The Naked City (1948)

This unique documentary-style police-story film noir was worthy of two Oscars: Best Black and White Cinematography for William H. Danielsm, and Best Film Editing for Paul Weatherwax. Shot on location in New York City, rather than on a sound stage, both awards were well deserved.

The film begins, and is interspersed, with a newspaper-style narration by producer Mark Hellinger. Adding to its unique style are the dubbing of many voices representing the internal dialog of the New Yorkers shown throughout the film. Because the film was shot in the city, much of the outdoor dialog is also dubbed. Sadly, narrator Hellinger died of a sudden heart attack before the picture was released.

Barry Fitzgerald, typically a 2nd tier character actor, plays the lead as Det. Lt. Dan Muldoon, a weathered and decidedly Irish police inspector in the homicide division. Muldoon leads the investigation into the murder of a young model, Jean Dexter, who happened to have a large collection of jewlery. The police quickly tie Dexter to her friend Frank Niles (Howard Duff) and his fiance Ruth Morrison (Dorothy Hart.) However, if the film has a star, it's New York City itself.


Frank Niles is an interesting character, lying about almost everything - even inconsequential matters. Before long, he buys a plane ticket to Mexico, funded with pawned, and hot, jewelry. When the police go to arrest him, they inadvertently interrupt Niles' murder, which has a similar modus operandi to the murder of Jean Dexter.

The end of the movie has a homage to Fritz Lang's M. The killer has evaded a police and is able to lose himself in the city, but runs into a blind man. The man's seeing eye dog attacks the murderer, the murderer shoots, and the police acquire their target. In M, a blind man is also plays a key role in outing the wanted man. However, it is Hitchcock, not Lang, who inspires the climax of the film, as the killer climbs to the top of the Williamsburg Bridge.

Overall, I found the story compelling, but the narration is a bit distracting. The images of New York, however, make up for all of that. The cinematography provides an authenticity that is unique in film noir. Considering the script, I give the film an eight out of ten stars. If you focus on the images, rather than the narration, however, The Naked City gets a solid ten.