Naked City

Plot synopsis:
In the late hours of a hot New York summer night, a pair of men subdue and kill Jean Dexter, an ex-model, by knocking her out with chloroform and drowning her in her bathtub. When one of the murderers, conscience-stricken, gets drunk, the other kills him, then lifts his body into the air and throws it into the East River.
Homicide Detective Lt. Dan Muldoon (Barry Fitzgerald) and his young associate, Jimmy Halloran (Don Taylor), are assigned to Jean's case, which the medical examination has determined was murder, not an accident. Muldoon has been a homicide cop for 22 years; Halloran for three months. At the scene, the police interrogate Martha Swenson (Virginia Mullen), Jean's housekeeper, about Jean's friends, and she tells them about a "Mr. Henderson." They also discover a bottle of sleeping pills and her address book. Halloran questions the doctor who prescribed the pills, Lawrence Stoneman (House Jameson), and Ruth Morrison (Dorothy Hart), another model. Back at the police station, Muldoon questions Frank Niles (Howard Duff), who lies about everything, claiming only a business relationship with Jean and denying knowing Ruth, to whom he is engaged. The police quickly discover the truth behind many of his lies. Later, Muldoon deduces from the bruises on Jean's neck that she was killed by at least two men.
That evening, Jean's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Batory, from whom she had been estranged, arrive in New York to formally identify the body, and tell the detectives that they have no knowledge of Jean's acquaintances. The next morning, the detectives learn that Frank sold a gold cigarette case stolen from Stoneman, then purchased a one-way airline ticket to Mexico. They also discover that Jean's ring was stolen from the home of a wealthy Mrs. Hylton (Enid Markey). At Mrs. Hylton's Park Avenue apartment, the police learn that the ring actually belonged to her daughter, who, to their surprise, turns out to be Ruth. Learning that Ruth's engagement ring is also stolen property, Muldoon and Halloran take Ruth to Frank's apartment, where they coincidentally interrupt someone trying to murder him. The killer takes a shot at the cops and escapes onto the nearby elevated train. When questioned about the stolen jewelry, Frank claims that they were all presents from Jean, which reveals his true relationship with her, much to Ruth's chagrin. Frank is then arrested for the jewel thefts, but the murder case remains open.
Halloran learns that a body recovered from the East River, that of Peter Backalis (Walter Burke), a small-time burglar, died within hours of the Dexter murder and connects the two incidents. Muldoon, although skeptical, lets him pursue the lead and assigns two veteran detectives on the squad to help Halloran with the legwork. Through further methodical but tedious investigation, Halloran discovers that Backalis' accomplice on a jewelry store burglary was Willie Garzah (Ted de Corsia), a former wrestler with a penchant for playing the harmonica. While Halloran and his team canvass the Lower East Side of New York using an old publicity photograph of Garzah, Muldoon compels Frank Niles to identify Jean's mystery boyfriend. Dr. Stoneman is "Henderson". At Stoneman's office, Muldoon uses Frank to trap the married physician into confessing that he fell in love with Jean, only to learn that she and Frank were using him in order to rob his society friends. Frank then confesses that Garzah killed Jean and Backalis. Halloran and Muldoon, using different approaches, have come up with the same killer.
Meanwhile, Halloran finally locates Garzah and, pretending that Backalis is in the hospital, tries to trick Garzah to accompany him back to the hospital, but Garzah (knowing he killed Backalis) sees through the ruse. The ex-wrestler "rabbit punches" the rookie detective, momentarily knocking him unconscious. Garzah attempts to disappear in the crowded city, but as police descend upon the neighborhood, a panicked Garzah draws attention to himself when he shoots and kills a blind man's guide dog on the pedestrian walk of the Williamsburg Bridge. Garzah attempts to flee over the bridge but as police approach from both directions, he starts climbing one of the towers, and is shot and wounded. High on the tower, Garzah refuses to surrender, gunfire is exchanged, he is hit again and falls to his death.
As aerial and street shots of New York are shown, the narration concludes with the iconic line: "There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them."

Tags: violence, murder

Review:
Naked City was a showcase for up-and-coming stage actors, such as Robert Duvall, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Ed Asner--the list goes on and on.
The best episodes were like that--character studies, filmed in the early Sixties, finely wrought time capsules of a New York that no longer exists..
I came across "Naked City" three years ago when the series was aired on German television for the first time, to my knowledge.
Not knowing what to expect, I was stunned the very first time I watched a "Naked City" recording.
A show with actors that look like real people, a show that keeps you glued to your chair without having to resort to the eternal mindless shootouts and car chases modern TV series seem unable to do without.
