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Night and the City

Released Jun 9, 1950 1h 35m Crime Drama List
83% Tomatometer 23 Reviews 90% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
Londoner Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark) is a second-rate con man looking for an angle. After years of putting up with Harry's schemes, his girlfriend, Mary (Gene Tierney), becomes fed up when he taps her for yet another loan. His latest ploy, promoting an aging Greek wrestler, goes awry when the wrestler dies and everyone points the finger at Harry. Hiding out in a riverfront barge, Harry sees his grand ambitions spiral into a nightmare of fear and desperation as the underworld closes in.

Critics Reviews

View All (23) Critics Reviews
Variety Staff Variety Jules Dassin, in his direction, manages extraordinarily interesting backgrounds, realistically filmed to create a feeling both of suspense and mounting menace. Apr 15, 2008 Full Review Bosley Crowther New York Times A pointless, trashy yarn. Rated: 2/5 Jan 28, 2006 Full Review Tom Milne Time Out Inclined to go over the top, it all too clearly contains the seeds of Dassin's later -- and disastrous -- pretensions. Jan 26, 2006 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...an exceptional effort from a first-class filmmaker. Rated: 3.5/4 Jul 1, 2024 Full Review Sean Axmaker Stream on Demand Richard Widmark plays one of cinema’s great heels in... one of the greatest film noirs set in a foreign capital. Aug 19, 2023 Full Review Kimberly Pierce Ticklish Business Dassin and his cinematographer Max Greene easily guide the tone of Night and the City with an unseen hand. The visual power of these images casts a heaviness over the narrative which wouldnt be present without these very specific stylistic choices. Rated: 4.5/5 May 1, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (218) audience reviews
acsdoug D Terrific film, reminded me of a Dostoevsky novel. You just know whatever Richard Widmark does (and he's excellent) he's ultimately doomed, but you still want to see how it happens. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 07/17/24 Full Review helder f A story about a self-involved man and his gimmicks to get rich. Great performances, and photography. Script a bit too melodramatic, a mixture of neo noir and action movie, which at times feels too disingenuous. Disingenuous in the sense that it attempts to create an emotion more than to tell a compelling story. The fact that his wife or partner appears first early in the movie, then disappears only to appear again in the very last scenes is an odd choice. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 04/22/24 Full Review Steve D Hard to care what happens to anyone. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 04/03/24 Full Review Blu B All Time Classic. The cinematography is amazing with incredible use of lights and shadows with stellar camerawork and a memorable setting of seedy underground London. Widmark is amazing in this and really carries the entire film along with an excellent supporting cast. This is perfectly aced also with a franticness kicking in the last 15-20 minutes. The music is really good also. The only is the editing is really well done but there is SOOO many sides involved in this hustle job by Harry (I think 6 parties total) it is genuinely hard to understand who is double crossing who and who is being setup. However a testament to how well made this is despite not understanding everything in the weeds the big picture still makes sense and you know Harry is screwed and this won't end well. Everyone should give this a try. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/13/24 Full Review Dick C It tells one who never changes... Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/05/24 Full Review Audience Member Acting and cinematography top notch. Story ok but hard to care about narcissist grifter. Great photography make all worthwhile, almost. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Night and the City

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Movie Info

Synopsis Londoner Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark) is a second-rate con man looking for an angle. After years of putting up with Harry's schemes, his girlfriend, Mary (Gene Tierney), becomes fed up when he taps her for yet another loan. His latest ploy, promoting an aging Greek wrestler, goes awry when the wrestler dies and everyone points the finger at Harry. Hiding out in a riverfront barge, Harry sees his grand ambitions spiral into a nightmare of fear and desperation as the underworld closes in.
Director
Jules Dassin
Producer
Samuel G. Engel
Screenwriter
Austin Dempster, Jo Eisinger, Gerald Kersh
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
Twentieth Century Fox
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 9, 1950, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 25, 2016
Runtime
1h 35m
Sound Mix
Mono
Aspect Ratio
35mm