Making his big-screen debut, Charlton Heston plays Danny, the ring leader of a small bookie operation, in William Dieterle's Dark City. After Danny's bookie business is raided by the police, Danny and his cronies find themselves in desperate need of money, which leads Danny to meet Arthur Winant, an out of town businessman with a lot of spare change. Inviting Arthur to join him in a friendly poker game, Danny and his crew slowly con Arthur out of all of his money, forcing him to part ways with a $5,000 cashier check, money that Arthur proclaims isn't even his to give. Losing everything, Arthur subsequently hangs himself in despair, but when each member of the crew begins to turn up dead, Danny suspects that Arthur's mysterious brother may be out for personal revenge. William Dieterle's Dark City is a straight-forward, shadow-drenched Noir that succeeds more so than it fails thanks to its hard-boiled characters, dark atmosphere, and constant tension. Typical of any good Noir, Dark City is a film filled with darker souls and bad intentions, with Danny, the main protagonist, being a man with a mysterious past. As the film progresses, it becomes clear that Danny isn't like the others in his crew, not having the same excuses pertaining to growing up in a rough environment, but a man who seems to have willingly buried all empathy underneath his anger and hatred, fed-up with the tough life that has been dealt to him. Danny is the heart and soul of Dark City, which is really a redemption story of a man who slowly begins to show empathy again, attempting to do the right thing when it comes to taking care of Arthur's wife and child. While Danny's characterization is layered and easily what makes Dark City compelling, the primary love interest in Lizabeth Scott's club singer, couldn't be more forgettable. This character is a complete and utter pushover in this story, a needy, overbearing woman who desperately wants Danny to show affection for her. Her character is an insulting caricature of female wants and desires, and her overall annoyance and neediness makes it rather frustrating that she is the symbolic representation of Danny's transformation. While Arthur's wife and child are what gets Danny moving in the right direction, it's Danny's relationship commitment to the club singer at the end of the film that symbolizes a change, symbolically showing Danny's ability to show empathy for someone outside of himself. Dabbling in the typical post-war darkness that made many Noir's interesting, William Dieterle's Dark City is a well-crafted, tension-filled Noir featuring a strong central characterization and memorable debut for Charlton Heston.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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