Jules Dassin's "The Naked City"

The Naked City (1948) is an American film noir directed by Jules Dassin and starring Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart, and Don Taylor. The Academy-Award-Winning cinematography was by William H. Daniels. The music is by Miklos Rozsa and Frank Skinner.

The plot concerns the murder of a model who is knocked out by a pair of men with chloroform and then left to drown in her own bathtub. When police arrive on the scene, the medical examiner says the woman was murdered. The search is on for the killers but there are several twists and turns along the journey.

The film was praised for its realism that seems to borrow elements from the Neo Realism movement happening in Italian films.

Jules Dassin (1911 – 2008) was an American film director. He got work as an assistant director at RKO and then moved to M-G-M where he directed short subjects. Dassin directed the film noir classics Brute Force (1947), The Naked City (1948), and Thieves’ Highway (1949). He was blacklisted because of his once being a member of the Communist Party so he left the United States for Europe where remained for the rest of his life. He was married to Greek film actress Melina Mercouri.

Barry Fitzgerald (1888 – 1961) was an Irish stage, film, and television actor. He appeared in many notable films over four decades including Bringing Up  Baby (1938), How Green Was My Valley (1941), Going My Way (1944), None but the Lonely Heart (1944), and The Quiet Man (1952). He was a member of the Abbey Theatre and made his film debut in Juno and the Paycock (1930) directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

 

The Naked City trivia

• Most of the scenes filmed in New York City were filmed without people knowing they were being filmed.
• Producer Mark Hellinger narrated the film; he died of a heart attack before the film was released; he was only 44 years old.
• After Hellinger’s death, Universal was prepared to scrap the picture. Due to a contract he had with the studio, the film had to be released. It became a big hit and won two Academy Awards.
• Stanley Kubrick, on assignment from Look magazine, took pictures on the film’s location.
• The film marked the film debuts of Ted de Corsia, Kathleen Freeman, James Gregory, and Nehemiah Persoff.
• Barry Fitzgerald was 5’3” and the minimum height requirement for policemen at the time of filming was 5’9”.

 

To watch the film on YouTube, click on the link below.

To join the discussion on March 6, 2023, 6:30 p.m. Central Time, click here. Once you RSVP, you’ll receive and invitation with a link to join the discussion on Zoom.

 

Discussion questions

1. The film was acclaimed for its realism; did the film seem realistic to you?
2. Some have tagged The Naked City as a film noir. Would you agree with this classification?
3. Producer Mark Hellinger narrated the film. Did you think the narration enhanced the film?
4. What did you think of the performances? Did anyone stand out to you?
5. Did the movie remind you of any other films you’ve seen? 

Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, and Louis Hayward in "And Then There Were None"

And Then There Were None (1945) is a mystery movie directed by Rene Clair and starring Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, and Louis Hayward. The film is an adaptation of Agatha Christie's 1939 novel of the same name. 

Eight strangers are invited to a small isolated island off the coast of Devon, England, by a Mr. and Mrs. Owen. Two newly-hired servants, Thomas and Ethel Rogers greet them to the secluded mansion, but their hosts are absent. As the guests sit down to dinner, they notice a centerpiece featuring figurines of ten Indians. Thomas plays a record and a man's voice accuses them all of the murder! 

Are they really all guilty? Is this all a cruel game concocted by the mysterious Mr. and Mrs. Owen?

Rene Clair (1898 - 1981) was a French film director and writer. He directed silent films in his native France but was lured to Hollywood where he directed five films. His first American film was The Flame of New Orleans (1941) starring Marlene Dietrich. The film was not a success and it would be a year before he made another American film. His most popular American film was And Then There Were None (1945) based on Agatha Christie’s novel of the same name. After World War II, Clair returned to France where he was considered one of that country’s best film directors.

Barry Fitzgerald (1888 – 1961) was an Irish stage, film, and television actor. He appeared in many notable films over four decades including Bringing Up  Baby (1938), How Green Was My Valley (1941), Going My Way (1944), None but the Lonely Heart (1944), and The Quiet Man (1952). He was a member of the Abbey Theatre and made his film debut in Juno and the Paycock (1930) directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Walter Huston (1883 - 1950) was a Canadian singer, stage, and film actor. He is also the patriarch of the Huston clan that includes his writer-director son John, and his granddaughter, actress Anjelica. Huston worked in the theater, with roles on Broadway where he made his debut in 1924. Once talking pictures began in Hollywood, Huston worked as both a leading man and also a character actor. Some of Huston’s films include The Virginian (1929), Rain (1932), Gabriel Over the White House (1933), The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941), and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, directed by his son John. Huston’s last film was The Furies (1950) co-starring Barbara Stanwyck and Wendell Corey.

Louis Hayward (1909 – 1985) was a British-American actor. He worked on the London stage under the tutelage of Noel Coward. He made some films in England in the early 1930s and came to Broadway in 1935 working with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in Noel Coward’s Point Valaine. His Broadway fame brought him to Hollywood where he was cast in some minor roles before getting starring roles in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939), My Son, My Son! (1940), and The Son of Monte Cristo (1940). Hayward was married to Ida Lupino from 1938 to 1945.

To watch the film on YouTube, click the link below.

To join the discussion on December 6, 2021, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time, click here. Once you RSVP, you will receive an invitation and link to the discussion on Zoom.

Discussion questions:

1. Agatha Christie's novel has been filmed over ten times, are you familiar with any of the other versions? If so, how does this version hold up?
2. Would you have guessed this was the same director who directed I Married a Witch and It Happened Tomorrow?
3. The film features many prominent character actors; did you have a favorite?
4. What did you think of the top-billed stars: Fitzgerald, Huston, and Hayward?
5. Did anything surprise you?

