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Best movie of this year hands down!

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

NOTES: Charlton Heston's professional movie debut. Locations filmed in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. All songs rendered by Lizabeth Scott.COMMENT: Disappointing. The script seems so attenuated as to lose its promise of suspense and tension along the way of what turns out to be a long-winded yarn. Romantic interludes with first Lizabeth Scott and then Viveca Lindfors don't help. And when the killer is finally revealed, it turns out to be a familiar cinema friend. A lot of the initial promise is dissipated by songs - lots of songs - plus tedious and unbelievable romancing, and much talk (like the scenes in Jagger's office) to little purpose. More of the smart ripostes given to Jack Webb in the early sequences would have been most welcome. Also more action - what little we have is confined to the beginning and the climax.Scott's performance is superficial, but Heston impresses in his professional screen debut, whilst Morgan, Webb and DeFore contribute solid support. To sum up, Heston was fortunate to make his debut in such good company. Begley and DeFore give stand-out portrayals and the rest of the players are no slackers either. Although disappointing in many respects, the script was directed with characteristic expertise by William Dieterle.

Before going any further with that question, we need to make a distinction between expressionistic musicals like "My Fair Lady" (1964) or "Grease" (1978) and backstage musicals like "Gold Diggers of 1933" (1933) or "New York, New York" (1977). In the former, it is sometimes said, somewhat derisively, that people are just walking down the street and then break out into song, accompanied by a disembodied orchestra. In the latter, the singing and dancing occurs during rehearsals or on stage during a performance. In other words, it is realistic, something you might actually see and hear in real life. Actually, Busby Berkeley musicals are not realistic in the sense that the numbers could never be performed on a real stage, but they are more realistic than expressionistic musicals."Dark City" is certainly not an expressionistic musical. But does it qualify as a backstage musical? Early in the movie, we see Fran (Lizabeth Scott) singing a song in a nightclub. I thought to myself, her singing sounds fine to me, but I suspect a lot of people would say that she cannot sing, although I understand that the singing was dubbed anyway. But then, I further reflected, I don't have a good ear, so who am I to judge?After she finishes her song, Danny (Charlton Heston), her boyfriend, tells her he liked her song, to which she replies, "Aren't we a pair? I can't sing and you don't have a good ear." That took me back a little.Anyway, I mused that even though the movie had a song in it, it was not a musical, because one song does not a musical make. But then she sang another song, and another, and another, until she sang five in all. Still, the movie did not seem to me to be a musical, and it would not have been, even if they had managed to squeeze one more number into it. Moreover, just to get an objective assessment, I checked Internet Movie Database and Netflix, and neither of them classified it as a musical, but only as a crime drama or film noir.In reflecting on why this was so, I thought back on that earlier comment by her that she could not sing, followed later by another remark to the effect that singing in a nightclub was just a way of making a living, something she would gladly give up if Danny would marry her. And that must be the key. In the typical backstage musical, the main performers are ambitious, just waiting for their chance to take the spotlight and become a star. Or, as in a Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland movie, where Rooney gets the idea of putting on a show to save whatever it is that needs saving in that movie, the success of the show is what matters. In other words, in a backstage musical, it is not a question of how much singing and dancing there is, but whether the plot centers around the performers qua performers, their individual success or the success of the show as a whole.In "Dark City," on the other hand, the plot centers around people that are not performing musical numbers. Rather, Danny is a bookie who has been put out of business by too many raids and is looking for a bankroll so he can move to another town. He and his pals get a sucker into a poker game and take him for all his money. The sucker is devastated and commits suicide. Now the police are investigating the situation and the sucker's brother is out to kill everyone that was in the game. As a result, the songs Fran sings are just fillers, which actually have the effect of slowing the movie down.As a crime drama, the movie is mediocre, but as an illustration of the fact that a backstage musical must be more than just a bunch of musical numbers, this movie is instructive.

There is a lot to like about "Dark City" and it's an excellent example of film noir. While not as tough and gritty as some of the darker incarnations of noir, it still packs a nice punch and has some excellent characterizations--particularly Charton Heston and Jack Webb.Heston plays a world-weary and jaded professional gambler. He sees most people as suckers and has little to like about him. Inexplicably, Lizbeth Scott adores him and is the perfect enabler. She also keeps on holding out hope that Heston will reform and marry her.One night, Heston and his gambling partners come upon a pigeon (Don DeFore) and invite him for a 'nice friendly game of poker'. DeFore does well the first night--and he doesn't realize he's being set-up for a big killing, as the gamblers know he has a $5000 cashiers check on him. Not surprisingly, the next day, DeFore's luck sours and he's cleaned out--including this check that didn't turn out to belong to him. He signs it over to them---and then promptly kills himself! Two things almost immediately come to light. First, it turns out that one of the gamblers (Webb) was cheating. While these were pros, Heston and his other partner (Ed Begley) were not cheaters. Second, Begley becomes very nervous--saying that he thinks someone is following him. Soon, he's murdered! The police bring in Webb and Heston and inform him that they know about the game and even know who the killer is--DeFore's psychotic brother who'd spent much of his life institutionalized in a mental hospital!! And, apparently, he's soon coming to get Webb and Heston as well! Quite a bit happens after this--but you'll just have to tune in to see it yourself.Excellent writing, wonderful tension and nice acting--this one will keep you on the edge of your seat and is great for noir fanatics--like myself.

Being a huge "Dragnet" fan, I just had to see the two movies that Jack Webb appeared in with Harry Morgan before the two worked together in "Dragnet." "Dark City" is one of them and the other is "Appointment with Danger." Although "Dark City" was released in 1950, the year before "Appointment with Danger" was released, "Appointment with Danger" was actually filmed first (shot in the summer of 1949). "Dark City" was Jack Webb's final filmed feature before hitting the small screen with "Dragnet" in 1951. Truthfully, I was disappointed with this movie. It contains one of the thinnest plots I've ever seen, and it tries to convince the audience that Charlton Heston somehow doesn't deserve to die, but Jack Webb and Ed Begley do, even though all three of them took part in cheating the killer's brother out of money. Only Henry (Harry) Morgan really deserves to live because he didn't take part in the cheating. In the movie, Morgan even tells Heston "You're worse than the rest of them." The movie simply avoids that problem and we're supposed to feel happy for Heston when he survives. In addition, Heston's performance is somewhat flat (this is his first feature film), and the two romance situations (yes, both involving Heston) take away from the film noir feel this movie tries to have. Also, the torch songs that Lizabeth Scott sings aren't very powerful (though Lizabeth looks drop-dead gorgeous when she sings them). The best part of the movie is the colorful supporting cast (Webb, Morgan, and Begley). The bickering and joking that goes on among them is pretty funny (especially Webb's hole-in-one glass joke). Worth seeing for interest sake.