Dark City

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Audience Member Charlton Heston, in his feature film debut, stars as a no-goodnik who, along with his confederates (Dean Jagger, Jack Webb, Harry Morgan, Ed Begley) cheats a man out of a large sum of money at a poker came. When the man then commits suicide and his brother goes on a killing spree, looking for revenge, this dark film noir gets extra nasty. It's not a classic, but there's a lot to like about this particularly cynical noir. Heston is strong in the lead. Lizabeth Scott plays a sultry nightclub singer and sings several numbers. William Dieterle gives them film an effectively moody look. And you also get to see future "Dragnet" partners Webb and Morgan antagonize each other in a very un-Joe Friday/Frank Gannon sort of way. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member A heavy-handed and tiresome film noir, with just about every cliche in the book, and at times cringeworthy characterizations and dialogue. It starts out as a crime drama, but then turns into a mysterious-"psychopathic"-killer-on-the-loose-and-out-for-revenge story (which would have been better if the killer's identity had been more mysterious). But really it's a post-war 1950s (re-)domestication drama (a stifling 1950s morality tale) of an all-American good guy (Heston) gone wrong overseas in the Second World War (though with no hint of post-traumatic stress disorder; instead it's a case of domestic disorder--everything here turns out to be about the danger of domestic disorder), which too-conveniently and rather obscenely has its cake and eats it too by having Heston "save" (and get saved by) the widow of the man he cheated and drove to suicide from the man's "psychopathic" brother (and in the process paying off her two mortgages with money he intentionally and magically wins playing craps!). Somehow Heston is a good guy who gets indulged by everybody (including the police) despite all his bad behavior (I guess because he's the kind of guy who went to Cornell, who came from a "good" family), but the "psychopathic" brother gets no sympathy whatsoever. But this film (and more so the society it represents) is the real psychopath. At least it features Heston and Jack Webb and Harry Morgan of TV's Dragnet (i.e. conservative icons) as crooks (though it ruins even this not least of all by portraying the police as guardian angels, as deus ex machina). Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member A good entertaining B movie Film noir. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member I accidentally picked this film up while looking for the 1998 film by the same name. When I realized it was Charlton Heston's first film role, I was hooked. When I realized that I was looking at a young Harry Morgan, who I grew up knowing as Colonel Potter on M*A*S*H, I was amused. And when I got to the quite intense last twenty minutes, I was riveted! I'm not a particular fan of film noir (or really, of older films in general) but I did enjoy this one. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member an unambitious but handsome production from reliable studio hand William Dieterle. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member A relentless crime noir, great cast--Introducing Charlton Heston!! Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Dark City

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