Naked City - Criterion Collection
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • The Naked City
  • Did I see the same film?
  • The architype of police procedurals - and, film noir to boot
  • One of Eight Million Stories
  • no truer depiction of new york was ever caught on screen
 Naked City - Criterion Collection
Starring: Barry Fitzgerald , Howard Duff , Dorothy Hart , Don Taylor , and Frank Conroy
Director: Jules Dassin
Manufacturer: Criterion
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000M2E3GI
Release Date: 2007-03-20

Amazon.com

"Ladies and gentlemen, the motion picture you are about to see is called The Naked City." With a helicopter shot slowly closing in on Manhattan, producer Mark Hellinger's staccato narration introduces the film ("It was not photographed in a studio . . .") and continues throughout like a documentary commentator with a literary flair. It's a conceit that serves this police story nicely, giving the patina of realism to this deglamorized look at the work of the homicide squad. Barry Fitzgerald reigns over the film with his jovial good humor as a veteran detective investigating the murder of a high-living model. He has few clues and fewer suspects, until he cracks the story of big-talking Howard Duff and throws some light on his shady past. Jules Dassin, who had just come off the shadowy, expressionist Brute Force, peels away those flourishes to shoot in a straightforward style influenced by the Italian neo-realists and the contemporary American newsreels. The film is rich in supporting performances by soon-to-be-famous character actors--Arthur O'Connell, James Gregory, Paul Ford--but the city itself becomes the film's most vivid character. Shot entirely on location in New York City, the distinctive cityscape looms over practically every shot and injects the film with a defining sense of place (cinematographer William Daniels won an Oscar for his work). You can see the roots of The French Connection in the bustling city scenes and the exciting foot chase finale on an elevated walkway. --Sean Axmaker

Description

"There are eight million stories in the Naked City," as the narrator immortally states at the close of this breathtakingly vivid film—and this is one of them. Master noir craftsman Jules Dassin and newspaperman-cum-producer Mark Hellinger's dazzling police procedural was shot entirely on location in New York City, as influenced by Italian neorealism as American crime fiction. A double Academy Award-winner, The Naked City remains a benchmark for naturalism in noir, living and breathing in the promises and perils of the Big Apple, from its lowest depths to its highest skyscrapers.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars The Naked City.......2007-06-25

Shot entirely on location in 1940s Manhattan, this semi-documentary police procedural offers a day-to-day look at the life of the Big Apple, its varied denizens, and the routine of two cops--old hand Fitzgerald (who quietly steals the film) and the dutiful but still green Taylor--out to catch a killer. Dassin handles the action with matter-of-fact directness, and soon fast-talking Frank Niles (Howard Duff) has raised their interest. But the great achievement of "City" is its verisimilitude of character and place, and a final chase scene on the Williamsburg Bridge that will steal your breath away. There might be "8 million stories in the naked city," but this sinister crime drama was the first--and still the best. Trivia note:this film was said to have inspired "Dragnet".

2 out of 5 stars Did I see the same film?.......2007-06-23

This has developed a rep as being a landmark movie, but somehow I managed to miss it. Now that I've seen it I don't understand the praise at all. The Irish affected Fitzgerald barely carries the lead, and the rest of the acting is simply putrid, horribly ham handed. I watched the scene with the mother identifying her dead daughter, and all I could think of is that she had another job that afternoon and had to emote quick and flee. The preceding scene where the young cop comes home to handle spanking his kid is completely pointless, and the acting by husband and wife is soap opera quality at best, just awful.

It gets worse, there's a narrative track would embarrass a "Dragnet" episode, syrupy strings in the soundtrack, and dialogue that often wanders off point, making it difficult to follow. All the side bits just waste time, the action doesn't move from scene to scene in a form which builds any sense of continuity. I couldn't even finish watching it, so I guess I'll never know who Mcillicuddy was.

PS: Yes, I know this was 1948. But that's pretty late in the day to make something this inept. There were plenty of decent films being made by that time, no excuse.

5 out of 5 stars The architype of police procedurals - and, film noir to boot.......2007-06-04

A murder.
The evidence.
The investigation.
Red herrings.
Resolution.

This film's DNA runs through all that followed - from Dragnet to Law & Order.
Buy this film if you love 1948 NYC and Irish detectives - a great film!

4 out of 5 stars One of Eight Million Stories.......2007-05-07

This landmark film, energetically directed by Jules Dassin not long before the McCarthy witch-hunts forced him out of the U.S., deserves the typically classy Criterion treatment. As we have now come to expect of all Criterion versions, the print has been beautifully restored and meticulously annotated. Movies of any decade do not hold up equally well; "Naked City" is flawed by producer Mark Hellinger's narration--often hammy and too much "on-the-nose"--and some dated performances. On the other hand, the police procedural still draws you in, the music score is superb, and the noirish yet documentary-quality of post-war New York City makes for a wondrous time-capsule. (Thank God the move was shot in black and white. Color would have ruined it.) Like the place and people it captures, ""The Naked City" is an imperfect but very good movie.

5 out of 5 stars no truer depiction of new york was ever caught on screen.......2007-05-05

just an all-around great movie! jules dassin directed this groundbreaking film, shot in and around late 1940s new york city: a decade too early for me to remember its reality, but still close enuf in time for me to sense just how accurately it was caught. any fan of procedural television cop shows of today (the "law & order" or "csi" franchises most prominent among them) should go take a look at this to understand where they came from; tho the immature eye might view this earlier version as "primitive" in some senses, that would be akin to a fan of adam sandler disparaging chaplin. barry fitzgerald is wonderfully schlumpfy as the long-time detective working his way thru a homicide investigation, even making a misstep or two along the way. great supporting cast, great editing, great writing, great cinematography, &c. -- and neat extras on the dvd, highlighted by a long interview with the still going strong dassin, whos a hoot! this is a must see.
Across 110th Street
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • An excellent 70's classic.
  • Old school at its best
  • Across 110th Street
  • Brutish, noisy, incoherent police melodrama...
  • Great Soundtrack
 Across 110th Street
Starring: Frank Adu , Frank Arno , Joseph Attles , Paul Benjamin , and Ed Bernard
Director: Barry Shear
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005N7Z2
Release Date: 2001-10-16

Description

Slicker than a Harlem shakedown, Across 110th Street "hits hard" (Cue) with a jacked-up, smacked-down thrill-ride through the hell-raisin' hoods of Harlem! Cooler-than-cool Anthony Quinn leads a hot cast, including Anthony Franciosa and Yaphet Kotto, in a "hair-raising" (Motion Picture Herald) cop thriller that packs a double barrel of "gory vengeance raw, ugly and unnervingly real" (Playboy)! When a crew of gun-totin' gangstas knocks over a Mafia racket in Harlem, their plan gets blown to hell and the crib gets blown to bits! But as the bullets start flyin' and cops start dyin', a pair of New York's finest (Quinn and Kotto) are forced to work together to bring justice to the streets before the Mafia brings the ghetto to its knees! Now, wanted by the Man and hunted by the Mob, there ain't no way these homicidal homeboys are getting across 110th Street exceptin a body bag!

