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It’s not often you get to compare an American director’s work in separate French and British films the same night — and rarer still that the results are as impressive as this smashing pair of crime dramas by the underrated U.S. director Jules Dassin. No stranger to the genre (his Brute Force, Thieves’ Highway and the location-shot The Naked City are essential noirs), he was sidelined for several years by the HUAC blacklist while shooting 1950’s stunning Night and the City, which features Richard Widmark’s electric performance as a jittery hustler working a wrestling scam on borrowed time in London. He emerged in triumph five years later, however, with the French heist thriller Rififi, the blueprint for subsequent decades of caper movies — though none has arguably bettered its wordless break-in climax. As double features go, this is something you never find within the noir genre: a sure bet that actually pays off. The 7 p.m. show of Night and the City will be introduced by Jett Loe of the cool local podcast The Film Talk (www.thefilmtalk.com). Check www.belcourt.org for more shows and showtimes.
Mon., Feb. 22, 2010
Mon., Feb. 22, 2010
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