Don't know either way, but here's my guess: They're both right. The film was a success in the UK, but not at all in America.Jonathan S wrote:In Criterion's booklet Luc Sante writes, "The Naked City was not a great success, either critically or financially..."
In the BFI's booklet for Dassin's Night and the City, Lee Server writes, "[The Naked City] was a massive critical and box office success..."
Discuss.
380 The Naked City
- willoneill
- Joined: Wed Mar 18, 2009 10:10 am
- Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Re: 380 The Naked City
Re: 380 The Naked City
Sante appears to be wrong on Naked City's lack of financial success. Quoting from Time in the year of its release:
Meanwhile, the winter of box-office discontent was over, and an encouraging amount of spring green was beginning to show in the exhibitors' till. Variety listed the recent box office leaders:
Gentleman's Agreement (20th Century-Fox)
Saigon (Paramount)
Naked City (Mark Hellinger; Universal-International)
Sitting Pretty (20th Century-Fox)
The Bishop's Wife (Goldwyn; RKO Radio)
A Double Life (Universal-International)
Meanwhile, the winter of box-office discontent was over, and an encouraging amount of spring green was beginning to show in the exhibitors' till. Variety listed the recent box office leaders:
Gentleman's Agreement (20th Century-Fox)
Saigon (Paramount)
Naked City (Mark Hellinger; Universal-International)
Sitting Pretty (20th Century-Fox)
The Bishop's Wife (Goldwyn; RKO Radio)
A Double Life (Universal-International)
- Emak-Bakia
- Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2011 11:48 am
Re: 380 The Naked City
I just watched this for the first time the other night, and I have to agree with those who enjoy the film more for the location shooting rather than the police procedural aspects. I was never bored by the story, even if I did find it a bit too cold for my taste, though it’s the beautiful location photography that will have me watching it a second time. I only wish there were more of it!
Even a simple scene such as the one between Detective Halloran and his wife in their home is imbued with a greater sense of realism thanks to the location shooting. I noticed myself instantly more interested in this scene, because the whole thing is invigorated with natural human life thanks to the presence of, right outside the living room window, people going about their everyday lives. I was really disappointed by the staginess of many of the interior scenes. Even when the city can be seen outside of a window, it’s often a static, lifeless shot of rooftops (something that can easily be replicated in a studio.)
Another example (and I don’t recall exactly where this took place in the chronology of the film) occurs when Muldoon is in his office, looking out an open window, seeing and hearing children play in the street. Halloran enters and, although the scene cuts to the two men inside, the children can still be heard. Before any dialogue between the two men starts, Muldoon shuts the window. I imagine this might have been necessary due to the difficulty of capturing the sounds of the children and the dialogue at once, or maybe you can read something into this tiny action, but I really wanted the sounds of the exterior to keep flowing through the window
I seem to recall the narrator at the start of the picture saying that the film was made entirely on location, though, from reading some of the comments posted here, I gather that this isn’t entirely true? Thanks to fellow posters, I’ve also learned about Dassin’s original vision for the film, which sounds a lot closer to what I was hoping for when I blindly bought the DVD. I don’t believe I’ve seen any of his other films, so I’m definitely going to track down at least the other four that have been discussed so fondly in this thread.
One last thing: I, too, thought the entire ending sequence was terrific, but I specifically love the way the narrator’s famous, final line (“There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them.”) attempts to completely change the viewer’s perspective by zooming out to show the bigger picture. Say what you will about the Luc Sante piece included in the booklet, but I thought he nailed it when he wrote about this part: “When Hellinger’s voice assures us that this has been one of eight million stories, we realize that what we briefly experienced as a cosmic struggle up above the earth was really just another statistic.”
Even a simple scene such as the one between Detective Halloran and his wife in their home is imbued with a greater sense of realism thanks to the location shooting. I noticed myself instantly more interested in this scene, because the whole thing is invigorated with natural human life thanks to the presence of, right outside the living room window, people going about their everyday lives. I was really disappointed by the staginess of many of the interior scenes. Even when the city can be seen outside of a window, it’s often a static, lifeless shot of rooftops (something that can easily be replicated in a studio.)
Another example (and I don’t recall exactly where this took place in the chronology of the film) occurs when Muldoon is in his office, looking out an open window, seeing and hearing children play in the street. Halloran enters and, although the scene cuts to the two men inside, the children can still be heard. Before any dialogue between the two men starts, Muldoon shuts the window. I imagine this might have been necessary due to the difficulty of capturing the sounds of the children and the dialogue at once, or maybe you can read something into this tiny action, but I really wanted the sounds of the exterior to keep flowing through the window
I seem to recall the narrator at the start of the picture saying that the film was made entirely on location, though, from reading some of the comments posted here, I gather that this isn’t entirely true? Thanks to fellow posters, I’ve also learned about Dassin’s original vision for the film, which sounds a lot closer to what I was hoping for when I blindly bought the DVD. I don’t believe I’ve seen any of his other films, so I’m definitely going to track down at least the other four that have been discussed so fondly in this thread.