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars An excellent 70's classic........2007-07-12

This is one of those 70's classics that i was so glad to see become available on dvd. The acting was excellent and the story line was very nice and the script was well written. Yaphett Kotto and Anthony Quinn gave a good performance. It was cool to see Paul Benjamin's character take out the mob guys at the end. Unfortunately, his partner's were brutally murdered early on in the film. This is one film i recommend having in your archives.

4 out of 5 stars Old school at its best.......2007-05-03

If you like old school blacksploitation films then you will love this. It is chock full of well know actors and the theme is outta sight!

4 out of 5 stars Across 110th Street.......2007-02-15

When a dry-cleaner, a building superintendent, and a party animal decide to make a better life for themselves--split threeways--and dress up like cops to rip off $300 000 from the Mob, they don't exactly commit the perfect crime. The Mob sends its most sadistic enforcer, and some other violence-prone creeps, into Harlem to teach everyone across 110th Street that said street is a dividing line, not to be crossed. Meanwhile, Yaphet Kotto and Anthony Quinn play two detectives who have nothing but contempt for each other--but their job is to try and collar the three perps before the mobsters manage to hunt them down and eliminate them ("it's not about the money...it's about honor and respect").

Quinn's character, Mattelli, is a blatant racist and unapologetic bully, resorting to beatings and terror whenever he wants info. Kotto, as Pope, is more the stoic, silent--if slightly twitchy- type, who copes with his new partner as best he can, while occasionally losing his cool with the raging bull he's saddled with. The two barely communicate with each other as they follow the few leads they come up with that may point them to any of the fugitive trio, who have scattered in fear, but not enough to cover their tracks; the tension-filled silence between the two leads is as effective as most of the incendiary dialogue when they lash out at each other. I wish we could have learned more about Pope's background or personal life, so that Yaphet Kotto would have a bit more to do in the role (Quinn, the loudmouth, moans about his past and his personal problems enough so that, as vile as he is, we get to know more of what he's all about).

Then there's the action and violence, resulting mainly from the mobsters on a mission getting to their targets--or any unwilling informants that may know the names or whereabouts of the targets--before the cops. Anyone who gets shot instantly loses a quart of blood (though this is 1970's blood, which was apparently a different colour than today's blood). BLAM!--and it's like a hose is turned on. All shakedowns and roughings-up are painfully severe, and I'm just talking about Mattelli's handiwork. Fortunately, the violence sprays all over a wonderfully involving and serpentine plot that shifts smoothly from character to character; Quinn and Kotto almost step aside to let the bad guys take this movie hostage, and it works well. Not that they're contribution isn't riveting or relevant--the two detectives have the very best scene, as they both invade the office of a smirky gangster named Doc, who puts them in their place--but this film really belongs to Logart and Harris, two of the moneygrabbers turned murderers, as they hide, and then run, for their lives. For them, it's not the honor; it's definitely the money. Rich or dead, all the way. The fear only comes when--in the end--they each turn their final corner.

I thought the very last moment of the film was a bit senseless, although, thinking it over, I guess it counts as revenge. Besides that, it's all wickedly spot-on: the dialogue, the acting, the music, the pace, the plot, the costumes, the action...every scene is a treat.

Watch this with L.A. Confidential, or maybe Snatch.

3 out of 5 stars Brutish, noisy, incoherent police melodrama..........2006-12-17

"Across 110th Street" is about a hijack of Mafia cash, in which Anthony Quinn became involved in an unsympathetic role as an old-line cop, on the take for years and ready to retire...

Quinn gives a controlled, nicely shaded performance of a character who has long ago sensed that all his efforts are not going to do more than lift the smallest corner of the lid of crime... He does his job and he does it well according to his lights, but he is not above taking a bribe from a racketeer... His method of dealing with a reluctant witness is to hit hard first and ask questions later...

His captain Frank Mattelli actually is part of the film's somewhat irrelevant subplot, dealing with the rivalry between two cops (opposite Yaphet Kotto as the younger, "clean," black lieutenant bucking for Quinn's job), while the police, the Mafia and the black syndicate each tries to track down the gang of hoods which knocked over Harlem numbers bank...

The strictly legal approach to police work, as exemplified by Yaphet Kotto - who also plays racketeer "Mr. Big" in "Live And Let Die" - is not for Quinn... This is his territory, his little kingdom, and he keeps the peace as best he knows...

"Across 110th Street" remains brutish, noisy, incoherent police melodrama, with fashionable sadism and predictable performances...

3 out of 5 stars Great Soundtrack.......2006-08-03

The best thing about Across 110th Street is the music with Bobby Womack and J.J. Johnson teaming up on the excellent soundtrack. The movie has a decent feel to it as far as cop dramas went during that time, but there were much better movies such as Gordon Parks' Shaft and Norman Jewison's In the Heat of the Night. Still, it is fun to watch if for nothing more than Yaphet Kotto, who would later play the precinct captain in Homicide, a long way from the blaxploitation films of the 70's.
Fallen Angels
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • One of the Best Wong Kar Wai Films!
  • Must have for Wong Kar Wai fans!
  • The Daddy of the Kar Wai Canon
  • Sundown in the City
  • a great movie
 Fallen Angels
Starring: Charles W. Young , Takeshi Kaneshiro , Charlie Yeung , Karen Mok , and Michelle Reis
Director: Wong Kar-Wai
Manufacturer: Kino Video
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Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0002X7GY8
Release Date: 2004-10-19

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars One of the Best Wong Kar Wai Films!.......2007-07-15

This has to be my very favorite Wong Kar Wai Film. It's beautifully shot like all his films. He's a genius.

5 out of 5 stars Must have for Wong Kar Wai fans!.......2007-04-02

As a sort of 'sequel' to Chungking Express, it definitely holds it's own quirkiness & action-packed fun! Viewers also get to enjoy watching Takeshi Kaneshiro once again. Definitely a Must-Have!

4 out of 5 stars The Daddy of the Kar Wai Canon.......2006-10-18

Fallen Angels could have been so named due to its dropped origin as part of director Wong Kar Wai's previous film Chunking Express, emerging afterwards as a follow up. To hear the critics tell it, `Express' is his masterpiece, regularly making the `best movies ever made' lists along side such exalted company as your Citizens Kane's and Casablanca's. But for me Fallen Angels is, to date, the daddy of the Wong Kar Wai canon.

Fallen Angel tells of a not quite burnt-out hit man, Leon, who begins to tire of the whole `gun for hire' malarkey and decides to quit on account of his burgeoning feelings for the female operative who he has never met, but who plans his jobs for him. The female operative, Michelle, also emotes for our existential assassin but somehow they both realise that if they ever did come face to face the fantasy would evaporate. The unrequited love thing is Kar Wai's forte but here it is more a case of "As long as you don't look at it, it won't disappear." So their love continues on the basis of ensuring that it never really exists. Anxious to avoid an inevitable unprofessional encounter, our navel gazing killer goes off on an adventure into the Kowloon night where he crosses paths with a series of likable reprobates before embarking on that fatal "one last job."

