Charlton Heston plays an amoral hustler in this moody thriller which has a good plot, a talented cast and plenty of suspense. It's based on the story "No Escape" by Larry Marcus (who is also one of the screenwriters) and, as the title suggests, features a group of characters who find themselves in a life threatening situation, with no obvious way out. It's also a story of revenge in which a growing sense of tension is generated by the presence of an unhinged avenger who, as well as remaining unseen by his victims, very effectively, starts picking them off one by one.
Danny Haley (Charlton Heston) is out of the building when his illegal bookmaking business gets raided by the cops and almost everyone present gets arrested. Due to a lack of hard evidence, however, no charges are brought against either, Danny or his associates, Barney (Ed Begley), Augie (Jack Webb) and Soldier (Henry Morgan). As the business has been raided repeatedly in recent months, despite the money that Danny had spent in pay-offs, it becomes impossible to carry on and everyone involved is left without any income. Unexpectedly, an opportunity to minimize their losses arises when Danny meets an out-of-town businessman in the local nightclub where his girlfriend Fran Garland (Lizabeth Scott) is the resident singer and notices that the friendly Arthur Winant (Don DeFore) has a $5,000 cashiers check in his possession.
After Winant is lured into a rigged poker game, he gets ripped off so badly by Danny, Barney and Augie, that he loses all his money including the $5,000 which belonged to his employers and unable to come to terms with what he'd done, commits suicide in his hotel room by hanging himself. Danny and his gang immediately fear the possible repercussions and things quickly get worse when Barney is murdered and they learn that Winant's psychopathic and very over-protective brother, Sidney (Mike Mazurki) is out for revenge.
Soldier, who was not involved in the card game decides to leave Chicago and goes to work in a Las Vegas casino that's run by one of his old friends and Danny and Augie go to Los Angeles where Danny poses as an insurance investigator and romances Winant's wife Victoria (Viveca Lindfors), in an effort to acquire a photograph of the maniac who's out to kill him. When it becomes clear that Victoria doesn't posses a photo of Sidney, Danny owns up to having deceived her and decides to head for Las Vegas where he's subsequently joined by Fran before some further surprising developments lead to his eventual confrontation with the fearsome Sidney.
This movie provided a very young-looking Charlton Heston with his first Hollywood starring role and the character he plays is rather complex because he's a man who, after having been betrayed by his wife and his best friend whilst on military service in England, had become very disillusioned, cynical and embittered. This led to the kind of detachment and lack of empathy he shows when he fleeces Winant and cruelly deceives the recently bereaved Victoria. It's also the reason for the hardboiled attitude that he habitually displays and his inability to commit properly to his loyal girlfriend, Fran. Heston's portrayal of this rather unsympathetic character is incredibly assured and surprisingly subtle, especially considering his relative inexperience at the time when the film was made.
Although the pace of the action is inconsistent and the level of suspense isn't fully exploited, "Dark City" is wonderfully atmospheric, well-acted and very enjoyable to watch throughout its entire 98 minutes.
Danny Haley (Charlton Heston) is out of the building when his illegal bookmaking business gets raided by the cops and almost everyone present gets arrested. Due to a lack of hard evidence, however, no charges are brought against either, Danny or his associates, Barney (Ed Begley), Augie (Jack Webb) and Soldier (Henry Morgan). As the business has been raided repeatedly in recent months, despite the money that Danny had spent in pay-offs, it becomes impossible to carry on and everyone involved is left without any income. Unexpectedly, an opportunity to minimize their losses arises when Danny meets an out-of-town businessman in the local nightclub where his girlfriend Fran Garland (Lizabeth Scott) is the resident singer and notices that the friendly Arthur Winant (Don DeFore) has a $5,000 cashiers check in his possession.
After Winant is lured into a rigged poker game, he gets ripped off so badly by Danny, Barney and Augie, that he loses all his money including the $5,000 which belonged to his employers and unable to come to terms with what he'd done, commits suicide in his hotel room by hanging himself. Danny and his gang immediately fear the possible repercussions and things quickly get worse when Barney is murdered and they learn that Winant's psychopathic and very over-protective brother, Sidney (Mike Mazurki) is out for revenge.
Soldier, who was not involved in the card game decides to leave Chicago and goes to work in a Las Vegas casino that's run by one of his old friends and Danny and Augie go to Los Angeles where Danny poses as an insurance investigator and romances Winant's wife Victoria (Viveca Lindfors), in an effort to acquire a photograph of the maniac who's out to kill him. When it becomes clear that Victoria doesn't posses a photo of Sidney, Danny owns up to having deceived her and decides to head for Las Vegas where he's subsequently joined by Fran before some further surprising developments lead to his eventual confrontation with the fearsome Sidney.
This movie provided a very young-looking Charlton Heston with his first Hollywood starring role and the character he plays is rather complex because he's a man who, after having been betrayed by his wife and his best friend whilst on military service in England, had become very disillusioned, cynical and embittered. This led to the kind of detachment and lack of empathy he shows when he fleeces Winant and cruelly deceives the recently bereaved Victoria. It's also the reason for the hardboiled attitude that he habitually displays and his inability to commit properly to his loyal girlfriend, Fran. Heston's portrayal of this rather unsympathetic character is incredibly assured and surprisingly subtle, especially considering his relative inexperience at the time when the film was made.
Although the pace of the action is inconsistent and the level of suspense isn't fully exploited, "Dark City" is wonderfully atmospheric, well-acted and very enjoyable to watch throughout its entire 98 minutes.