THE NAKED CITY is part of Universal Studios centennial celebration at Film Forum
THE NAKED CITY (Jules Dassin, 1948)
Film Forum
209 West Houston St.
Friday, August 3, 3:30, 7:00
Series runs through August 9
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 August 3 at Film Forum in a double feature with George Sherman’s 1950 crime thriller, The Sleeping City, starring Richard Conte, as part of “Universal 100,” a celebration of the studio’s centennial, which continues with such other great twinbills as Monte Hellman’s Two-Lane Blacktop and Steven Spielberg’s Duel as well as Amy Heckerling’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing.