Night and the City (1950)
Ending my short season of Noir November with Jules Dassin's tale of low life corruption, paranoia and impending doom, Night and the City sees Richard Widmark as a small time American nightclub tout who tries to worm his way into the wrestling rackets of post war London despite the attentions of vengeful club owner Francis Sullivan and racketeer Herbert Lom.
This is Noir at it's most gripping with an easy to follow none convoluted storyline and one of the best and toughest wrestling scenes on film even though it takes place out of the ring. There's a pervading atmosphere of dread throughout and you can tell from the midway point that things will become increasingly desperate for Widmark despite the attentions of loving Gene Tierney's nightclub singer.
Post war London looks spectacular as the action swiftly moves from Soho to Piccadilly Circus to the bombed out docklands as the film breathtakingly drives towards it's gut wrenching finale.
Highly recommended.
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