The Naked City (1948)

Amid a semi-documentary portrait of New York and its people, Jean Dexter, an attractive blonde model, is murdered in her apartment. Homicide detectives Dan Muldoon and Jimmy Halloran ... See full summary »

Director:

Jules Dassin

Writers:

Albert Maltz (screenplay), Malvin Wald (screenplay),

Stars:

Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart

Won 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Barry Fitzgerald	...	Det. Lt. Dan Muldoon
Howard Duff	...	Frank Niles
Dorothy Hart	...	Ruth Morrison
Don Taylor	...	Jimmy Halloran
Frank Conroy	...	Captain Donahue
Ted de Corsia	...	Garzah (as Ted De Corsia)
House Jameson	...	Dr. Stoneman
Anne Sargent	...	Mrs. Halloran
Adelaide Klein	...	Mrs. Batory
Grover Burgess	...	Mr. Batory
Tom Pedi	...	Detective Perelli
Enid Markey	...	Mrs. Hylton
Mark Hellinger	...	Narrated By (voice)

Storyline

Amid a semi-documentary portrait of New York and its people, Jean Dexter, an attractive blonde model, is murdered in her apartment. Homicide detectives Dan Muldoon and Jimmy Halloran investigate. Suspicion falls on various shifty characters who all prove to have some connection with a string of apartment burglaries. Then a burglar is found dead who once had an elusive partner named Willie. The climax is a very rapid manhunt sequence. Filmed entirely on location in New York City.

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Plot Keywords:

new york city | detective | murder | police | semi documentary | 

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Taglines:

RAW LIFE! REAL LIFE! RECKLESS LIFE! (re-release print ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 March 1948 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die nackte Stadt

Filming Locations:

City Morgue, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hellinger Productions, Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The basic plot of the film was the basis of a case players can solve in the video game, L.A. Noire, released on May 17, 2011 by Rockstar Games. In the game, the story is moved to 1940's Los Angeles.

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Goofs

In the scene with the police and Mr. and Mrs. Batory at the waterfront, the sun goes up then down.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Narrator: There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits are spoken by producer/narrator Mark Hellinger. No credits are seen on the screen.

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Connections

Referenced in New York at the Movies (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Sobre las Olas (Over the Waves)"
(1887) (uncredited)
Written by Juventino Rosas
Background music for the girls on swings

User Reviews

There are 8 Million Stories in the Naked City. This is the one that started it all

There are 8 Million Stories in the Naked City. This is the one that started it all. And what a start it was. While "The Naked City" is considered "Film-Noir" by many who have seen it, in truth it is simply a routine detective story. What makes the film as great as it is(and it is a great film)is the Oscar winning photography by William Daniels who shot the film not in a studio but on the streets and in the buildings of "The Naked City", New York City.

From the very opening of the film when Producer-Narrator Mark Hellinger introduces himself and tells you that this film "is quite different from anything you've ever seen", the viewer is hooked. And it is not by the story but by the city.

Hellinger's cast did not consist of any major players. Barry Fitzgerald, stars as Lieutenant Muldoon, the head of the Homicide Squad, Don Taylor is Jimmy Halloran, Muldoon"s "leg work" man. Howard Duff is the slimy Niles and Dorothy Hart, a beautiful actress who should have gone on to bigger and better things, was a model. They were all perfect. Ted De Corsia in his first screen role, played Willie Garzah the killer. His death scene at the top of the Williamsburg Bridge is memorable. He nearly steals the picture but not from the actors, but from the city who is the real "star" of the film.

Hellinger was formerly a New York Newspaper man. He started his Hollywood career as a screenwriter and among his successes was the 1939 Bogart-Cagney classic, "The Roaring Twenties" another film about New York. The city was very personal to him.

The sad part of the film is the tragedy of some of the major participants. Hellinger died of a heart attach shortly after the release. He was only 44.

Albert Maltz who co-wrote the screenplay was blacklisted as being one of the Hollywood 10, and didn't work for decades. Jules Dassin the director fled to Europe because of threats of blacklisting. He later made the classic "Rififi" and Oscar winners, "Topkapi" and "Never On Sunday". We can only wonder what might have been had this association continued.

What we do know is that "The Naked City" still lives on. You can see it in nearly every episode of the TV his "Law & Order". And as long as those skyscrapers of New York stand, there will always be a "Naked City"