A waste of 90 minutes of my life

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Well, this is for sure one of the coolest films I discovered in 2017. I was also discovering Gerald Kersh's writing at this time, and I read that there was a film based on his novel of the same name (which I still haven't read, incidentally), that some people considered a classic of noir. I expected good things, but the film in fact surpassed my expectations.Harry Fabian. Wow, you could talk quite a bit about a guy like this, and you probably know someone a bit like him. He's really bad news, yet somehow manages to be strangely, almost, likable despite himself. Maybe much of this is down to Richard Widmark's portrayal, which is manic and infectious, like that of an intense and earnest salesman, one who might surprise you sometimes by bursting into a silly song and hopping around with completely un-self-conscious glee. Apparently the book harry is nastier, but the thing is, when you get to the bottom of Widmark-Harry's schemes, he is really a rotten bastard and you know you should hate him for being such a user of people and an abuser of trust. Yet somehow, I think, you can't quite bring yourself to despise him as much as he obviously deserves, and I think that's interesting. Harry is always looking for the "next big thing", so he can get "in on the deal". He's full of big ideas. Most of them are total bullshit, but a guy like harry might just be able to string people along for long enough to get away with it, right under their noses, so to speak. You have to think, too, that the guy is probably kind of insane. There's that scene where Harry comes breathlessly into Mr. Nosseros's place, saying, "I'll control wrestling!", and Nosseros finds this so deleeriously crazy and amusing that he explodes with laughter right in Harry's face, and can't stop. Harry though -- he just keeps on talking, raising his voice to combat being laughed at, until he's shrieking! It's wild.So Harry is at the centre of all this, but there are actually a whole load of great, memorable characters in this thing. The fat, jovial and fiendish Mr. nosseros, for instance; his scheming, frustrated wife Helen; and, of course, the unforgettable Gregorius, played by real-life wrestling champion Stanislaus Zbyszko. Now, I like to imagine kersh was pleased with this movie (even though they apparently have changed quite a few things), and one of the reasons is Zbyszko's involvement. I like to think, as a fan of wrestling himself, he would have been chuffed that the old guy ended up in one of his stories. Well, Stanislaus Zbyszko supposedly never acted before, but he nailed this, utterly. His character is both tragic and extremely sympathetic; his death absolutely one of the most poignant things about this film, and the moment that marks Harry's going over the line and beyond redemption.Speaking of wrestling ... The Scene. If this kind of film isn't really your thing, I guess this one scene of Gregorius and "The Strangler" having it out is going to be the thing that'll stick in your mind. It's a hell of a scene, really, and goes on for several minutes. It's all done completely without music, and you can hear every grunt and smash, see every detail and almost *feel* the power of the struggle. It's incredibly visceral, I think, for an English/American film of 1950.Another interesting facet of this classic is that there are two versions. The American cut seems better in most respects, but i think the British one has superior music, and it also includes a great early domestic scene between Widmark and Gene Tierney that is rendered a perfunctory nothing in the American cut (actually it's a completely different scene). There's an informative documentary that comes on the DVD which explains a lot of detail about the two versions and how they differ. I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff, for some reason.The casting is of course great, and I haven't even mentioned some of the highlights of that aspect of the film. Only trouble is, a few of these people are dreadfully underused. I personally wouldn't have minded if the film were half an hour longer, but that's probably because I appreciate the world and characters of its creation so much. Besides, I can't really think the film would have been drastically improved by giving Gene more to do, for instance. Another thing I have to note is that there are probably a few too many Americans in the cast. Nothing's really wrong with that, of course, but the film is supposed to take place in (and indeed was shot in) England, and the juxtaposition of notable English performers with less-experienced American ones putting on an accent is a bit obvious. Don't worry though; Widmark just talks like Widmark and doesn't try to sound like a Brit.

