NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950)—Jules Dassin’s London gangland saga featuring an indelible performance by Richard Widmark—plays this weekend at the Wilder in a 35mm nitrate print of the British release version.*
In the late 1940s, the New York office of 20th Century Fox ordered Darryl Zanuck to fire Dassin for his leftist politics. Instead, Zanuck sent Dassin to London to shoot Jo Eisinger’s script, which Zanuck and Dassin hardened into a pitiless noir. Co-star Gene Tierney—escaping a failed affair in Hollywood—was happy to come on board.
“Dassin was attracted to the film’s overarching theme based on the destructive effect of money and ambition, and NIGHT AND THE CITY is one of the toughest, bleakest films ever produced by a major Hollywood studio.” — Geoff Mayer, from The Encyclopedia of Film Noir
Saturday, December 16, at 7:30.
Billy Wilder Theater, Hammer Museum
10899 Wilshire Boulevard, Westwood, Los Angeles.
*The British release version of the film runs six minutes longer than the U.S. release and features alternate opening and closing scenes, as well as a different score by composer Benjamin Frankel.
Night and the City (1950). Richard Widmark as Harry Fabian.
