Night and the City (1950)
Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark) is a London hustler with ambitious plans that never work out. (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Jules Dassin
Written By: Jo Eisinger, Gerald Kersh, Austin Dempster, William E. Watts
Starring: Herbert Lom, Richard Widmark, Mike Mazurki, James Hayter, Francis L. Sullivan, Gene Tierney, Googie Withers, Hugh Marlowe, Kay Kendall, Charles Farrell, Maureen Delaney, Stanislaus Zbyszko
Genres: Suspense/Thriller, Crime
Country: UK
Where to Stream
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Night and the City belongs to 53 collections
1. Criterion Collection (collaborative: moderated by caffe - 165 stars)
2. Film Noir (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 55 stars)
3. Martin Scorsese's Film School: The 85 Films You Need to See to Know Anything About Film (collaborative - 43 stars)
4. They Shoot Pictures 250 Quintessential Noir Films (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 38 stars)
5. The Guardian's 1000 films to see before you die (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 30 stars)
6. Best of criticker: Top 250 (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 26 stars)
7. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2012 revision) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 25 stars)
8. They Shoot Pictures' Recommended Viewing (collaborative: moderated by Cinephile - 19 stars)
9. Films available in HD (collaborative: moderated by kubricksucks - 13 stars)
10. Doubling The Canon (collaborative - 13 stars)
11. Con Artist(s) (collaborative: moderated by iceblox - 11 stars)
12. Criticker top 250 (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 11 stars)
13. List: Essential Noirs in The Rough Guide to Film Noir's Canon (collaborative: moderated by KasperL - 10 stars)
14. Best of criticker: Suspense / Thriller (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 9 stars)
15. 1,000 Noir Films: They Shot Dark Pictures, Didn't They? (collaborative: moderated by lisa- - 9 stars)
16. BFI 100 key Noir films (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 8 stars)
17. Best of criticker: Crime (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 8 stars)
18. BFI Film Classics (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 7 stars)
19. David Thomson's 1000 Films (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 7 stars)
20. Black and White Photography (collaborative: moderated by JooJoo - 6 stars)
21. Best of Classic Old Hollywood (pre-70s) (collaborative: moderated by 90sCoffee - 6 stars)
22. London (collaborative: moderated by djross - 5 stars)
23. Foreign Classic Film Noir (collaborative: moderated by Shmendrek - 5 stars)
24. Doubling The Canon (2010 update) (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 5 stars)
25. Remade (collaborative: moderated by Ag0stoMesmer - 4 stars)
26. Average Percentile >70 (collaborative: moderated by peyrin - 4 stars)
27. TimeOut Magazine's 100 best British films (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 3 stars)
28. List: Noir of the Week (collaborative: moderated by KasperL - 3 stars)
29. Wrestling (collaborative: moderated by Jerky - 3 stars)
30. Best of criticker: Film Noir (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 3 stars)
31. British Classic Films with good ratings (pre-70s) (collaborative: moderated by 90sCoffee - 3 stars)
32. Criterion Collection (Blu-ray and 4K) (public: PepeCamello - 3 stars)
33. Paste Magazine: The 100 Best Film Noirs of All Time (public: TychoCelchuu - 2 stars)
34. The 100 Best Film Noirs of All Time: Slant Magazine (public: TychoCelchuu - 2 stars)
35. List: Empire's masterpiece picks (collaborative: moderated by KasperL - 1 star)
36. Doubling the Canon (2011 update) (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 1 star)
37. Sight and Sound 2002 (Single Vote) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 1 star)
38. List: TSPDT's 100 Noir Films (public: KasperL - 1 star)
39. Noir, Not Hardboiled (public: Russ Bedford - 1 star)
40. The Greatest Movies of All Time - Filmweb's Alternative Top 500 (public: Hadleyreis - 1 star)
41. Wrestler (collaborative: moderated by Hailey)
42. To Download (collaborative: moderated by ForrestQ)
43. Cinema Sewer (collaborative: moderated by mattburgess)
44. Golden film reels from L.A. Noire (collaborative: moderated by juntakinte99)
45. The Overlook Film Encyclopedia: The Gangster Film (collaborative: moderated by RoyalB)
46. Film gris (collaborative: moderated by tirefeet)
47. Cinemateca - Grandes Géneros: Disponíveis para o Noir (collaborative: moderated by pmpfe)
48. Owned (BD) (public: bizarre_eye)
49. 1950: Year in Review (public: polanski28)
50. Filmspotting Ratings Project: Week 6 (public: PeaceAnarchy)
51. Watch List (public: LookJabba...)
52. Forrest Watch List (public: ForrestQ)
53. Movies Mentioned in "The Long Take" (public: TychoCelchuu)
Browse the full list of collections
| Stars | User | Rating | |
| 7 |  |
Alex Watkins | 5 91st |
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One of the best film noirs ever made, and has perhaps the best noir cinematography of any; chiaroscuro has never been as heavily emphasized as this, with extreme contrasts and shadows lurking in every corner. Widmark's panicked, worrisome Harry Fabian is one of the great noir characters, perhaps the best example of the down-on-his-luck-loser archetype. The impending doom is relentless.
