cult film freak: DON TAYLOR & HOWARD DUFF IN JULES DASSIN'S 'THE NAKED CITY'

Year: 1948 Stars: Howard Duff, Barry Fitzgerald, Don Taylor Rating: ****

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...

Barry Fitzgerald and Howard Duff in 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.