Dark City

This was not a digital remastered DVD.It was copied from the original negative, and it shows. It was a good introduction to Charlton Heston; however, the physical disc was awful.

Hal Wallis pulls out all the stops to introduce Charlton Heston in a rather subdued performance as a poker hustler. William Dieterle directs, Edith Head costumes (why is it that none of the characters seem to be wearing their own clothes except Viveca Lindfors?), Franz Waxman provided the music score, Wally Westmoreland supervises make-up. The screenplay was co-written by John Meredyth Lucas (original Star Trek series). Lizabeth Scott plays an awkward cross between Rosemary Clooney on her least chipper day, and Lauren Bacall in To Have and Have Not, and I hope it's not actually Scott singing - someone forgot to drink their Tang that day. Scott and Heston's relationship is about as full of zip as a Wonder Bread and Miracle Whip sandwich. Harry Morgan (Punchy) plays the honest-at-heart prototype of Ratso Rizzo, scuffling along in his baggy sweater, observing the poker game rigged to draw in innocent pigeon Dan DeFore (Arthur Winant) with chagrin. Jack Webb (Augie), lubricates the scenes with his darkly animated wit and easy mannerisms - you may not realize he could play anything but the stiff-lipped Joe Friday on Dragnet. Ed Begley (Barney) is eaten up from the inside (Get me my cream, in the bottle.) with guilt by the consequences of a poker game gone sour as the 3 sharps have to deal with the consequences of Winant's rigged loss at cards. He doesn't have to suffer for long. The players start sweating bullets as a psycho wreaks vengeance. Lindfors, Winant's widow, has the subtle moves of Ingrid Bergman - the luminous eyes, the expressive mouth, the nervous tension - good stuff. You can't take your eyes off of her.There are some great shots of Vegas, good pacing, the ending defies logic, but it's definitely interesting to watch Heston before he morphs into the scenery chewing, teeth gritting leading man of his later years. He comes across with some sensitivity here, just no charisma...for me, anyway, that just never happened with him onscreen.

Genre: Film Noir 1950Pros:-The cast (the faces, the names, yeah, they are all there)-Storyline (I love the Noir, "Who really should I be rooting for?" feel)-Dark-The guy with the sports equipment (they just hit a homer with that portrayal, good thing too, the storyline hinges on him)Cons:-Heston's debut is just a debut (He has a specific style and you just have to get used to it)This is a good film. Charlton Heston is one of those actors who's acting style rubs me the wrong way, but seems to be in great movies (I am the same way with Richard Widmark, who is NOT in this film). I can't get past his acting sometimes, love/hate. I love the characters in this film and whoever casted this film is my hero. Storyline is good and I am left with that sad feeling in my soul Film Noir should product. Noir Fans, watch it!

Love steamy cool Lizabeth Scott. Another great film noir with her.

If it wasn't for his good looks Heston wouldn't have made it big. He certainly doesn't have that hard edge of a true villain and regardless of how hard he tries he's just as stiff as a board. And so is Lizbeth Scott - like a lip-syncing mannequin - this film is so put on and forced its like watching bad theater made from cardboard charters. Good story, good plot, and good Victoria Lonfors as the widow. It would have really crackled if Heston liked a woman that didn't fawn all over him, had a few other club members looking for him, and made good with the widow and the kid. Other than that a big yawn and 100-to-1 odds predictability. Pass.

I purchased this film for two reasons. I wanted to see Charlton Heston's film debut, and he had start quality just from his first Hollywood film. It's no wonder why he became a superstar. And I wanted the film because I love Lizabeth Scott. She was the femme fatale of the film noirs and this one was another memorable role for her. All in all, a very worthwhile film.

Classic with Jack Webb, Harry Morgan and introducing Charlton Heston, love these old Noir flicks.See also  Appointment With Danger  for more Jack Webb and Harry Morgan noir greatness.

Charlton Heston is great in this movie. Wondered most of the time whether he was a sociopath that was conning everyone. Overall worth watching but not a hard boiled film noir.

Another excellent quality BLURAY from ARROW (Sep 2019). This is a "Film Noir", but sadly, for me, not one of the best, but still very watchable. Good 4.3 ratio, clear picture (B/W) with good optional English Subs, and an interesting booklet including a cast list. Why couldn't I give it 5 stars? I thought Lizabeth Scot was miscast - she is a Film Noir Dame, a hard cookie, not the clingy rather feeble character she plays here, not her fault of course, but the script does her no favours, and 4 complete nightclub songs are 2 too many. Heston is Heston, and perhaps the opposite here is true - he is too big, too tough and dangerous. However. you can see the star potential (if you like him). The plot got a bit bogged down for my liking, but hey - 4 stars mean I like it, and I did. The support cast is excellent - Jack Webb/Ed Begley/Henry Morgan/Don DeFore/Dean Jagger/Viveca Lindfors (odd casting, but it works) all excellent, and of course the legendary Mike Mazurki. Trivia points re Mike. We don't see him til the climax, except for his lower back and hand with a big ring - so in a Casino scene, he has tracked Heston and joins him at the crap table. We see his hand clearly placing bets, but cut to long shots and he isn't there - Cheating? Maybe. Also he goes to see his sister in law (Lindfors) and again, just the hand and lower back, but he asks his little nephew where Heston is - and I swear it isn't Mike's voice. I do believe ARROW must be supported in their many good releases, but this isn't exactly cheap (currently), but it is well worth forking out your well earned pound. It will be worth it.

I have seen reviews that describe Dark City as a run of the mill film noir, but I thought it was full of interesting characters and terrific suspense.Dark City is probably most noteworthy as the movie that launched Charlton Heston. Cast after first choice Burt Lancaster declined the role, Heston was perfectly cast as an aggressive jerk.The director William Dieterle is best remembered for The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1939) and The Devil And Daniel Webster.Cinematographer Victor Milner was one of the most intriguing stylists of his era, his brooding, moody approach created a world of menacing shadows. The crisp black and white photography looks sharply defined on blu ray.The informative audio commentary by Alan K Rode offers a wealth of anecdotal detail about the production.Dark City may not be a major film noir but it has all the right elements to be an entertaining ride.

The search for forgotten noir gems continues to unearth fool's gold but with some interest to enliven the journey.It's a promising premise: crooked gamblers swindle a mug who then commits suicide and his psycho brother seeks retribution, but it fails to follow through. Perhaps it needed a Mitchum, Ladd or Hayden but Heston was excellent in Touch of Evil but the fault probably lies with feint-hearted production.Jack Webb and Ed Begley are good as Heston's sweaty fellow swindlers but Mike Mazurki's heavy is wasted, with a repeated shot of his ringed hand which becomes tedious.Lisabeth Scott is given five, say that again, five nightclub numbers, which slows down the action and practically qualifies it was a musical. The encyclopaediac commentary track informs us that Scott was producer Hal B Wallis's mistress. I've liked her in other films but here she looks like Jack Lemmon in Some Like it Hot.These releases come with an excellent picture, subtitles, and interesting extras, all lovingly packaged and offering good value entertainment that may please viewers more than this reviewer.

Looking forward to watching this picture with Charlton Heston and more so because Arrow Films offering 1080P Blu-ray transfer. Well be prepared for disappointments once you press PLAY on your player.Picture quality is appalling more like viewing a poor copy DVD.Worse still, the audio soundtrack breaking up in many places making viewing a struggle.Some parts show motion picture in wavy fashion due to lack of quality control during transfer and after 60 minutes, the tiny breaking sound track gets worse.Don't waste your time on this offering.