They got it right. Who? The team that put this movie together and then acted it out to perfection. Its all here too. All the hopes, dreams, opportunities that humans come into contact with but not everyone handles them the same. Here, we see a guy who is driven, but not for the right reasons. Furthermore, on the way to trying to make a buck, he ignores what really counts and that is the tragedy that is delivered nicely and potently by Richard Widmark supported by Gene Tierney. Lot of nice miscellaneous players giving us memorable scenes which makes for good entertainment and moving the story along. They just don't make them like this but they should. I will say that this was remade with Robert Deniro in the lead part and it was good as well. Get a glimpse of one of the businesses that have girls as hostesses who hawk expensive drinks, gifts etc. just because they can and how people steer them customers too. This tactic still thrives everywhere on the globe too. Snack and a tasty drink with this one and enjoy this classic film

When this film started and I saw it was based in London I was a little disappointed because I had looked at the cast list and so on and had assumed it was an American noir – so I wasn't really in the mood to see Britain try to get in on the genre act. Of course anyone who has seen this film will tell you what a foolish statement that is, since this film is fairly brutal and deserves to be held up as a great example of the genre regardless of what city it is set in. The plot revolves around the simple world of wrestling and on the face of it is pretty small beer – Fabian, like most of the characters, has the sort of aspirations of all lower tier hustlers and while ambitious, his goals are not really those to lift him high from his current status. He believes he can make it though and even as he ducks and dives in the sewer, he convinces himself that if he just keeps doing it then things will work for him. Wrestling may be the backdrop but it is this very grimy stage that the film is really set.This links to what the film does best – desperation. The sense of characters going beyond frustration into desperation and despair is really well portrayed here. It is of course most evident in Fabien but few characters are at the top of the tree or even within reach of it and most things are a compromise or deal in one form or another. This plays out really well as a theme but also drives the narrative as things unravel and characters all try clutching at the straws for themselves even though it makes things unravel all the quicker. The story is engaging from the exciting start through to the strong ending (the likes of which I always appreciate in these films).The acting is strong and although there is a lead character it is an ensemble piece. Widmark really convinces – when he is terrified he is great but when he is upbeat and playing his game he still manages to do it with the scene of cheap desperation which is incredibly realistic and engaging. Lom is menacing but humanized and helped by a great turn from Zbyszko. Support from Tierney, Mazurki, Sullivan is all very good and I loved the needy but manipulative turn from Googie Withers as a woman who just about still has it but also knows she won't for long – again her desperation is in a different form from Widmark's but it is just as well done. The delivery of all this is really good. The sets are compact, dirty and dark but also very clear and well lit so we see what we need but are not on a soundstage. Use of locations also helps set the scene and Dassin' direction of the camera is as good as that of his cast.A very strong film indeed and one I really enjoyed for how convincingly gritty and downbeat it was. I could smell the gym throughout and it matched the sense of desperate grabbing and frustration which oozes from every frame. Really worth seeing – not just as a genre film but as an all round great package.

A Film Noir is only as good as its city is corrupt. Night and the City presents the darkest. A Film Noir is only as tender as its women are vicious. A Film Noir is only as poignant as its hero is perilous. Meet Harry Fabian. Many disregard the character as unlikable, but I like to think of him as the most easily accessible protagonist in all of Film Noir. Richard Widmark, in his Kiss Of Death best, gives a bold, honest, engaging and truly sympathetic performance. I think when most watch Film Noir, they forget all about empathy, to truly fall in love with Night and the City, you must first empathize with its hero. Have you ever been so desperate you'd do almost anything? I have. Have you ever been so deep in a hole that it could very well become your grave? I have. Have you ever loved someone so much that you'd do anything to give her world? I have. Have you ever wanted to be somebody. I have. Harry Fabian is the desperate Man immortal. He is the most insecure of all Noir heroes, and the most certain to fail. But we're here, we're with him on his long descent straight to hell. The film's uncanny pacing will make you feel completely helpless, like Fabian ultimately does, and since you are a part of the audience and you are thereby privileged with information kept from Fabian, you become aware of the tragedy that awaits him at the end of his descent, unlike our unfortunate hero, Harry Fabian. Night and the City was directed by the exceptional and overlooked true pioneer of Noir, Jules Dassin. Dassin made a few extremely serene pictures at the very height of Noir, his best was Night and the City. Made shortly before his exile during the Communist Witch Hunts of which he fell victim to in 1952, Night and the City is everything a Film Noir should be, and everything it could have been if the genre's longevity had been harnessed and controlled early on, and if his film wasn't so easily swept aside in its time. And with God as my witness, I profess! Night and the City is better than every movie that has ever been made since then, with the one exception of Alexander Mackendrick's 1957 magnum opus and testament of the cinema Sweet Smell Of Success. Night and the City is one of the greatest films ever made, and also one of the most forgotten. Quite like what we'd expect of Harry Fabian. The way that this film seems lost simply mirrors the themes that made the film so wonderful in the first place, all Harry Fabian wanted to do was to be somebody, to be remembered. Sadly, in both film and history, he never was. And that, that makes Night and the City poetic.