This takes us not so neatly into a `mad as a hatter' subplot about a petty criminal who was rendered mute as a boy by a can of `out of date' pineapples. He goes out at night and gets up to a range of activities such as massaging a dead pig and kidnapping a family and forcing them to eat ice cream. He to falls in love, with a girl who believes she has been beaten to the altar by someone called Blondie. He helps her go in search of the usurper of her affections resulting in a hilarious beating up of a blow up doll!

Cinematographer and Kar Wai regular Christopher Doyle engages a warped and gaudy neon look throughout; something of a trade mark in Kar Wai films. This is the world from inside a Wurlitzer juke box - or, at least, through the eyes of a tranquilised goldfish and this, incidentally, is not a complaint. The other thing I like about this film is that it walks the line between the art house `heart warmers' of the best of European cinema and the `Glock Opera' pyrotechnics of John Woo and Ringo Lam.
Genre clash - it's the future.

5 out of 5 stars Sundown in the City.......2006-10-13

Wong Kar-Wai is the modern cinema's premier poet of loss and longing. His characteristically enigmatic films capture the erratic rhythms and ephemeral nature of memory and torment: fleeting, fragmented, wandering only to return obsessively to its central foci.

While Wong's debut, "As Tears Go By", was a relatively straightforward commercial riff on Scorsese's "Mean Streets" and the 'heroic bloodshed' style of Hong Kong street opera pioneered by action maestro John Woo, he would establish with "Days of Being Wild" and "Chungking Express" a signature style characterized by visual bravura mixed with interwoven and intensely introspective tales of emotionally isolated young people adrift in the shadow kingdom of urban postmodernity. Eschewing more traditional narrative formats for an ellipitical self-referrentiality that mirrors memory itself, Wong's films are rarely instantly accessible, but reward the patient viewer with intoxicating moods and contemplative brilliance.

"Fallen Angels" was originally conceived as something of a 'nightside' sequal/companion piece to "Chungking Express." Structurally and thematically it mirrors the latter with two seperate plotlines, each centering on a pair of twentysomethings (a hitman and his female 'agent' in one and a strange, mute confidence man and the girl he takes a shine to in the other) in search of love but unable or unwilling to find it in each other. Assorted camera tricks, fish eye lenses, slow motion sequences and the strategic use of a gloriously bittersweet pop soundtrack all help to capture a mood of frantic desperation and the distortions of memory and longing.

Wong also invokes the first of his 'art' films, "Days of Being Wild," returning to its concern with the loss and meaning of identity in an impersonal world. Leon Lai's hitman and Takeshi Kaneshiro's petty criminal both try - and fail - to remake their lives on ths straight and narrow. One of them manages a peace of sorts with his failure - the other goes out out in a bittersweet blaze of glory. Wong also explores the way in which longing (mis)identifies others: his characters view each other through the distorted lens memory and desire - what they see is not reality, but a projection of their own dreams - and when the truth is made manifest, it is always the cruelest blow.

5 out of 5 stars a great movie.......2006-05-14

Fallen Angels is a truly special film, but it's not for everyone. It's gritty in a stylish way, shot mostly handheld with available light. But it's not gritty in the way most American pictures are; shaky cameras with perfect lighting and snappy editing. The takes are long, and the film is often grainy.

Wong Kar-Wai explores the transitory nature of life here. It's a little confusing, and the characters are beyond weird, but they really do have heart. The frantic pace and confusion give way to brief, precious moments of poignancy. The bleakness and impermanence of the rest of the film makes these moments feel even more meaningful.

If this sounds like your style, the movie can be very rewarding. But it's definitely not everyone's style. I find Chungking Express is generally a more palatable Wong Kar-Wai picture for viewers with more mainstream tastes.
Backtrack
Average customer rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
  • WHAT ?!?! Average three star!?!??!
  • Butchered movie
  • Good cast but horrible script -- a real waste of talent!
  • BUYERS BEWARE
  • WARNING!
 Backtrack
Starring: Julie Adams , John Apicella , Clifford Bartholomew , Kevin Bourland , and Carl David Burks
Director: Smithee, Alan
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005NSYA
Release Date: 2001-10-04

Amazon.com

Dennis Hopper directed, as well as acted in, this moody mess from 1989, which was barely seen for a couple of years until getting a boost from the rising fame of its star, Jodie Foster. Looking startlingly young, Foster plays a conceptual artist who witnesses a mob hit, thus becoming a target herself for an assassin (Hopper). But instead of killing her, Hopper's killer falls in love, demonstrating his passion by stalking her at a distance, "owning" her every move and keeping her in exile from ordinary life. The resulting isolation squeezes Foster's creative spirit, forcing her to confront doubt and self-loathing--everything that artists suffer as the price for self-expression. Deeply self-conscious, with a calculatingly meditative tone that becomes inseparable from Hopper's tenacious voyeurism (the film's most obvious commercial hook--Foster's nude scene--is almost prayerful in its pathology), Backtrack wants to be a confessional fable about the artistic process. Instead, it's a muted yet rambling confession about the sinner inside a filmmaker, which would be great if Backtrack were, say, Rear Window. But it surely isn't. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

1 out of 5 stars WHAT ?!?! Average three star!?!??!.......2006-06-23

This movie might be the equivalant of cinemagraphic vomit. I can't believe that the average rating is three stars. The soundtrack consisted of horrible whiney 80's saxaphone music that made my ears bleed. I was 13 when I saw it and 15 years later, the horrible images are still emblazened in my mind as the worst 2 hours I have deliberately spent in my life. Please turn back now before you waste your time and money.

1 out of 5 stars Butchered movie.......2005-07-20

Don't buy this DVD. Buy the VHS director's cut. The movie has been wrecked by haphazard edits. The DVD doesn't even make sense. This is not a bad film. Buy the VHS, but run as far as you can from this DVD. It's a rip-off.

1 out of 5 stars Good cast but horrible script -- a real waste of talent!.......2005-04-02

I expected to like this quirky 1990s film. It's directed by Dennis Hopper and has a list of great actors and an intriguing theme. A woman artist witnesses a Mafia murder and goes to the police. However, she recognizes one of the cops as one of the hit men and goes on the run. The bad guys want her dead and even hire their own hit man who becomes obsessed with her. That's the kind of story I like, especially as Jodie Forster is cast as the woman and Dennis Hopper is cast as the hit man. Also in the cast are Dean Stockwell as the crocked cop, Bobby Dillon as a fellow artist, John Tuturro and Tony Sirico (Paulie on of The Sopranos fame) as mobsters, and there's even a cameo by Vincent Price.

