DON TAYLOR & HOWARD DUFF IN JULES DASSIN'S 'THE NAKED CITY'

Howard Duff pays for crime in Jules Dassin's THE NAKED CITY Year: 1948 Rating: ***1/2

After producer Mark Hellinger's famous opening narration, introducing the audience to THE NAKED CITY, following authentic shots of New York City exteriors, from buildings to shipyards... interiors from noisy newspaper offices to lonely radio stations... when we eventually catch a quick glimpse of Hollywood actors Howard Duff and Dorothy Hart at a fancy nightclub, there's an awkward contrast to those grainy/gritty shots in a police procedural that resembles a documentary one second and a dressed-up melodrama the next...

Centered on two detectives seeking the killer of a beautiful dame drowned in a classy apartment bathtub, they couldn't be more different: the veteran, Barry Fitzgerald, is like a wise old leprechaun while tall/lanky young Don Taylor traipses around town, searching for clues — yet it's stout every-man cop Tom Pedi who compliments the grittier images, like a dockyard silhouette of a formidable criminal, eventually revealed soon enough so NAKED trades mystery for a by-the-numbers investigation... 

Criterion Copy from THE NAKED CITY

The partners are mostly interested by classy red-herring Howard Duff, so full of pathetic lies... from a contrived war record to a fledgling apparel business involving model fiance Dorothy Hart... that he can't be trusted by the lawman who, under idealistic/class-envy direction of Jules Dassin, critiques the dead dame (Duff's other model girlfriend) for choosing quick riches to working-class contentment... 

It's no shock that slimy, sweaty, holed-up boxer Ted De Corsia's the true culprit, providing the only real danger for optimistic family man detective Taylor — the best moments occur when the procedural dialogue veers into exploitative pop-boiler elements this CITY had avoided on purpose, overall relying more on the formidable New York backdrop than the comparably mild residents within.

Howard Duff and Dorothy Hart in THE NAKED CITY

Ted de Corsia in THE NAKED CITY

Don Taylor in THE NAKED CITY with Anne Sargent

Don Taylor in THE NAKED CITY with Barry Fitzgerald

Don Taylor in THE NAKED CITY

Don Taylor in THE NAKED CITY

Don Taylor in THE NAKED CITY

Don Taylor in THE NAKED CITY with David Opatoshu

Don Taylor in THE NAKED CITY with John McQuade

Howard Duff and Dorothy Hart in THE NAKED CITY

Barry Fitzgerald in THE NAKED CITY

Don Taylor in THE NAKED CITY with Ann Sargent

Don Taylor in THE NAKED CITY with Barry Fitzgerald

Tom Pedi in THE NAKED CITY

Sleeping ship in THE NAKED CITY

Dorothy Hart and Don Taylor in THE NAKED CITY

Don Taylor in THE NAKED CITY

Ted de Corsia in THE NAKED CITY

Don Taylor in THE NAKED CITY with Barry Fitzgerald and John McQuade

Dorothy Hart in THE NAKED CITY

Don Taylor in THE NAKED CITY with Anne Sargent

Howard Duff in THE NAKED CITY with Barry Fitzgerald

Howard Duff in THE NAKED CITY

New York scenes from THE NAKED CITY

From THE NAKED CITY

Kathleen Freeman and Don Taylor in THE NAKED CITY

New York scenes from THE NAKED CITY

New York scenes from THE NAKED CITY

New York scenes from THE NAKED CITY

New York scenes from THE NAKED CITY

New York scenes from THE NAKED CITY

New York scenes from THE NAKED CITY

New York scenes from THE NAKED CITY

Ted de Corsia in THE NAKED CITY with Walter Burke

Criterion THE NAKED CITY