Review of The Naked City (1948) by Gareth B — 23 Jun 2010

There are certain distinct reasons why film noir is still considered the pinnacle of cool and sophiscation, and this film is one of them. It marks a point in the development of noir where the old anti-heros and brooding dames are replaced by characters who seem more real, and if The Naked City does anything, it wants to feel genuine.

Shot almost entirely on location in and around New York City, the plot here is reasonably by the book in that some police detectives must hunt down the killer of a young model, whilst interrogating a number of more bizarre characters along the way.

In many places, the acting has a tendancy to feel rather flat and plain, as many characters seem to purposefully downplay their parts for the sake of realism. This doesn't stop Barry Fitzgerald though, who is definitely the star of the show here as the wisecracking Irish Lt.

Muldoon, leading the investigation. Culminating in a distinctly Hitchcockian finale on the Williamsburg Bridge, and with an effective voice-over narration from Producer Mark Hellinger, we are reminded that The Naked City has eight million stories.

.. This is only one of them.