One last thing: I, too, thought the entire ending sequence was terrific, but I specifically love the way the narrator’s famous, final line (“There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them.”) attempts to completely change the viewer’s perspective by zooming out to show the bigger picture. Say what you will about the Luc Sante piece included in the booklet, but I thought he nailed it when he wrote about this part: “When Hellinger’s voice assures us that this has been one of eight million stories, we realize that what we briefly experienced as a cosmic struggle up above the earth was really just another statistic.”
- HerrSchreck
- Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am
Re: 380 The Naked City
That ending seems to me to be inspired by the sublime ending of Vidor's THE CROWD, where the camera pulls away from the (for now) reunited, but generally misrable, couple, finding a moment of laughter in the theater . . . taking in the rest of the crowd until our protagonist is just one among a series of specks.
Also of course reminds of another great "just one sad story among many" ending, that of Bicycle Thieves.
Also of course reminds of another great "just one sad story among many" ending, that of Bicycle Thieves.
- Emak-Bakia
- Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2011 11:48 am
Re: 380 The Naked City
Of course! I definitely think you're right. I knew I had seen just such an ending in other films, but all I could think of was Killer's Kiss.HerrSchreck wrote:That ending seems to me to be inspired by the sublime ending of Vidor's THE CROWD, where the camera pulls away from the (for now) reunited, but generally misrable, couple, finding a moment of laughter in the theater . . . taking in the rest of the crowd until our protagonist is just one among a series of specks.
Also of course reminds of another great "just one sad story among many" ending, that of Bicycle Thieves.
- kingofthejungle
- Joined: Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:25 am
Re: 380 The Naked City
I would strongly encourage seeking out the other Dassin titles in the collection. The Naked City is by far the least inspired of the lot. It's tempting to see the praise of the 'procedural' aspects of the film as Dassin's admirers attempting to rationalize the flat, unimaginative blocking early on in the film (which may well have been a consequence of location shooting). After all, the police procedural was hardly a rarity at the time of The Naked City, and there are plenty of other films that handle similar subject matter in a more distinctive manner (Some of Mann's earlier work, DeToth's Crime Wave, and Sturges' Mystery Street come to mind). The second half of the film is far better than the first, justifying the viewer's patience, but when compared to the dark majesty of Night and the City and Theives' Highway, or the crackling, electric rage that Brute Force inspires, The Naked City is an embarrassing stumble in an otherwise perfect run of noir masterworks.
- HerrSchreck
- Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am
Re: 380 The Naked City
Far from an embarrassing stumble, THE NAKED CITY easily holds its own among its brethren like HOUSE ON 92ND STREET and the otherHathaway location soaked pieces. I can't find a single moment in the entire film's unfolding to cause embarrassment for the director... The error here is to stick this film in with other films that more squarely take the Noir appellation. The technique here is deft and superlative, what you're missing I suspect is the pathos, the dark shadows, the fidelity with bad guys so common in Dassin, all fired from a more hardboiled cannon . NC is not a white knuckle noir , It's not really noir at all. Its a fun, enjoyable crime melodrama that doubles as a paean to the hugely variegated streets of NYC that its makers loved so deeply.
Not to mention this film, as released , bears little resemblance to Dassins original vision.
Not to mention this film, as released , bears little resemblance to Dassins original vision.
- colinr0380
- Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
- Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK
Re: 380 The Naked City
Talking of Henry Hathaway films, I'd also bracket Naked City in with his film that was released around the same time, Call Northside 777 (If the Polish actress in this film seems familiar, it might be because she turns up a few years later as the wife in the orchard sequence of Thieves' Highway! And of course Richard Conte and Lee J. Cobb turn up again in that film too!)
- HerrSchreck
- Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am
Re: 380 The Naked City
Sure, Northside was one of the implied films I meant in the general heap of Hathaways (including of course The Dark Corner).
-
- Joined: Mon Feb 04, 2008 6:10 pm
- Location: Finland
Re: 380 The Naked City
The Naked City felt very much like "proto-Law and Order", and that's not a bad thing at all.
- swo17
- Bloodthirsty Butcher
- Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
- Location: SLC, UT
- TMDaines
- Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
- Location: Stretford, Manchester
Re: 380 The Naked City
So this is a newer resto than the Arrow?
-
- Joined: Fri Apr 25, 2014 6:29 am
Re: 380 The Naked City
So it seems. The 2014 Arrow release used the previous Criterion master: "The High Definition master was produced by The Criterion Collection using the best available archival materials and was made available for this release by MGM via Hollywood Classics."
- tenia
- Ask Me About My Bassoon
- Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am
Re: 380 The Naked City
This and Brute Force were released by Arrow from older HD masters, while Criterion will upgrade them through new 4k restorations.
- FrauBlucher
- Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
- Location: Greenwich Village
Re: 380 The Naked City
Bluray.com...It looks quite lovely
- FrauBlucher
- Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
- Location: Greenwich Village
- FrauBlucher
- Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
- Location: Greenwich Village