My expectations for this film didn't pay off, however. From the very beginning, when Jodie Foster's car breaks down and she witnesses the mob hit, I found myself annoyed. There she was, leaving her car, wearing high heels and a skimpy dress and not even carrying a purse. Later, it was just too easy for her to change her identity. She went to a cemetery, found a gravestone of a woman who would have been her age, and applied for a birth certificate and a social security card. Also, the technology of the time (1990) was certainly not sophisticated enough for Dennis Hopper to go to a computer screen and track her identity change.

All the characters came across as exaggerated comic strip caracatures and I found myself laughing out loud when they tried to be serious. Perhaps this was the director's intention, but the film just couldn't hold my attention. I wanted to turn it off after ten minutes but hoped it would get better. Somehow I watched for another forty minutes before ejecting the DVD disk with disgust at such a waste of talent.

If you've never heard of this film I can well understand why. It was simply a dud. I have only one thing to say about this film. Forget about it!

2 out of 5 stars BUYERS BEWARE.......2005-02-26

READ ALL REVIEWS BEFORE YOU BUY. If I had taken the time to read the warning about the cut DVD version, I never would have bought this DVD. Too late schmart. It's a hatchet job. Very sad and SO maddening that an intriguing film in which one could luxuriate has been turned into a goofy trivialization. And I can't return it because I've opened it.

3 out of 5 stars WARNING!.......2004-08-31

A word to the wise from one who got burned: the Artisan DVD release is the expurgated cut. The story makes no sense once they've trimmed the Jodie/Dennis sex scenes, so don't buy it. Shame on Artisan.
Naked City
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • The Naked City
  • Did I see the same film?
  • The architype of police procedurals - and, film noir to boot
  • One of Eight Million Stories
  • no truer depiction of new york was ever caught on screen
 Naked City
Starring: Barry Fitzgerald , Howard Duff , Dorothy Hart , Don Taylor , and Frank Conroy
Director: Jules Dassin
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00000IYRJ
Release Date: 1999-06-29

Amazon.com

"Ladies and gentlemen, the motion picture you are about to see is called The Naked City." With a helicopter shot slowly closing in on Manhattan, producer Mark Hellinger's staccato narration introduces the film ("It was not photographed in a studio . . .") and continues throughout like a documentary commentator with a literary flair. It's a conceit that serves this police story nicely, giving the patina of realism to this deglamorized look at the work of the homicide squad. Barry Fitzgerald reigns over the film with his jovial good humor as a veteran detective investigating the murder of a high-living model. He has few clues and fewer suspects, until he cracks the story of big-talking Howard Duff and throws some light on his shady past. Jules Dassin, who had just come off the shadowy, expressionist Brute Force, peels away those flourishes to shoot in a straightforward style influenced by the Italian neo-realists and the contemporary American newsreels. The film is rich in supporting performances by soon-to-be-famous character actors--Arthur O'Connell, James Gregory, Paul Ford--but the city itself becomes the film's most vivid character. Shot entirely on location in New York City, the distinctive cityscape looms over practically every shot and injects the film with a defining sense of place (cinematographer William Daniels won an Oscar for his work). You can see the roots of The French Connection in the bustling city scenes and the exciting foot chase finale on an elevated walkway. --Sean Axmaker

Description

New York City detectives Dan Muldoon (Barry Fitzgerald) and Jimmy Halloran (Don Taylor) are assigned to investigate the mysterious murder of a young woman. Following the leads in the case, they come upon a jewel theft ring that has been plaguing New York society. Muldoon and Halloran finally untangle the skein of thieves and discover the murderer to be one of the slain woman's cohorts in the jewel gang. When cornered by the detectives, there is a violent shoot-out.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars The Naked City.......2007-06-25

Shot entirely on location in 1940s Manhattan, this semi-documentary police procedural offers a day-to-day look at the life of the Big Apple, its varied denizens, and the routine of two cops--old hand Fitzgerald (who quietly steals the film) and the dutiful but still green Taylor--out to catch a killer. Dassin handles the action with matter-of-fact directness, and soon fast-talking Frank Niles (Howard Duff) has raised their interest. But the great achievement of "City" is its verisimilitude of character and place, and a final chase scene on the Williamsburg Bridge that will steal your breath away. There might be "8 million stories in the naked city," but this sinister crime drama was the first--and still the best. Trivia note:this film was said to have inspired "Dragnet".

2 out of 5 stars Did I see the same film?.......2007-06-23

This has developed a rep as being a landmark movie, but somehow I managed to miss it. Now that I've seen it I don't understand the praise at all. The Irish affected Fitzgerald barely carries the lead, and the rest of the acting is simply putrid, horribly ham handed. I watched the scene with the mother identifying her dead daughter, and all I could think of is that she had another job that afternoon and had to emote quick and flee. The preceding scene where the young cop comes home to handle spanking his kid is completely pointless, and the acting by husband and wife is soap opera quality at best, just awful.

It gets worse, there's a narrative track would embarrass a "Dragnet" episode, syrupy strings in the soundtrack, and dialogue that often wanders off point, making it difficult to follow. All the side bits just waste time, the action doesn't move from scene to scene in a form which builds any sense of continuity. I couldn't even finish watching it, so I guess I'll never know who Mcillicuddy was.

PS: Yes, I know this was 1948. But that's pretty late in the day to make something this inept. There were plenty of decent films being made by that time, no excuse.

5 out of 5 stars The architype of police procedurals - and, film noir to boot.......2007-06-04

A murder.
The evidence.
The investigation.
Red herrings.
Resolution.

This film's DNA runs through all that followed - from Dragnet to Law & Order.
Buy this film if you love 1948 NYC and Irish detectives - a great film!

4 out of 5 stars One of Eight Million Stories.......2007-05-07

This landmark film, energetically directed by Jules Dassin not long before the McCarthy witch-hunts forced him out of the U.S., deserves the typically classy Criterion treatment. As we have now come to expect of all Criterion versions, the print has been beautifully restored and meticulously annotated. Movies of any decade do not hold up equally well; "Naked City" is flawed by producer Mark Hellinger's narration--often hammy and too much "on-the-nose"--and some dated performances. On the other hand, the police procedural still draws you in, the music score is superb, and the noirish yet documentary-quality of post-war New York City makes for a wondrous time-capsule. (Thank God the move was shot in black and white. Color would have ruined it.) Like the place and people it captures, ""The Naked City" is an imperfect but very good movie.

