Review of Night and the City (1950) by Robbie M — 27 May 2011
Oh Mary, why do you have to love such a fool? Richard Widmark puts on a strong performance as Harry Fabian, a guy who can't seem to get anything right. He wants to make money quick by doing these big schemes, but in order to do this he has to borrow money from someone else.
No one wants to help him anymore, but Helen comes up with a scheme of her own to open a nightclub. Her husband, Philip, finds out and decides to corner Fabian and Helen so that everyone will finally put Fabian out of his misery.
The audience should not like Fabian one bit, but somehow Jules Dassin makes us care. When things start falling apart I was angry. Just let things work out for once! One of the most upsetting scenes is when Fabian is caught stealing from Mary once again.
She screams at him that he's not just stealing money, he is killing her. We don't really know much about her, but Gene Tierney plays the character with such heart that it's impossible not to love her.
Fabian is such a rich character. He is human. He just wants to make a life for himself, so no matter how much I hated what he did I was always interested in what was next. Plus, how could you get bored with the beautiful shots that go throughout the film? Night and the City is another one of those overlooked film noirs that deserve more than what it gets.
This review of Night and the City (1950) was written by Robbie M on 27 May 2011.
Night and the City has generally received very positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
