6. The Naked City (1948)
Dir. Jules Dassin
An important transformation occurred in the noir genre in the years following World War Two. Whereas originally noir were made primarily on sound stages and studio sets, producers began to transition towards location shooting. Not only that, noir started to move out of city locations in favor of the suburbs; small(er) town America became the new crucible of post-war anxieties. Though many of the best on-location noir were set in suburbia—Act of Violence (1948) and The Phenix City Story (1955) are both required viewing for genre aficionados—it’s ironic that perhaps the very best one embraced the urban milieu: Jules Dassin’s The Naked City. A meat-and-potatoes police procedural concerning the murder of an ex-model, the film is made essential thanks to William H. Daniels’ documentary-style cinematography that transforms New York City into a living, breathing character. Unlike some other noir from the era that interspersed the occasional on-location shot or scene as window dressing (looking at you, Kiss of Death [1947]), The Naked City could not exist without its setting. The climactic chase scene on the Williamsburg Bridge alone raised the film to near Olympian heights. Apparently the Library of Congress agreed—in 2007 the film was added to the United States National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
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