Dark City (1950)

Touches You

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Absolutely the worst movie.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

This Is Film Noir Classic At It's Best ... Charleston Heston (In His 4th Film), Lizabeth Scott (Scared Stiff), Jack Webb & Harry Morgan (Dragnet), Ed Begley (12 Angry Men), Dean Jagger (The Magician), Don Defore (Hazel), Walter Burke (Support Your Local Sheriff), Mike Mazurki (Some Like It Hot) ... Four Down On Their Luck Gamblers Cheat A Man Out Of $5000 That Doesn't Belong To Him And Later (From Guilt) Hangs Himself ... What Know One Knows Is That He Has An Over Protective Brother Who Is A Psychopath ... One By One Each Gambler Is Hunted Down And Killed ... This Reminded Me Of An Urban Version Of The Classic Charles Bronson Movie "Chato's Land" ... It Wasn't Enough He Was Hunting Them Down But He Terrorized Them Along The Way ... The Use Of Shadows And The Dark Was Simply Fantastic ... The Movie Not Once Gave Me Permission To Look Away And I Couldn't ... Evenly Paced This Is An Edge Of The Seat Movie, That Had Me Wondering What Was In Every Shadow ...

Charlton Heston, a man that worked extensively in the American cinema, was seen for the first time in an important role in "Dark City", a decent drama-mystery with shades of film noir. This vehicle clearly took him to a prominent position in Hollywood. The German director William Dieterle, a veteran in the industry, was a reliable man to have behind the camera, as he proves here.The story of Dan Haley, a young man that went from a somewhat privilege life to one on the other side of the tracks, is not too credible as the story develops, nothing redeems this man until he realizes what the consequence of his actions have a profound effect on the family of the man that he enticed into a poker game in which he and his underworld associates tried to get money that had been entrusted to the victim.Dan was seeing the beautiful night club singer, Fran Garland, who obviously loves him. She knows there is something shady with Dan, but is she wants to believe that he has a good side. Things get complicated with the arrival of the widow of the man that was murdered, who knows nothing about the connection to Haley and his comrades. When he and Augie follow her to Los Angeles, he suffers a change of heart because he realizes what he was instrumental in destroying.Charlton Heston's performance dominates the picture. Lizabeth Scott also enhanced it with an honest take of the singer. Viveca Lindfors shows up as the widow of the victim. The supporting cast is excellent, Dean Jagger, Don DeFore, Frank Morgan, Jack Webb, Ed Begley, and specially the brutish Mike Mazurski, contribute to the over all enjoyment of "Dark City" Victor Milner's black and white cinematography works well with the story being told. Franz Waxman musical score also serves the narrative well.

Dark City is a well crafted film. Most film noir fans will love it. It was released in 1950 and Stars Lizabeth Scott and Charlton Heston.Heston plays a gambler (Danny Haley) who along with two friends sucker a man from out of town into a game of poker. Only one problem...it wasn't his money to gamble with. He signs over his check with the knowledge, (I'm in big trouble!) It is later revealed that he hung himself.Now the story really takes off. The dead mans brother (who is insane), vows to track down those who were responsible for his brothers death, one at a time! This is a very intense storyline and will keep you on the edge of your seat.Heston is wonderful in this film as is Lizabeth Scott. Scott had been in the film business for a number of years by the time she made this picture. But remember, this was Heston's first film. To watch him, you would never know. However it didn't hurt to have so many veteran actors surrounding him. Names like Dean Jagger, Don DeFore, Jack Web, Harry Morgan, Walter Sande, and Mark Keuning. This was a solid cast! If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it. You will need this for your film noir collection.

This is a strange mixture of three genres:-the film noir:the dives,the gamblers,and the fact that Scott resembles Lauren Bacall.-the suspense:the killer with the ring who's doing away with the ones who were responsible for his brother's death:we only see his hand ,and it will remain so till the very last sequence.With hindsight,it would have been better if we had not seen him at all.The mystery would have been more disturbing.What a disappointment if we had seen the truck driver's face in Spielberg's "duel"(1974)!-the melodrama:the widow and her son gets in the way,as far as film noir is concerned.The way Heston redeems himself is much too predictable.Of course,Heston is very good and the supporting cast competent.But by trying to juggle three things at once,the movie loses much of its strength and the ending is anti-film noir.