THE NAKED CITY will screen as part of “NYPD” series at Film Forum on September 11
THE NAKED CITY (Jules Dassin, 1948)
Film Forum
209 West Houston St.
Sunday, September 11, 3:40 & 7:35
Series continues through September 13
212-727-8110
www.filmforum.org
Jules Dassin’s police procedural was one of the first films shot on location in New York City, bringing to life the grit of the streets. Barry Fitzgerald stars as Lt. Muldoon, an Irish cop who knows the game, never allowing anything to get in the way of his sworn duty to uphold the law while never getting too emotionally involved. A model has turned up dead, and young detective Jimmy Halloran (Don Taylor) is heading up the investigation, which includes such suspects as swarthy Frank Niles (Howard Duff). Producer Mark Hellinger’s narration is playful and knowing, accompanying William Daniels’s great camerawork through Park Avenue and the Lower East Side, stopping at little city vignettes that have nothing to do with the story except to add to the level of reality. The thrilling conclusion takes place on the Williamsburg Bridge. The Naked City will be screening on September 11 with Richard Wilson’s 1960 Black Hand thriller Pay or Die!, starring Ernest Borgnine, at Film Forum as part of the “NYPD” festival, which pays tribute to the work of New York’s Finest on and since 9/11.