Night and the City (1950)

Réalisateur:

Jules Dassin

Scénaristes:

Jo Eisinger (screenplay)
Gerald Kersh (novel)

Date de sortie:

avril 1950 (UK)

Genre:

Crime | Film-Noir | Sport | Thriller

Intrigue:

Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark) is a London hustler with ambitious plans that never work out. One day...

Plot Keywords:

Scheme | Arena | Hustler | Wrestler | Wrestling

Avis des utilisateurs:

Odd Man Out

Ensemble

Richard Widmark	...	Harry Fabian
Gene Tierney	...	Mary Bristol
Googie Withers	...	Helen Nosseross
Hugh Marlowe	...	Adam Dunn
Francis L. Sullivan	...	Philip Nosseross
Herbert Lom	...	Kristo
Stanislaus Zbyszko	...	Gregorius
Mike Mazurki	...	The Strangler
Charles Farrell	...	Mickey Beer
Ada Reeve	...	Molly the Flower Lady
Ken Richmond	...	Nikolas of Athens (as Ken. Richmond)
reste de la distribution par ordre alphabétique:
Adelaide Hall	...	Singer (scenes deleted)
Eliot Makeham	...	Undetermined Role (scenes deleted)
Betty Marsden	...	Undetermined Role (scenes deleted)

Durée:

101 min | USA:96 min

Pays:

UK

Langue:

Anglais

Couleur:

Noir et Blanc

Rapport de forme:

1,37 : 1

Son:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Classification:

Norway:16 | USA:Approved (certificate #14096) | Germany:16 | Finland:K-15 (new rating: 2001) | France:U | Australia:PG | Finland:(Banned) (1950-1965) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:A

Lieux de tournage:

East End Docks, London, England, UK

Société:

Twentieth Century-Fox Productions

Anecdotes:

Jules Dassin has stated that he did read the novel "Night and the City" until after the film was completed.

Goofs:

Anachronismes: Although the action takes place in London during the 1930s, there is a scene in which we can see an enormous illuminated advertisement in the front of a building: "Errol Flynn, Ida Lupino and Eleanor Parker in ESCAPE ME NEVER". This film was produced in 1947.

Guillemet:

Phil Nosseross, Silver Fox Club: You don't know what you're getting into.
Helen Nosseross: I know what I'm getting out of.

Connexions De Film:

figure dans The Savages (2007)

Bande son:

It Happens Every Spring

Odd Man Out

The rise and fall of small-time hustler Harry Fabain is chronicled in this noir thriller by Director Jules Dassin.

This was Dassin's American swansong, completed just before being named by fellow director Ed Dmytryk before HUAK as a "communist," thus ending Dassin's American career.

He brought to "Night and the City" all the technique he acquired over years of quality movie making. Although born in Connecticut and raised and trained in the US, Dassin's work always had the look and feel of his European counterpart, Carol Reed.

The script here is a decent one with surprise turns, avoiding predictability. Franz Waxman's high pitched score adds excitement to the proceedings and Gene Tierney is a creditable second lead.

Yet it's Richard Widmark on whose shoulders the success of this film ultimately rests. It's not an easy role, as Fabian's character runs the gamut of emotional range as he struggles to wheel and deal his petty schemes amongst assorted lowlife types.

Widmark proves he's well up to the challenge, creating a strong portrait of a small time hood striving for positive payoffs through his callous cleverness.

It's a reminder of how talented and resourceful this actor is, and how he and Dassin meshed to create a film of impact.

Dassin, of course, went on to France after this to engage in a fabulous European period, while Widmark struggled to find scripts worthy of his formidable talents, which turned out to be few and far between.