The Naked City

When this innovative film noir thriller was released in 1948, the genre known as the "police procedural" was virtually unknown; in fact, without The Naked City there would be no Dragnet, NYPD Blue, Law & Order or CSI. It all began right here, with screenwriter Malvin Wald's initial concept to make a film shot entirely on location, which was heavily influenced by the emerging popularity of Italian neorealism. Journalist-cum-producer Mark Hellinger and director Jules Dassin had recently completed their hard-hitting prison drama Brute Force, and Wald's idea struck them as a perfect opportunity to make a film in which New York City was as vital to the story as any of its characters. The result is this still-compelling detective story—driven by Hellinger's journalistic narration (including the immortal closing phrase, "There are eight million stories in the naked city…")—starring Barry Fitzgerald as a dogged Irish cop, sleuthing through clues revolving around the murder of a young model (strangled in the film's opening scene). The Naked City is not a whodunit—we know more than the detectives—but a film about how a crime is solved, and who becomes caught up in the investigation. Throughout, cinematographer William Daniels (previously known for his stunning work with Greta Garbo) presents innovative images of New York, and the film became a milestone in post-World War II docudrama. Boasting an all-new high-definition digital transfer; DVD extras on this Criterion Collection release include full-length audio commentary by screenwriter Wald (a welcome carryover from an inferior DVD release of The Naked City in the late 1990s), an insightful video interview with New York University film professor Dana Polan, an analysis of the film's New York locations by architecture expert and author James Sanders, footage of Dassin's 2004 appearance at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and a booklet containing an essay by writer/historian Luc Sante and production notes. Highly recommended. (J. Shannon)