Bette Davis wants “The Catered Affair” for daughter Debbie Reynolds

The Catered Affair (1956) is an American drama directed by Richard Brooks and starring Bette Davis, Ernest Borgnine, Debbie Reynolds, Barry Fitzgerald, and Rod Tayor. The musical score is by Andre Previn and the cinematography is by John Alton.

Agnes Hurley (Davis), a Bronx housewife married to cab drive Tom Hurley (Borgnine) wants her only daughter to have the wedding she never had. The problem is, she and her husband are of humble means and really can’t afford one. Their daughter Jane (Reynolds) and her fiance Ralph Halloran (Taylor) don’t want a big wedding, in part due to all the complications and conflicts they can create.

Agnes persists with the big wedding plans and Jane, Tom, and Ralph reluctantly give in, not realizing how this decision will impact family and friends as the big day approaches.

Richard Brooks (1912 – 1992) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He received eight Oscar nominations during his career. Some of the famous films he directed include Blackboard Jungle (1955), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Elmer Gantry (1960), In Cold Blood (1967), and Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977). Brooks was married three times, twice to actresses: Jean Brooks (1941 – 1944) and Jean Simmons (1960 – 1980).

Ernest Borgnine, Bette Davis, and Debbie Reynolds

Bette Davis (1908 – 1989) was an American actress who had a career on stage and screen that spanned more than 50 years. Davis came to Hollywood in 1930 and within four years of her arrival, she was one of its biggest stars winning her first Best Actress Academy Award for her role in Dangerous (1935). Her starring role in Jezebel (1938) won her a second Best Actress Oscar. Davis would go on to star in many popular films during the 1940s including Dark Victory (1939), The Letter (1940), The Little Foxes (1941), and Now, Voyager (1942). In 1950 she starred as Margo Channing in All About Eve (1950), a role she is probably most identified with today. Other popular films include The Old Maid (1939), All This and Heaven Too (1940), Mr. Skeffington (1944), and The Corn is Green (1945).

Ernest Borgnine (1917 – 2012) was an American actor who had a six-decade career in films and television. His film career began in 1951 where he appeared in supporting roles in films like From Here to Eternity (1953), Vera Cruz (1954), and Bad Day at Black Rock (1955). In 1956, he starred in the film Marty (1955) where he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. He also achieved success on television in the comedy series McHale’s Navy (1962 – 1966). Borgnine made another film with Davis, Bunny O’Hare (1971) where the two played senior citizens who go on a crime spree.

Rod Taylor and Debbie Reynolds

Debbie Reynolds (1932 – 2016) was an American singer and movie actress. Reynolds made her film debut in 1950 in Three Little Words. Two years later she had her breakout role as Kathy Seldon in Singin’ in the Rain (1952). She appeared in many films during the 1950s including The Affairs of Dobie Gillis (1953), Susan Slept Here (1954), and Bundle of Joy (1956) co-starring her then-husband Eddie Fisher. In the 1960s she starred in How the West Was Won (1962), The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964), The Singing Nun (1966), and Divorce American Style (1967). In 1973, she made her Broadway debut in a revival of the musical Irene. For her role in The Catered Affair, she was voted the Best Supporting Actress of the year by the National Board of Review.

Barry Fitzgerald (1888 – 1961) was an Irish stage, film, and television actor. He appeared in many notable films over four decades including Bringing Up  Baby (1938), How Green Was My Valley (1941), Going My Way (1944), None but the Lonely Heart (1944), and The Quiet Man (1952). He was a member of the Abbey Theatre and made his film debut in Juno and the Paycock (1930) directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Rod Taylor (1930 – 2015) was an Australian actor who appeared in over 50 feature film including The Time Machine (1960), The Birds (1963), Sunday in  New York (1963), 36 Hours (1965), The Glass Bottom Boat (1966), and Hotel (1967). Taylor was approached to play James Bond but turned the offer down, something he regretted. Taylor starred in the television series Hong Kong (1961) and Bearcats! (1971), and The Oregon Trail (1976). Taylor’s last film role was a cameo in Inglourious Basterds (2009) where he played Winston Churchill.

 

The Catered Affair trivia:

• Ernest Borgnine was 39 when the film was released, just 15 years older than Debbie Reynolds who played his daughter. Bette Davis was 48 and played Borgnine’s wife.
• The $8,000 for the cost of a New York City taxi medallion is equivalent to about $70,000 today.
• Rod Taylor was cast in the film after his impressive screen test for the lead role in Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956). Paul Newman won the role, but Taylor’s Brooklyn accent during the test impressed the folks at M-G-M that they signed Taylor to a long-term contract. The Catered Affair was Taylor’s first film under this contract.
• Debbie Reynolds said that director Richard Brooks treated her badly on the set, even slapping her once in front of the cast and crew.

To watch the film on YouTube, click on the link below.

To join us for a discussion on Zoom on February 2, 2021, at 6:30 p.m., click on the link. Once you RSVP, you’ll get a link to the discussion.

Questions for discussion:

1. What did you think of the film overall? Could you relate to it?
2. This film features Bette Davis in a character role. Was she convincing as a middle-class housewife?
3. The cast included Debbie Reynolds in an early dramatic role. What did you think of her performance?
4. Ernest Borgnine was at the height of his career when he made this film; do you think he was believable as a New York City cab driver?
5. Were there other performances worth noting?