"Naked City" is a real treasure that proves that television does not necessarily cater only to the needs of people unable to follow an intricate plot.
The characters honestly portray the ambitions and emotions of people, rich and poor, living in New York.The city is as much the star of the show as the actors.
Filmed in black and white on location, the show visually captures the New York cityscape in the early 1960's, before the major building boom began.The excellent cinematography, the forthright performances of the cast and guest performers, and the first-rate writing and direction make Naked City a gem to watch..
The location shooting in and around the streets of New York give a great view of the city in the early 60's.
But the real treat is the stories, many featuring some of the best all-time character actors of TV and Movies.
Just good old-time TV drama, that seems to forgotten in today's lousy free TV with all of those lame reality shows.Most of the indoor scenes were filmed at old Biograph/Gold Medal Studio the Bronx.
The 50's and 60's were a great time for young , talented actors living in New York.
Many good TV shows and movies were filmed at the Biograph and Naked City is among the best..
Many of these episodes featured the debutes of bit actors who were later to become stars on TV and in the movies...you name 'em, they first appeared in Naked City.
Of course the main star is New York City in the late 1950's-early 60's.
The IMDb lists Paul Frees as the narrator of "Naked City" - the series.
But it was my understanding that actor Lawrence Dobkin was the voice behind "There are eight million stories in the Naked City...This has been one of them".The discs of the show are excellent.
You get the rare chance, not only to see some of the talent of yesterday like Roddy MacDowall, Carroll O'Connor, and Maureen Stapleton, but actors doing early roles, some only walk-ons, like Dustin Hoffman as a thief in BAREFOOT ON A BED OF COALS or Peter Falk in a tiny role as a gun man in DEATH OF PRINCES or Gene Hackman as a nervous reporter in PRIME OF LIFE.The series seemed to be approached by it's writers as New York theater, people talking a bit more emotionally than you would see on LAW AND ORDER.
I became interested in this show a couple of years ago when I read in TV Guide that a poll of new York City Policemen voted it he best cop show ever, beating out #2 Homicide and all the recent cop classics, such as Law and Order, NYPD Blue, Hill Street Blues, etc.
That was pretty impressive since Naked City was on a generation or more before those shows and it was remarkable that modern day policemen had even heard of it, much less voted it #1.
The original basis for this was not a police story at all but a book of photographs of New York City that came out in the 1940's from a photographer who called himself "Weegee".
He decided a police chase story would be the best way to show the city off and the result was the classic police drama "The Naked City", (1948), with Hellinger narrating.
Both those actors decided they didn't like working in New York, (especially on the frigid early mornings that the series habitually filmed in so they could have the streets to themselves).
Silliphant and Leonard didn't give up, however and an hour long version of Naked City premiered in 1960 with Paul Burke and Horace McMahon replacing Franciscus and McIntyre, (who's character had been killed off in the earlier show).
This version lasted three years and included some of the best writers and actors in New York You name it, they were on the show: Ed Asner, Robert DuVal, Jack Lord, George C Scott, Dustin Hoffman, Peter Falk, Suzanne Pleshette, Lois Nettleton and many, many others.
Each episode ended with Leonard intoning "There are 8 million stories in the Naked City.
Eight!!!) Jack Webb had already pioneered taking much of the gunplay from cop shows but Naked City put it back with a vengeance.
The 138 episodes (all in B&W) of the police drama "Naked City" were originally broadcast on ABC from 1958-1963.
Image Entertainment's 3 DVD release "Naked City - Set 1" contains an assortment of twelve of the hour-long episodes from seasons 2 and 3.
Many consider this gritty crime drama the best ever of its genre and the title reflects a focus on stripping away the glamor off NYC and exposing its ugly inside; at least to the extent that they could get away with on broadcast television during those years."Naked City" is a follow-up to the 1948 film noir feature of the same name.
The show never stopped changing its cast, it was a bit like "Police Story" in this regard as it made its guest stars (it drew a lot of big names from Broadway) the show's greatest asset.
Those two (played by Bobby Morris and George Maharis) would be the catalyst for the Route 66 series, except Bobby Morris died unexpectedly, so Martin Milner starred opposite Maharis in Route 66.Actress Lois Nettleton, one of the guest stars on Naked City, explained why the show was so well done, saying that it, "..focused on the atmosphere and reality of the people involved in the story.
The star of this show was actually the streets New York City.
You can't beat that kind of casting.For a good take on the series, I recommend Jim Rosin's book, "Naked City, The Television Series." Then get some DVDs of the show and see why it was ahead of its time..
