Synopsis
The Naked City (1948) is a crime noir you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Jules Dassin and starring Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, and Don Taylor. Filmed almost entirely on the streets of New York City, it took home two Academy Awards — cinematographer William Daniels claimed the Oscar for his work, and the editing prize went to Paul Weatherwax.
A young model is found drowned in her Manhattan apartment. Lieutenant Muldoon and his partner Halloran start working the neighbourhood: pawnshop owners, neighbours, anyone who saw anything. The investigation moves at the pace of actual detective work — slowly, through dead ends, with no guarantee the next door will open.
Dassin shot on location when that was still the exception rather than the rule, and the city becomes the film's real subject as much as the case itself. The final chase across what was then a very different-looking Brooklyn is still taught in editing courses. For anyone curious where modern police procedurals came from, this is the source. Stream The Naked City (1948) online on iFILM.
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