The Naked City

The Naked City (aka Naked City) is a 1948 American film noir produced by Mark Hellinger, directed by Jules Dassin, written by Albert Maltz and Malvin Wald, and starring Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart and Don Taylor. The film, shot almost entirely on location in New York City, depicts the police investigation that follows the murder of a young model. Naked City received two Academy Awards, one for cinematography for William H. Daniels and another for film editing to Paul Weatherwax. In 2007, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Plot In the late hours of a hot New York summer night, two men subdue Jean Dexter, an ex-model, with chloroform, then drown her in her bathtub. When one of them gets conscience-stricken while drunk, the other kills him and throws his body into the East River. The medical examiner determines that Jean was murdered; experienced detective Lt. Dan Muldoon and novice Det. Jimmy Halloran are assigned to the case. At the scene, they interrogate Martha Swenson, Jean's housekeeper, about Jean's boyfriends, and she tells them about a Philip Henderson. They also discover a bottle of sleeping pills. Halloran questions the doctor who prescribed them, Lawrence Stoneman, as well as Ruth Morrison, another model and Jean's friend. Back at the police station, Muldoon questions Frank Niles, Jean's ex-boyfriend, who lies about everything, claiming only a business relationship with Jean and denying knowing Ruth, although they are actually engaged. Because of his lies, Niles becomes the prime suspect, but he has an alibi. Later, Muldoon deduces from the bruises on Jean's neck that she was killed by at least two men.