5 out of 5 stars no truer depiction of new york was ever caught on screen.......2007-05-05

just an all-around great movie! jules dassin directed this groundbreaking film, shot in and around late 1940s new york city: a decade too early for me to remember its reality, but still close enuf in time for me to sense just how accurately it was caught. any fan of procedural television cop shows of today (the "law & order" or "csi" franchises most prominent among them) should go take a look at this to understand where they came from; tho the immature eye might view this earlier version as "primitive" in some senses, that would be akin to a fan of adam sandler disparaging chaplin. barry fitzgerald is wonderfully schlumpfy as the long-time detective working his way thru a homicide investigation, even making a misstep or two along the way. great supporting cast, great editing, great writing, great cinematography, &c. -- and neat extras on the dvd, highlighted by a long interview with the still going strong dassin, whos a hoot! this is a must see.
Violent City
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • This is "The Family" re-titled...
  • Bad one for Charlie
  • The Beauty Of Violence
  • "This is no ordinary Bronson movie."
  • this is, to me,is charles bronson's masterpiece!
 Violent City
Starring: Charles Bronson , Jill Ireland , Michel Constantin , Telly Savalas , and Umberto Orsini
Director: Sergio Sollima
Manufacturer: Starz / Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00005ASOM
Release Date: 2002-01-22

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars This is "The Family" re-titled..........2005-12-30

First I want all Bronson fans to know that this movie was originally out as "The Family" back in the 70's! I had been looking for Bronson in "the Family" for a while, when a friend told me the plot of this one and I immediately realized it was "The Family"! Why the studio re-titled it is unknown to me and I believe will only confuse Bronson fans looking for this title. The movie itself is classic Bronson fare and if you're a fan who has not seen it, you will enjoy it. Good Bronson action with witty Bronson one-liners. Hey, Telly Savalas is in it too- what more can you ask for!

2 out of 5 stars Bad one for Charlie.......2005-11-16

Charles Bronson is one of my favorites, but VIOLENT CITY is example of 70's trash at it's worst.
Boring slow pacing and a "see-saw" action that gets old really fast.
Bronson's character is so stupid acting in this film for a hitman that you wish he would get killed off himself.

I love Charles Bronson... but this is one of his dud films !

5 out of 5 stars The Beauty Of Violence.......2005-11-06

This is a relatively unheard of Bronson movie, which should take its place on the mantel of other great Bronson works such as Mr. Majestyk, The Mechanic, Rider on the Rain and Once Upon a Time in the West. Bronson is the cold killer in this film, and as anyone who has seen The Mechanic knows, no one plays cold blooded killer better than Charles Bronson. Only in this film Bronson is caught between being a "professional" and his love for the double crossing Jill Ireland. The director Sergio Sollima plays with this relationship and also with the audiences' minds by building up anticipation and delivering something they are expecting, but delivering it in the most shocking way possible. Sollima knows the rules of the genre he is working in and he toys with it. In turn this brings out some of the most innovative narrative that cinema has ever seen. Adding salt to the already tasty dish is Ennio Morricone's moody score, which has the undertones of a spaghetti western being played out in the present time. The score is layering every pore in Bronson's face as it is the film. The cinematography is perfect, as it entices the plot to move furthur on in the beautifully created shots and colours of the film. COOL is the word to sum up Violent City.

5 out of 5 stars "This is no ordinary Bronson movie.".......2003-08-01

That's from the back cover on the DVD. I guess what they're saying is, "This is a GOOD Bronson movie." Indeed -- ANY movie written by Lina Wertmuller and scored by Ennio Morricone is bound to be at least interesting, no matter the subject or the star. *Violent City*, set in New Orleans but Italian-produced (and directed by journeyman Sergio Sollima), is a really nasty piece of work that explores the seamy underbelly of petty organized crime and its contract killers. Charles Bronson plays a retired independent hitman hilariously named "Jeff". At first, he gets our sympathy. He's a nice guy, on the surface: well, he's nice as long as he's got a yacht and a hot broad to play with. But when things turn sour -- when he's double-crossed by the hot broad and an old pal -- he shows his true colors as a thoroughgoing b---ard. He's a remorseless killer with a rapist mentality. But in the milieu of *Violent City*, one can hardly single Jeff out for condemnation: it's every man (and woman) for him/herself. No good guys, here. Speaking of the woman, Bronson's wife Jill Ireland nicely brings to life Wertmuller's brilliant conception of the Dumb Blonde who hides the heart of a Medusa. Telly Savalas also makes an impression as the New Orleans kingpin who puts a roadblock in Jeff's plans for revenge. Savalas, wearing gigantic eyeglasses, gives us an oddly sympathetic Mob boss. (Bronson, btw, is terrible as usual, but so what?) I think I'll refrain from giving out plot details, because the movie depends on its plot twists to keep the audience hooked. Seekers of the "visual aesthetic" will definitely be hooked by the superb locales. Sollima manages to avoid the Quarter almost entirely: the majority of the location shots are in the seedy ghettos, swampy suburbs, and shipping docks of New Orleans. Never has this city looked so ugly and untouristy (no cliched scenes of the main characters wending their way through Bourbon St., et al.), but the scenery certainly befits the savage storyline. In any case, ALL will be impressed by the violent, slowly operatic finale. *Violent City* is a classic example of "neo-noir" at its conception in the early Seventies. It's a gem ripe for discovery. Especially recommendable to fans of Sam Peckinpah: the concerns with masculine power, and the blending of sex and violence, will make the Peckinpah fan feel right at home.

5 out of 5 stars this is, to me,is charles bronson's masterpiece!.......2003-03-31

yep. you read that headline right. i have blasted bronson's later work like the DEATH WISH series, 10 TO MIDNIGHT, THE EVIL THAT MEN DO, MURPHY'S LAW, KINJITE, etc. you have to check on his earlier work which he did very well. he was tough, no nonsense, no remorse. his best films were THE DIRTY DOZEN, HARD TIMES, TELEFON + he did some italian actioners like RIDER IN THE RAIN & to me, his best film of all, VIOLENT CITY. it is shown on tv, where i saw last night, as THE FAMILY. an underrated 1970 treasure well directed by sergio sollima. bronson's wife jill ireland is perfect and very beautiful here. telly savalas is a hoot trying to squeeze out a new orleans accent as a mob boss. i won't get into the plot since i've read the other amazon reviews including 1 spoiler review. oh my, keep your ears peeled for ennio morricone's spectacular score. ranks right up there with ennio's GOOD, BAD AND THE UGLY theme. like i said, i won't do spoilers but the climax is well done with silence with the crackling sounds of bullets shattering glass and i did jump when that occurred. despite silence, jill ireland yells out her final line which i read her lips well. it is sad. i am glad VIOLENT CITY is on dvd. the widescreen is terrific! it is about time!
Big City Blues
Average customer rating: Not rated
    		Big City Blues
    Starring: Burt Reynolds , William Forsythe , Giancarlo Esposito , Arye Gross , and Georgina Cates
    Director: Clive Fleury (II)
    Manufacturer: Lions Gate
    ProductGroup: DVD
    Binding: DVD

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    ASIN: 6305526346
    Release Date: 1999-09-02
    Fallen Angels
    Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
    • One of my favorite films
    • The kind of film you cannot explain, but must see...
    • Not the 'feel good movie of the year'
    • ARTIZTIC VIEW ON ALIENATION
    • Everything you have seen before and nothing like anything you have seen before.
    		 Fallen Angels
    Starring: Leon Lai , Michelle Reis , Takeshi Kaneshiro , Charlie Yeung , and Karen Mok
    Director: Kar Wai Wong
    Manufacturer: Kino Video
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    ASIN: B00000ILEM
    Release Date: 2003-09-02

