with physical presence and emotional fire. The
rival of Gregorious, known as The Stranger, is Mike Mazurki's most fitting role
among a string of dumb heavies. The men in

Night and the City

are not
made of cardboard; their despicable actions carry weight.

The women live up to their side of the bargain, taking on more depth than is
typical of noir dames. Googie Withers gives Helen a careworn patina that allows
a hint of glamour to peek through. Her plans are as ambitious as any in

Night
and the City

and her grip is as tight:

Phil:

"Oh Helen…you don't know what you're walking
into."


Helen:

"I know what I'm walking out of."

Like the men, she is rendered the fool just as surely when her plans go
awry. The closest we come to a stereotype is Mary Bristol, the put-upon damsel
who stands by Harry no matter what comes. Fortunately, her character is granted
some life in the film's final scenes, though they may be overly convenient. Gene
Tierney runs with the short rope she is granted, creating a woman who loves
truly, and mourns the loss of her future. Tierney's real-life depression may
have seeped into the portrayal, but it only strengthens the depth of the despair
we feel for her. In fact, I can't tell whether Mary Bristol or Gene Tierney
generates the most poignant moment of the film. Mary shows Harry a picture of a
quaint, conservative-looking couple in a row boat. It is her and Harry; she asks
him what happened to the future they were seeking. It may sound melodramatic,
but something about the way her voice catches evokes real pain, instantly
establishing what is on the line and what Harry has pissed away in search of
fool's gold.

The cast is aided by Dassin's sure direction. He knows what he wants the
actors to get across, and uses the camera, staging, and dialogue to achieve it.
Dassin often allows the camera to linger on one character, showing us key
transitions from confidence to despair. His camera angles, aptly executed by
German veteran Mutz Greenbaum, sharply elucidate the moods and perils of the
city. In fact, cinematography may be

Night and the City

's biggest draw.
The plainest circumstances are rendered dramatic through angles, shadows, and
light alone. London may be solid, but ethereal pools of malice gather in every
corner when night takes over.

Criterion's presentation allows the original cinematography to come through
clearly. The grain is tastefully intact, but the print has been carefully
cleaned of debris. Edge enhancement is rarely present, and there is a notable
lack of moiré rainbows given Harry's checkered suit and pinstriped tie.
Outdoor scenes are slightly grainy and have the barest hint of blur, but the
indoor scenes sparkle with clean contrast and living texture.

Film noir is known for electrifying, fatalistic dialogue. The dialogue in

Night and the City

crackles with tension and the energy of Harry's
incessant hustling. He is never honest, not until his doom is clear as the
daylight he suddenly finds himself squinting into. References to death pepper
the film, along with a handful of branches that Harry could use to save himself.
But he never does. Widmark's delivery is organic; patter seems to be spawned out
of his mouth on the spot.

The dialogue is accented by a dynamic, dire score that perfectly creates
manic tension. Though the Dolby Mono track lacks surround, it is nonetheless
dynamic and clear. Criterion has given us a fascinating look into the score for

Night and the City

, contrasting Franz Waxman's kinetic score for the
American release with Benjamin Frankel's subdued, conservative score for the
British version. I won't spoil the discussion, but I will say it is one of the
most interesting and informative musical commentaries I've seen about film
sound, highlighting the dramatic change that a few bars of music can make in a
film's tone.

The musical discussion is just one of the fantastic extras included with
this release. Though a handful of studios have notably stepped up their games
recently, Criterion has the experience and the pedigree to deliver premium DVD
extras. Criterion's liner notes mean something, and this release is no
exception. Though his prose is a bit dense and academic in tone, Paul Arthur
appropriately stages the film and gives us an idea of its impact. The longest
extra is the feature-length commentary by DVD Savant Glenn Erickson, who
discusses the film with impressive organization, pacing, and enthusiasm. He
knows the film cold, and delivers thought-provoking comments that expand the
possibilities of our interpretations.

Though the commentary is commendable, Jules Dassin steals the show with a
pair of candid interviews. Hollywood blacklisted Dassin and altered his life
forever, so his comments are free from any self-serving restraint. Dassin
describes the circumstances behind the film in terms unflattering to both
himself and the studios while maintaining a pleasant authority. He also breaks
down and makes a startling admission that will have fans of the book seething
with anger. Dassin is a joy to listen to, lucid, candid, and approachable.

I often find wrong notes in films that are considered classics, but in all
honesty I was wrapped up in this one from the opening screen to the closing
credits, through the extras and out the back of the DVD case. Nothing to see
here, folks, move along.