City without a mask
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | City without a mask The naked city |
| Original title | The Naked City |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1948 |
| length | 96 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jules Dassin |
| script |
Malvin Wald Albert Maltz |
| production | Mark Hellinger |
| music |
Frank Skinner Miklós Rózsa |
| camera | William H. Daniels |
| cut | Paul Weatherwax |
| occupation | |
| |
City without a mask , and The Naked City (OT: The Naked City), is an in black and white twisted American film noir of Jules Dassin from the year 1948 . In addition to films like Secret Agent T and Password 777, it belongs to the sub-genre of semi- documentary film noir. The US television series Merciless City , produced from 1958 to 1963, is based on the film.
action
A young woman, Jean Dexter, is murdered in her New York apartment. The housekeeper finds her in the overflowing bathtub. Lieutenant Muldoon and his homicide squad colleagues soon find out that Dexter was drugged and then drowned. The police are looking for the (at least two) murderers of the victim, who it turns out to be linked to a gang of thieves who specialize in jewelry. From Ruth Morrison, like Dexter a model, the trail leads to Frank Niles, who is engaged to Ruth but was also in a relationship with Jean Dexter. Yet most of Niles' statements turn out to be lies.
As the investigation progresses, it becomes clear to Muldoon that Niles and Dexter are aware of Dr. Stoneman, a doctor, organized a series of break-ins carried out by crooks Backalis and Garza. Dexter was murdered because of an argument between the two crooks over their shares. Then Garza knocked down his accomplice Backalis and threw him into the Hudson.
After Backalis is found dead, the young policeman Jimmy Halloran locates Garza, an acrobat playing accordion, in his hiding place. Although Garza initially knocks him down, Halloran can participate in the subsequent pursuit. Garza is caught on Williamsburg Bridge and encircled by the police. He climbed higher and higher on a bridge pillar and fell into the depths after an exchange of fire with the officers.
background
City without a mask was created entirely “on location” in the summer of 1947 (= at the location instead of in the film studio ). Dassin enjoyed extensive freedom, although producer Mark Hellinger ( Avengers of the Underworld , Cell R 17 ) initially objected to shooting outside the studio. However, since co-author Albert Maltz was banned from his profession in the course of the McCarthy era campaigns directed against left-wing film artists , his “humanistic” ambitions such as depicting contrasting economic living standards fell victim to the scissors.
Hellinger, who did the voiceover himself, died before the film premiered at the age of only 44.
City Without a Mask premiered in New York on March 3, 1948. The film opened in German cinemas on November 29, 1949 . On April 12, 1962, it was performed again in the FRG under the new title The Naked City .
Dassin was able to shoot another film ( Danger in Frisco ) in the USA before he (like Maltz) was banned from his profession because of his previous membership in the Communist Party . He emigrated to Europe in the early 1950s.
Reviews
“An imaginatively compiled look at life on New York's streets […] The drama is mostly superficial and nothing more than a conventional 'piece of life' - a routine and uninspiring episode in everyday police work. [...] After all, within this range of topics, Mr. Hellinger delivered considerable work in this, his last work, which comes along spontaneously and not rehearsed. "
“ Photographed by William Daniels […] with a wonderful eye for space, size and light. A visually majestic finale. Otherwise maudlin and naive. "
"The unspectacular plot offers the director and camera the opportunity to draw the multi-faceted image of the giant city in an authentic, detailed and very haunting manner at the original location."
Awards
In 1949 City Without a Mask was awarded the Oscar for best camera (William H. Daniels) and best editing (Paul Weatherwax). Author Malvin Wald received an Oscar nomination for best original story.
In 2007 the film was listed as "Culturally, Historically, or Aesthetically Significant" in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress .
Web links
- City without a mask in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- City without a mask on filmlexikon.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Georg Seeßlen: Cinema of fear. History and mythology of the film thriller, Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 1980, ISBN 3-499-17350-6 , pp. 120–121.
- ^ Brian Neve: Film and Politics in America. A social tradition. Routledge, Oxon 1992, pp. 120-121, 150.
- ↑ City without a mask in the Internet Movie Database .
- ↑ City Without a Mask on Turner Classic Movies.
- ↑ a b City without a Mask in the Lexicon of International Films .
- ↑ Additional material on the DVD release of Night and the City, Criterion Collection, USA 2005.
- ↑ "[...] a fancifully selective observation of life in New York's streets, police stations, apartments, tenements, playgrounds, docks, bridges and flashy resorts. [...] The drama is largely superficial, being no more than a conventional "slice of life" - a routine and unrevealing episode in the everyday business of the cops. […] There are countless more fascinating facets to this city than the work of cops with crime and countless more striking characters in it than genial detectives and mumbling crooks. However, within that range of interest, Mr. Hellinger has done a vivid job in this, his appropriate valedictory, which comes to you spontaneous and unrehearsed. ”- Review in the New York Times of March 5, 1948, accessed December 25 2012.
- ↑ "Photographed by William Daniels [...] with a lovely eye for space, size, and light. A visually majestic finish. Otherwise, mawkish and naive. ”- James Agee: Agee on Film. Criticism and Comment on the Movies. Modern Library, New York 2000 (EA 1964), ISBN 978-0-375-75529-3 , p. 299.