    Amazon.com

    Fallen Angels was originally planned as one section of director Wong Kar-Wai's best-known film, Chungking Express, but eventually it grew into its own distinct and delirious shape. In many ways, Fallen Angels may be the better film, a dark, frantic fun-house ride through Hong Kong's nighttime world. Part of the film is a love story between two people who have barely met: a young, ultra-hip hit man (Leon Lai) and the dreamy operative (Michele Reis) who plans his jobs. Much of the movie is given over to a very strange subplot about a manic mute (Takeshi Kaneshiro) who goes on bizarre nocturnal prowls through a closed food market--like almost everything else in Wong's films, this is antic, stylish, and oddly touching, all at the same time. It must be said that, also like Wong's other films, Fallen Angels is fragmented and oblique to the point of occasional incomprehensibility…but then suddenly something wild or wonderful happens, such as the moment when the killer leaves the scene of a spectacular shooting and is promptly waylaid by a cheerful old school chum on a public bus. These coups--whether lyrical, violent, or simply "how on earth did they get that shot?"--are tossed off by Wong and cinematographer Christopher Doyle with all the cool of the hired killer, as though the movie were a cigarette dangling from a pair of oh-so-casual lips. This is exactly why so many otherwise calm critics fell all over themselves in hailing Wong Kar-Wai as one of the most exciting filmmakers of his generation. --Robert Horton

    Description

    Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai's stylistic masterpiece. A thematic sequel to "Chungking Express," "Fallen Angels" explores the lives of a number of Hong Kong ne'er-do-wells as they try to find love and money in the desperate streets of the city. This bittersweetly romantic film features a kaleidoscopic display of cinematography, camera angles and editing.

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars One of my favorite films.......2007-05-12

    Of all the WKW Chunking films, this is the masterpiece. Absolutely beautiful, emotional, hilarious and action packed- all in one film.
    Wonderfully shot. One of the best visual scenes of all time- when Charlie is in the noodle shop shot through the glass in the pouring rain. masterful.

    4 out of 5 stars The kind of film you cannot explain, but must see..........2006-10-16

    "Fallen Angels", directed by Wong Kar Wai, is the kind of film you cannot explain, but must see. Why? Because it manages to transmit the feelings of isolation, love, hope and despair of its main characters, characters that are not like you or me, but that feel the same things we sometimes feel.

    This film is driven by inner monologue, that is, you can hear what the characters think. Due to that, you are able to watch their actions but also to hear their thoughts. It is interesting, but also heartbreaking at times. In a sense, "Fallen Angels" could be accurately displayed as a sequel to "Chungking Express", because it is also about people, their stories, and specially their longing for something they don't have but hope for.

    One of the main characters is a hitman, Wong Chi-Ming (Leon Lai), who has a beautiful partner (Michele Reis) that coordinates his hits. Wong Chi-Ming knows why he became a killer, a reason that is strange but that makes sense to him: "The best thing about my profession is that there's no need to make any decision. Who's to die... when... where... it's all been planned by others. I'm a lazy person. I like people to arrange things for me". Despite that, he is thinking of leaving his job and becoming a "normal" person, something his partner doesn't like at all.

    The other main character is He Zhiwu (Takeshi Kaneshiro), a young mute that lost his voice after eating a tin of expired pineapple. He Zhiwu has a weird hobby: to break into stores at night and pretend to run them, forcing customers to buy things. He also happens to fall in love with a very strange lady, and says to himself "They say that love can change a man. I start to find myself looking better and more charming, and suddenly I discover that I'm turning blonde".

    "Fallen Angels" is, again, a strange but magical film. I've tried to explain it, but I know I cannot do that well enough. It is up to you to draw your own conclusions. In my opinion, though, this is a film to be recommended.

    Belen Alcat

    4 out of 5 stars Not the 'feel good movie of the year'.......2006-05-19

    Not only does Fallen Angels tell a story, giving each character a developmental turn in the spotlight, but it sets the mood to be carried throughout the film. This movie is real and intimate. I was left feeling cold most of the time. It seems that, even though there are strong emotional scenes, most of the characters also recognize the coolness of the world surrounding their niche in society. Sometimes there are smiles, but no happiness. A well-developed, produced, acted, edited and written piece of art.

    5 out of 5 stars ARTIZTIC VIEW ON ALIENATION .......2005-12-29

    indidviduals who are alienated, an outcast within the society tells their different story in this artistic entertaining movie. Cinematogrophy done by the one and only stylish chris doyle. Chris is amazing wih the cinematogrohy done on this film. Shot with neon, dreamy, hallucinatory preparation made this film an artistic beauty to watch. Each characters in this story are very interesting in their own way. We have the cool laid back quite assasin (leon) who lurks his way down at night to the city lights of hongkong in order to fulfill his mission guided and ordered by his dreamy melon-cholic girl partner, in which both of em never met one another but only find cues on things on recognising each others' personality. Such when michelle (the assasin's partner) look through the assasins left overs in her hotel room to know the assasin's preference. We have the mute, entertaining, colorful personality character who also lurks his way with his scooter at night to run his imaginary jobs at random shops and restuarant. This mute guy is takeshi kaneshiro who always run in with this one particular guy in which takeshi forces him to become his customer otherwise painful consequences might happen(a funny scene). The movie is entirely unique in its own way that i really find captivating to the senses. There is way more stuff in the movie than what i just said, you just have to find it for yourself. In my opinion this movie is way better than its predecessor chungking express in which directed by the same director. get the movie if u want to see a unique cinematography and stories of alienated individuals.
    (grade A)

    5 out of 5 stars Everything you have seen before and nothing like anything you have seen before........2005-12-07

    One thing is for sure - it is everything you have seen before and nothing like anything you have seen before. As a Wong Kar-wai junkie, I have to admit - it is getting harder and harder to find a favorite - Fallen Angels is among the top three. In one sense I really loved Fallen Angels because it is full of the same urban angst brought up in Chungking Express. There is something utterly and strikingly gorgeous about Wong Kar-Wai's movies. The mise-en-scene and backdrops his characters inhabit in that give each scene a particular almost brooding feeling. Wong Kar-Wai's are lost and lonely in a world that is dark and full of despair. Fallen Angels is no different.

    Fallen Angels' Hong Kong is alive in the evenings. One could argue that the cinematography captures a dreamlike state, pure urban neon, and erotic. In Fallen Angels we travel the gritty back alleys (reminiscent of Chunking Express) into underworld dives, dreary dive bars juxtaposed against a brightly-lit McDonalds. I have to say this... Wong Kar-wai does somewhat put me off with his product placement - but we have to finance our projects somehow, I guess.

