Jules Dassin, 1911-2008
Sarris put him in the "Strained Seriousness" category in The American Cinema, calling him a "lively director in a minor key" while bemoaning his "softheaded social consciousness." The social consciousness no longer seems to function overmuch when screening his pictures today...and years and years of unimaginative ripoffs of Rififi have shown us it's not wise to undervalue such originals. Dassin's run of pictures between 1947 and 1955—Brute Force, The Naked City, Thieves Highway, Night and the City and Rififi—was about as inspired as any director ever pulls off, and Dassin didn't break his stride of inspiration even as he was going into exile. The cinematic vision of hell in Night and the City is no less unforgettable for being set in London as opposed to New York, where the conventional wisdom would deem the story better-suited.
Dassin had not directed a film since 1980, but he remained active and, it appears, pretty feisty until the end of his life, which came less than a week after the death of his City star Richard Widmark. He gave some very lively interviews to The Criterion Collection for the DVDs of the five films listed above; those movies, and the reminiscences Dassin contributes to their video editions, are as good a way to get to know him as any.
This isn't a big deal, but it is something that mildly irritates me: "Night and the City" is set in London because that's where the novel, written by Englishman Gerald Kersh, was set.
Like I say, not a big deal. I just wish that more people were knowledgeable about the source material for certain films.
Posted by: bill | April 01, 2008 at 11:53 AM
No, it is a big deal and it was sloppy of me not to take that into account.The movie's production history is interesting, to say the least. Although I'm not gonna risk another gaffe trying to recall it in a waiting room, as I am now...
Posted by: Glenn Kenny | April 01, 2008 at 12:23 PM
Man, after your very civil reply, am I glad I didn't shout "MEDIOCRITY!!" at you, as was my original plan.
The sad thing is, I've neither seen the film, nor read the book (I've read a little Kersh, though, and he deserves to be re-discovered), and yet I still go around correcting people.
Posted by: bill | April 01, 2008 at 01:17 PM
I watched Topkapi two nights ago, and I had no idea that he was still alive. It probably wasn't the best way to remember him. Maybe it's now time to see Thieves Highway, which has been on my should-watch list for years.
Posted by: Joel | April 01, 2008 at 07:32 PM
Topkapi is a MASTERPIECE. I also really strongly recommend people check out 1030pm Summer which would have been one of the most influential European art films if the 60s if anybody had actually seen and appreciated it. It anticipates later Fellini as well as dragging silent movie stylistics into the 60s. An amazing piece of work. I've only see the dubbed version of The Law but that's quite impressive, and even despised late stuff like Up Tight! and A Dream of Passion have plenty of interest, even if they're sometimes dull or ridiculous. Dassin's stuff from around 1030pm Summer onwards shows a fearlessness -- he's not afraid of anything. We need to get a look at Phaedra and He Who Must Die to properly assess him.
Posted by: D Cairns | April 01, 2008 at 07:46 PM
And Netflix has _Night in the City_ coming to me tomorrow. How odd.
Posted by: Ryland Walker Knight | April 02, 2008 at 01:28 AM
Night & the City is wonderful, gritty and low down in a way films can't do anymore. A sleazy work of genius. Rififi is wonderful. Topkapi is fun. Dassin's hits outnumbe his misses. Thanks to Turner, I've even caught some of his shorts, like Poe's Tell Tale Heart.
Posted by: gorilla Bob | April 02, 2008 at 11:13 AM
"Night and the City" originated as a project well before the blacklist was a factor. Dassin later claimed that Zanuck sent him to London to protect him from HUAC, but this may be a bit of embroidery. I admire Dassin's other noirs, but I can't agree with D Cairns about the later, European stuff. As Bertrand Tavernier wrote in "50 ans du cinema americain," Dassin was one American director for whom the dream came true -- to work in Europe, free from compromises of the studio system -- but what he produced were films vastly more pretentious and vastly less interesting than his enslaved Hollywood productions. If you can make it through "He Who Must Die" without wanting to scream, you're a much better person than I am.
Posted by: Dave Kehr | April 02, 2008 at 11:21 AM
Not to speak ill of the dead, but I want to explore Dave's point. What's also interesting about Dassin's European failures was also how contrary they seem to Dassin's own nature. In interviews, he's a sharp, engaging storyteller with an acerbic wit—exactly the sort of fellow you'd expect to make a picture like "The Naked City" or "Rififi." What you experience watching his more putatively ambitious work is a lot of strain—the filmmaker striving to be someone he really isn't, not accepting that his true nature is entirely sufficient to create good work.
Posted by: Glenn Kenny | April 02, 2008 at 11:41 AM
It's possible. But it doesn't apply to Rififi and Topkapi, and the one "strained seriousness" film I saw from the European period, 10.30.pm Summer, strikes me as a demented masterpiece. You can see a bit here: http://dcairns.wordpress.com/2008/04/02/the-chills-5-what-time-is-love/
There's also clips from Phaedra on Youtube -- it looks overheated and ridiculous but still FASCINATING.
I'd love to see He Who Must Die but someone will have to think well enough of it to release it for that to happen.
Posted by: D Cairns | April 03, 2008 at 04:37 PM