The Naked City

Inspired by Weegee’s seminal warts-and-all 1945 tabloid pictorial on life and death on the streets of the Big Apple, similarly titled Naked City, Jules Dassin’s policier is a bravura portrait of his native New York rendered with the crispness and authenticity of a newsreel. 

When a woman’s body is found in the bathtub of her West 83rd Street apartment, the Tenth Precinct’s Lt. Dan Muldoon (Barry Fitzgerald) and sidekick Jimmy Halloran (Don Taylor) pursue multiple leads from Park Avenue to the Lower East Side and ultimately to a thrilling chase down Delancey Street that climaxes atop the Williamsburg Bridge with a stunning panorama of the East River below. A thundering score by Miklos Rozsa (Double Indemnity, The Asphalt Jungle), Oscar-winning cinematography by William Daniels (Garbo’s favorite lenser), a brief cameo by Weegee himself, a tight script co-written by Albert Maltz (who was arrested during production by the House Un-American Activities Committee), and the use of more than a hundred individual locations secures The Naked City’s place in the pantheon of classic New York noirs. (Stanley Kubrick’s original “Press Pass” gaining him access to Dassin’s shoot is on display in the museum’s exhibition.)

Bing Theater | $10 for the general public; $7 for LACMA members, seniors (62+), and students with valid ID; $5 LACMA Film Club members | Price includes both films on double-bill | Tickets: 323 857-6010 or purchase online