    Leon Lai's is a lazy hired killer. His portrayal, it can be argues is weighty and conjures up a sense of gaudy (almost caddy) persona. I am reminded of Yuddy in Days of Being Wild. Lai is wonderful as a contradiction of apathy and poetry. Lai plays it with a languid air. Every move is deliberate - smooth. Conversely, Michelle Reis' is his doppelganger - his manager. She is obsessed with him, becomes emotionally attached to him. I would argue that a sense of betrayal set the stage for the hit man's final demise. A nighttime ride in the back of a motorcycle with He Zhiwu (Takeshi Kaneshiro) leads me wonder is she has comes undone. Love though, and its many forms of cruelty is a recurring theme with Wong Kar-wai. Oh that sweet betrayal... He Zhiwu is a potent character. The relationship He Zhiwu develops with his father is proof positive that even in the broken world of dysfunctionality there resides a lotus from the marshes. The videotape sessions, at first almost humorous, forms yet another center of love shattered - sometimes we need to really treasure what we have lest it slip by so suddenly... he Zhiwu is a symbol of the lyricism of youth.

    One has to admit, even after Chunking Express, Fallen Angels is different from any Hong Kong movie. Driven by inner monologue (much like the later much acclaimed The Follow from The Hire series) it draws one in. The languid tone and deeply erotic tale is one that will stand the test of time. Fallen Angels according to Teo takes over from where Chungking Express leaves of. I argue that it brought Chungking Express to a whole new realm. Fallen Angels is Chungking Express on steroids.

    Miguel Llora
    Crime Partners
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      		Crime Partners
      Starring: Ice-T , Tyrin Turner , Ja Rule , Snoop Dogg , and John "B.J." Bryant
      Director: J. Jesses Smith
      Manufacturer: Medialink Ent Llc
      ProductGroup: DVD
      Binding: DVD

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      ASIN: B000KN9F94
      Release Date: 2007-02-13

      Description

      Small time gangstas Billy Goode (Tyrin Turner) and Jackie Williams (John Bryant) are fed up with their work going unrecognized. So when a ruthless underworld crime boss with a twisted vision of justice contracts them to handle a high profile hit, it is bad news for Harlem. In the realm of Training Day and Belly, Crime Partners is relentless and action packed.
      Gangsters Guns & Floozies Crime Collection: I, Mobster
      Average customer rating: 3 out of 5 stars
      • Cheaply made movie, and even cheaper DVD.
      • "He's been having you tailed, blueprinting every move you've made...he's ordered you rubbed out."
      • "Sometimes you have to kill to live."
      • low-budget gem of a gangster movie
      • Pushing the envelope of "B-ness"
      		 Gangsters Guns & Floozies Crime Collection: I, Mobster
      Starring: Steve Cochran , Lita Milan , Robert Strauss , Celia Lovsky , and Lili St. Cyr
      Director: Roger Corman
      Manufacturer: Sony Wonder (Video)
      ProductGroup: DVD
      Binding: DVD

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      ASIN: B000A2WSTO
      Release Date: 2005-10-18

      Customer Reviews:

      2 out of 5 stars Cheaply made movie, and even cheaper DVD........2006-06-25

      This film is worth viewing for two reasons - Steve Cochran and Robert Strauss. They are both as good as it gets. But you would have to be as big a fan of Steve Cochran as I to make this product worth even its extremely low price.
      The film is choppy with lines and distortions in some places. The story doesn't hold together very well, and, as pointed out by another reviewer, the obviously Italian Lita Milan plays a character named "Teresa Porter," and Austrian born and accented Celia Lovsky plays Cochran's long suffering Italian mother. The DVD is so cheap that they couldn't even get the character's name right on the back cover. Cochran plays Joe Sante, but, on the DVD case, his character is referred to as "Steve Fisher," who was actually the writer of the film. And there are no features whatsoever - the only two options are "watch the movie" and "scene selections."
      The film jumps from a child playing the part of 11-year old Joe to a 40-year old Cochran playing Joe at age 20 and beyond with not so much as an attempt to make him look older as the story progresses.
      One bonus however, is the appearance of John Dennis (Sgt. Ike Galovitch in "From Here to Eternity") in a minor role as one of Murder Incorporated's thugs.
      If Steve Cochran is one of your favorite performers, you should purchase this product only because, unfortunately, very little of his work is available on DVD.
      If you're not, take a pass on this cheapie.

      3 out of 5 stars "He's been having you tailed, blueprinting every move you've made...he's ordered you rubbed out.".......2006-01-15

      From Sony's Gangsters Guns & Floozies Crime Collection come comes an interesting, albeit overly moralistic, look at the life and times of `the world's most notorious crime boss' in the film I, Mobster (1958), based on a novel by Joseph Hilton Smyth, adapted for the screen by Steve Fisher ("Peter Gunn", "Cannon", "Barnaby Jones"), and co-producer and directed by Roger Corman (It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Machine-Gun Kelly). The film stars Steve Cochran (The Damned Don't Cry, The Big Operator), along with Lita Milan (The Violent Men), and Robert Strauss, probably best known (to me, at least) for his memorable role in the film Stalag 17 (1953), as the character Stanislas 'Animal' Kasava. Also appearing is Celia Lovsky (Man of a Thousand Faces), Corman regular John Brinkley (Teenage Doll, War of the Satellites), and veteran actor of over 200 films Grant Withers (The Fighting Kentuckian, Hoodlum Empire), in his last feature.

      The movie opens as we see a character named Joe Sante (Cochran) being grilled by some senate committee members about racketeering, which then transitions into a flashback where we see Joe's humble goomba beginnings in organized crime, as a young lad running bookie collections. Little Joey's got quite the attitude, and vows to his mother, played by Lovsky, someday he'll be a big shot. Eventually Joe lands a job delivering drugs, working under a local boss named Frankie (Strauss), and develops a fixation on a girl from the neighborhood named Teresa (Milan), but things go sour as Joe gets pinched and sent to the can for a year. Upon his release, he makes another vow to his mother how he'll never go to jail again. The syndicate, impressed with Joe's ability to keep his mouth shut and serve his time, rather than turn a dime for a lesser sentence, gives him a contract assignment to rub a mug out, along with a bit more responsibility. Joe's ambition drives him forward, as he develops his own crew (Frankie has now become Joe's right hand man), along with muscling in on lucrative union operations as a freelance labor relations expert, despite protests from his family and friends, particularly his mother and Teresa, to get out of the life, and go straight. Not only do their pleas fall upon deaf ears, but Joe actually brings on Teresa's younger brother Ernie (Brinkley) into the fold (along with goodie goodie Teresa herself), as he needed work due to the fact that he and Teresa's mother has since taken ill. Ernie, lacking a certain amount of self disciple, soon develops some bad habits (including a smack monkey), and Joe learns he's shirking his responsibilities towards his family and cuts him off, but Ernie, knowing what he knows, first tries blackmail, and then finally force...as you might expect, things do not end well for young Ernest. Anyway, as Joe's powerbase grows, his former boss (Withers), now partner, thinks he's getting too big for his britches, and puts a contract out, of which Joe learns about before its carried out, and reacts accordingly, eventually becoming the number one man...getting to the top is one thing, but staying there is something different, and in the end, the realization begins to set in that all that he's gained doesn't quite make up for all he's given up...

