Night And The City

This BFI Blu-Ray release of Jules Dassin's classic noir comes with a wealth of extras that Harry Fabian could only dream about. Fans of the film will be particularly keen to get their hands on the British and US versions of the film - the former newly scanned at 2K resolution and the latter newly scanned at 4K, and both in the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Simply put, it looks terrific. Both versions of the film are subtitled, though the extras are not.

It is well worth taking the time to watch both versions, which differ considerably more from one another than the similar runtime (US: 96 min; UK: 101min) might suggest. The chief difference is in tone, with the US version bearing the more starkly noir score of Franz Waxman, while the British score by Franz Waxman has an altogether less threatening feel. The British version tends towards the more romantic end of the spectrum generally, giving Mary (Gene Tierney) more time with 'good guy' Adam (Hugh Marlowe) and leaving a clearer door open for her to pursue a better life at the end of the film. The British version offers up more motivations for the characters and makes more of club boss Phil (Francis L Sullivan) being aware of his wife's machinations.

The biggest loser in the British version is femme fatale Helen (Googie Withers), with a scene showing just how threatening Phil can be the most notable casualty. By losing this, it hardens our attitude to Helen and sacrifices some of the ambiguity of the US version - which Dassin himself has said is closer to his vision. Those wanting to study the differences in detail will find discussion of them on both the commentary tracks of the film and in an excellent essay by James Hahn in the accompanying booklet.

The commentary on the US version of the film will be familiar to those who bought the previous BFI DVD release (read more about that here). The commentary on the British version by Adrian Martin talks more to the film than Paul Duncan and is no less interesting for that, offering observations on its expressionism and influences as well as talking through the chief differences between the US and British cuts.

The Guardian Lecture which sees Jules Dassin Interviewed by critical heavyweight Alexander Walker back in 1981, starts off pretty slowly - perhaps not helped by the rather repetative gallery which accompanies it - but is worth sticking with, as Dassin opens up more as the interview goes along about his life and career. It bears the hallmarks of the pre-internet age - remember that? - when finding facts about people was a lot more difficult than a quick Google, meaning that Walker's questions are occasionally vague but Dassin has a dry sense of humour once he relaxes into the setting. Although the material on Night And The City is limited, the film touches on much of his career and ends with a pretty stinging indictment of Ronald Reagan (who was born in the same year as the director), who Dassin says became "manufactured, because all politicians are manufactured".

The Richard Widmark interview from 2002 with Adrian Wootton (now chief executive at Film London) is all you could want from this sort of thing. Wootton is a smart and easygoing interviewer, following the flow of Widmark well and prompting without hectoring. Widmark, meanwhile, despite declaring: "I hope your memories are good - I'm full of senior moments," proves no slouch in the recollection department for someone who was pushing 90 at the time. Good humoured and charming, he happily talks about his triumphs and disasters - "St Joan is something I should have done in the closet!" - with anecdotes to spare. Thoughts on film legends including Spencer Tracy, John Ford and Sam Fuller come thick and fast, with his observation that Robert Mitchum, his near-neighbour for many years "like booze a lot and I was big on chocolate malt", is my personal favourite. Although the chat about Night And The City is limited, he does reveal he "lost about 20lb" from all the running. A little gem.

The release is completed by the original trailer and additional essays, including a thorough consideration of the film by Lee Server (from the previous release) and a in depth comparison of the novel, Dassin's film and the remake by Paul Duncan.

A thorough Blu-Ray package, with no uneccessary padding.