The Naked City (Jules Dassin, 1948)

The Naked City (Jules Dassin, 1948)
Rating: 8.3

The Naked City is a fairly formulaic noir drama in which veteran detective, Lt. Dan Muldoon played by the delightful Barry Fitzgerald and his young up and coming partner attempt to solve a relatively bromidic murder. The film begins with a voice over caveat, warning the audience that the film we are about to watch is atypically gritty, as it was shot entirely on location rather than in the studio. The narration continues throughout the film, and I found it to be detrimental. The narrator overtly draws attention to the reflexivity of the film, and even has one way conversations with the characters, which I found to be pretty corny. On the positive side, the exterior on location cinematography is fabulous and captures a semi documentary look at New York city during the late 1940s. The city itself is arguably the most interesting character in the story. The highlight of the film is the riveting final chase scene that ends on the Williamsburg Bridge and accentuates it's most endearing qualities.