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| 4 |  |
Moribunny | 100 99th |
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A masterpiece of film noir, made with utmost care. It excels in every department, from Dassin's meticulous directing and the gripping performances - Widmark is on FIRE - right down to makeup. The script, apart from biting irony typical to the genre, has insight, warmth and roundness. Even the littlest of characters is well written and well played.
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| 4 |  |
Nathan S | 5 93rd |
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Location, location, location. The beginning of Dassin's European exile is a shadowy and fatalistic London noir, an underworld of sleazy big shots and pathetic bottom feeders. It's a spry and frantic film. Widmark is manic, a two-bit born loser always running from one desperate last chance to the next. It is an adrenalized and powerhouse performance, only one of several strong characterizations. Tierney is sad, Sullivan is grotesque, Withers is vile, and they're all just pitiful.
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| 4 |  |
Shmendrek | 5 96th |
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Entertaining collaboration between Richard Widmark (fast becoming my favorite actor) and Jules Dassin (a creative, intelligent director). I love Dassin's visual style. Many noir directors use shadow indiscriminately, but Dassin seems to understand the proper use of chiaroscuro. His shots are always so well-composed and balanced. The story may have lost some steam after the wrestling match, but this is still a whopper of a flick. Recommended viewing.
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| 4 |  |
goremeat | 90 95th |
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A thoroughly tense and exhilarating noir, that transformed London into a cruel fatalistic theatre of thwarted ambitions. The lighting and photography was marvellous, but I'd like to offer comment on the fight scene that stands out as one of the most compelling I've ever seen.
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| 2 |  |
MartinTeller | 90 94th |
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Gripping story of a perpetual loser always trying to score big who gets in way over his head. The photography was super and I was never bored. I'm not a big Richard Widmark fan, but Francis Sullivan is always a pleasure.
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| 2 | theficionado | 100 97th |
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Harry Fabian is a great character, whose last name speaks to his campaign of misdirection, deception, & inevitable retreat. Striving for "ease & plenty," Fabian possesses a manic energy that propels him through every confrontation & problem; his solution is inevitably some form of betrayal or deceit. His appetite for status ill fits with his capriciousness; there couldn't be a greater contrast with the smooth operators who yield real power, who regard their ill-gotten gains as a prerogative.
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| 1 |  |
Magb | 75 50th |
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Solid noir. The plot is good and fairly unpredictable. Richard Widmark is excellent as Harry Fabian; his performance is easily the movie's single greatest achievement. But there are some flaws. For one thing, there are too many damn characters. It's not that it was confusing -- more like unnecessary. In addition to that, there's some hammy 50's style acting, and some generic and overdone 50's soundtrack stylings. But I still enjoyed it.
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| 1 |  |
Pickpocket | 8 82nd |
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I love Richard Widmark's manic, sweaty performance. This guy was literally dripping sweat throughout most of the movie and the manic nature of his character just adds to the desperation of everything that happens. Great ending, very noirish and the whole thing is just incredibly sleazy.
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| 1 |  |
Jeb | 98 93rd |
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R.I.P. Richard Widmark
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| 1 |  |
Obdurate | 80 66th |
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Looks and sounds like a competently made film noir, which I dig because that style is always appealing to me. It also has a compelling performance by Widmark. The plot starts off really strong but as it went on it lost me a little, ending with a final act that is not as satisfying as I would have liked. And hey, I like watching sweaty mostly naked men wrestle as much as the next guy but that scene was too long.
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| 1 |  |
Weafdog | 66 97th |
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Widmark and Co. with the direction of Dassin make this the best film noir ever. Criminally underrated.
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| 1 |  |
Judge Holden | 7 88th |
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A grim and unforgettable film. The chiaroscuro photography deserves special mention, of course, but it's really the labyrinthian story that makes this one of the best film noirs I've ever seen. So many characters populate the shadowy London streets, each one of them compelling. Richard Widmark gives a frantic and mesmerizing performance as the doomed protagonist. And the script is both poetic and moving, reveling in its characters' amorality w/o letting anyone find either freedom or redemption.
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| 1 |  |
Red_Falcon_ | 80 87th |
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A great sense of atmosphere and a fantastic performance by Richard Widmark, who owns this film,makes this one of the finest noir's I've seen.
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| 1 |  |
Noblet | 88 91st |
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A heart-pounding ride from start to finish. Widmark is perfect as the cocky, scheming Harry Fabian. It's not just a great film noir, it's an excellent movie period.
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| Average Percentile 74.8% from 627 Ratings |  |