Fitzgerald and his wry Irish humor interrogates the suspects, while young detective Don Taylor does the legwork. Since it is a movie, Taylor is blessed with a ravishing wife, Anne Sargent, and an ideal pre-school son (Billy Halloran). On the other hand, Fitzgerald appears to have no family life, all the better to solve the myriad murder cases of New York City.
How others will see it. Murder mysteries are a popular genre, and they always will be. Most will find Fitzgerald amusing, Taylor adorable, and Duff disreputable. They will also roll their eyes over Hart's character and performance, which is too melodramatic for a crime drama.
The film appeals to all ages and both sexes. The ending (cornered villain gets his) was as familiar in 1948 as it is today, but that makes it no less exciting. Meanwhile, women have eye candy in Taylor and Duff, and a father figure in the ever-colorful and discerning Fitzgerald.
The Academy Awards also smiled on the movie, giving it two Oscars and also nominating its screenplay. The film's mix of humor and drama is agreeable albeit slightly unconvincing. Do Irish-American policemen really sing folk songs to themselves while on the job? Would Martha's mother curse her late daughter in the presence of a cop?
How I felt about it. Although it is in fact a murder mystery similar to many others, The Naked City asserts itself as different from its beginning. Curiously, there are no opening title credits. They finally show up at the end of the movie. Since no director would stand for his name relegated to a moment when the audience has walked out, the key credits are narrated in the opening by the film's producer, Mark Hellinger, who also intercedes here and there to express sympathy for the detectives, and even the crooks. Hellinger didn't live to hear his voice in the theater, however, as he was felled by a sudden heart attack at age 47 the previous December. Those fatty pork chops can catch up with you.
In its opening, The Naked City states that the movie was made on location in New York City, rather than in a studio. And indeed, there are many pleasing shots of the skyline, which seems to have had nearly as many skyscrapers in 1948 as it does today. There are also idyllic scenes of unsupervised young children playing in the street, a relic of a bygone age given the present level of media-whipped fear.
Another "innovation" of the movie was its casting of amateurs in secondary roles. For example, it was the first film for James Gregory, John Randolph, Dorothy Hart, House Jameson, Virginia Mullen, and Anne Sargent. It was the second film for Ted de Corsia. We have the movie to thank for increasing the pool of actors, although many of the newcomers overplay their dramatic hands. It usually takes a professional to appear natural.