      This is a pretty decent mob movie, overall. I really liked Steve Cochran in the lead role, as he was generally calm, cool, and collected, never going overboard, as his character seemed to understand the necessity of having a strong presence, but also keeping a modest profile as to fly under the authoritarian radar. As far as the rest of the performers, I thought they all did well enough given the material, which decent, although a bit preachy at times. This aspect is pushed continually throughout the film, and then laid on very thick near the end as Joe's sweet, kindly mother, who at first seemed to turn a blind eye towards her son's criminal proclivities, finally comes to terms with what he is, and what he's become...her various moralistic monologues were increasingly difficult to take as the story worn on, and quite frankly, I often found myself wishing someone would have bumped the old bag off, perhaps catching a little collateral damage in the form of a stray bullet...I thought Lita Milan, playing the female lead, did very well, helped a bit by the fact she was very easy on the old peepers...an interesting fact about her...soon after this film, she gave up her acting career and married the son of a Dominican Republic dictator, but I digress...besides the sappy moral overtones inherent within the story, the other aspect I found difficult to accept was Teresa's change of heart towards Joe shortly after Joe iced her younger brother Ernie, right in front of her. I suppose her transformation from goodie two shoes to crime boss moll possible, but it just seemed unlikely given her closeness to her brother...and the fact Joe was the one who plugged him. The story moves along at a good clip, in a straightforward and efficient manner, wasting little of its hour and twenty minute running time, often glossing over Joe's actual activities, focusing rather on his relationships within his family and within his business acquaintances. It wasn't as gritty as I had hoped, but overall, it entertained, and worthy viewing for someone interested in the genre.

      Sony provides a decent, fullscreen (1.33:1) picture here, but during the opening we see the film was originally presented in CinemaScope, and this is made entirely obvious early on as a number of the opening credits are cut off. Subsequently, the pan and scan effort given to the rest of the film is painfully apparent as this release features some really awkward, stilted panning throughout. Not only that, but who ever wrote the synopsis blurb on the back of the DVD case really screwed up, as mentioned by another reviewer. The main character is listed as Steve Fisher, who wasn't a character but the writer who adapted the original story for the screen. Apparently attention to detail or quality was not a big concern for Sony here, nor was presenting this film as it was originally meant to be seen. If Sony can't be bothered to provide a decent release, why should I be bothered to purchase said release? Sure the price is nice, but I would have been willing to shell out a bit more for a more aesthetically pleasing product true to its original format. The audio, presented in Dolby Digital mono, comes across cleanly. As far as extras, there are none, which didn't surprise me, given the lack of overall effort in the actual release.

      Cookieman108

      4 out of 5 stars "Sometimes you have to kill to live.".......2006-01-05

      Roger Corman's low-budget film noir "I, Mobster" is the fast-paced tale of the rise and fall of gangster Joe Sante (Steve Cochran). Having got his start as a street-wise kid doing errands for local bookies, he quickly works his way up the ladder, selling dope and collecting debts. When Joe gets a welcome-home party after serving his first stretch in prison, he leaves for a few minutes and kills Maurice Cerrago and thus carries out his first contract "hit". The party provides his with the perfect alibi, and now Joe is fast on his way to the top of the organization. His former boss, "Black" Frankie Udino (Robert Strauss), is now working for him, and Joe has more power than ever before. Although Joe could have any girl of his choice, he has always loved just one, Teresa Porter (Lita Milan).

      Teresa is an angelic, beautiful young woman, and although she is in love with Joe she tries to avoid him. She is well-aware of Joe's reputation as a ruthless mobster, but she can't deny her feelings for him. Before long, Teresa and her younger brother Ernie are both working for Joe, and they like the big money they're earning. Ernie becomes a drug addict, though, and Joe has to remove him from the organization. Ernie confronts Joe with a gun and tries to blackmail him. Forced to defend himself, Joe shoots and kills Ernie, right after Teresa walked in and tried to stop her brother. Surprisingly, Teresa still feels nothing but love for Joe, and Joe realizes just how much he's corrupted his once angelic girlfriend.

      Joe receives a subpoena from a Senate racketeering committee and is facing a long prison sentence. Joe books passage for himself and Teresa on a boat leaving the country. Unfortunately, Joe's former partners-in-crime want to be totally sure that Joe will never talk to the committee, and they make plans to kill him. Joe and Teresa are followed by two hitmen on their way to the pier, and before Joe and Teresa can get to the boat and escape Joe must fight it out with the hoodlums. Joe kills them but is seriously wounded, so he and Teresa go to Frankie Udino for help. It's only then that Joe finally realizes that he has no friends left in a world where trust is nonexistent.

      Steve Cochran practically made a career out of playing ruthless gangsters, and this is perhaps his best role. Although made on a small budget, "I, Mobster" is one of the most entertaining noir films of the late 1950's, with lots of great lines ("You wanna become a moll?"), an impressive cast (Lita Milan is a very sexy and quite a talented actress, and Robert Strauss is awesome in the role of "Black" Frankie Udino!), and skillful direction by Roger Corman. There's also a memorable scene where real-life exotic dancer Lili St. Cyr performs on stage and even takes a bubble bath (a pretty racy scene for a 1950's movie)! The whole subplot about Joe Sante's disapproving parents was such a cliché, even by the late 1950's, and those scenes where his parents preach to him are badly dated. Other than that I have no complaints about the movie itself.

      The Sony/Classic Media DVD, however, is a big disappointment. "I, Mobster" was filmed in CinemaScope, but the idiots who released this on DVD reformatted it to full screen, thus you miss a significant portion of the original image. As if that wasn't bad enough, on the back of the DVD cover it says Steve Cochran plays "Steve Fisher". Steve Fisher is actually the guy who wrote the screenplay, not a character in the film! Hopefully, this movie will get a proper DVD release I the future. Until then, this version will have to do.

      4 out of 5 stars low-budget gem of a gangster movie.......2000-03-23

      Brooding hunk Steve Cochran literally has to fight the women off after his steady climb up the mob corporate ladder. He's all business until his longtime groupie BEGS to be his "moll." They enjoy life for a while until he is rubbed out. A nice clear-headed little film which will really appeal to fans of "The Sopranos" and "Donnie Brasco." Steve Cochran has got it, and Roger Corman knows how to showcase it!

      3 out of 5 stars Pushing the envelope of "B-ness".......2000-02-18

      Roger Corman pushes the envelope of "B-ness" with this B-movie detailing the rise and fall of a small-time gangster (played by Steve Cochran, contender in the Elvis-lookalike contest and winner of the hair-grease semifinals). The casting is riotous, with his supposedly Italian immigrant parents played by two oldsters who speak with Austrian-German accents, and a girfriend who speaks with an Italian accent and has a WASP name. Robert Strauss, famous Jewish comedian, plays a vicious Italian gangster with about as much credibility as did Eli Wallach in "Godfather 3." Nonetheless, "I, Mobster" is enjoyable in broad, B-ways that only Corman can bring off.

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