As others have noted, Naked City was essentially an anthology series (a now gone genre that was common in the late 50s/early 60s), rather than a "police procedural".
"Naked City" was put together by many of the same people responsible for "Route 66", which was the yin to this show's yang--restless loners who went everywhere (rather than cops rooted in New York) and and served up a similar range of characters in places all over the country, with similar kinds of scripts.
Whatever the limits of the writing, the show was well-acted and had strong regulars, as well as a range of guest stars and bit players that seems amazing from our vantage point in the present.Regarding previous comments: The city has changed less than one might expect in the last few decades.
OTOH, location filming was novel and has never been cheap, so the expendable perp cars would have been potential junkers.My guess is that "Naked City" was popular among everyday police officers for the same reason that "Barney Miller" was--it humanized the individual cop, showed the tedium of their job, and portrayed the world of odd and unexplainable characters that filled their day.
This makes for some pretty damn compelling viewing in addition to the fact the stories take place in New York City of the early 60's.
Naked City has its fair share of GOOD episodes.
However, over time the violence had seemed to be toned down a bit near the end of its run (possibly due to censor and public pressure ??) However it did not take away from the tense drama the stories provided.
I loved the way in some episodes as this the camera just fades away from the scene on a street at the end showing the despair people were sometimes left in.Speaking of camera work, in this show it is phenomenal, showing vividly the live streets and gritty locales of NYC that Flint and Arcaro would deal with day after day, episode after episode.
As a younger (cough, cough) member of a New York family (and I'm Italian so take "family" however you like...I miss the Sopranos already...) it was great to literally see the "old stomping grounds" that my brothers and sisters and parents knew and saw every day.Others may enjoy the story, but for me, it's all about the background.
I instantly remembered the series "Naked City".
As a kid, I watched the premier of Naked City on TV and instantly fell in love with it.
The second theme, which initiated the hour-long episodes, was "Naked City Theme", aka "Somewhere In The Night" by Billy May. The theme for the final season was "The New Naked City Theme" by Nelson Riddle.
A TV Series Featuring: Paul Burke, James Franciscus, Nancy Malone, Horace McMahon, John McIntyre, Harry Bellevar!
They were in a sense, "the New Westerns." One of the main reasons, other than Mr. Jack Webb's efforts that we have enjoyed our HILL STREET BLUES, HOMICIDE, NYPD BLUE and LAW & ORDER group is the quality displayed and subsequent success of NAKED CITY (Shielle Productions/Screen Gems TV, 1958-63).The idea for the Series sprang from Mark Hellinger's NY specific crime drama, THE NAKED CITY (Hellinger Productions/Universal Pictures, 1948) In it the drama of murder, the primary investigation and follow-up, all play out against the back-drop of what is (I being a super-sensitive Chicagoan) doubtless the greatest city in the World.
Never before had a movie set in NY been filmed completely there and on such a grand scale; using the best settings in the 5 Burroughs as the most magnificent scenery of an urban nature anywhere; as well as the use of countless thousands, or even millions of extras.There was very in common between the Film and the Series; although James Franciscus did portray the Detective Jimmy Halloran, who was Don Taylor's character in the film.
It seems that the hour long episodes put the series over the top; perhaps allowing more time for characterization, plot development and good old shoot-em-up Action!
In retrospect, we can only say that NAKED CITY has proved to be one of the finest Dramas in TV History, Cop Show or not.
Naked and Alive In New York City.
(*TV show quote*) - "There are 8 million stories in the Naked City.
This has been one of them."If you enjoy watching 1950's TV Crime/Dramas like "Dragnet" and "The Untouchables" - Then - "Naked City" is sure to be right up your alley when it comes to its overall entertainment-value.Yes. At times - These 1-hour, b&w episodes did lay it on pretty thick with the element of soap opera.
But, that aside - The show's strive towards gritty realism and hard-edged drama was, often-enough, sufficient to hold my interest (for the most part).What I also liked about "Naked City" was its use of plenty of outdoor location shooting on the streets of NYC.
One of the best cop shows of the genre from the golden age of television...the Emmy award winning "Naked City".
The anthology series "Naked City" was one example of just how fine a great television series was during that time.
It was the first series to be filmed on location within New York City and was in classic black and white with locations filmed at the Biograph Studios and in sections of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Staten Island and other areas.
This half-hour version of "Naked City" was canceled by ABC after one season.
Then on October 12,1960,an hour long version of "Naked City" premiered with Paul Burke and Horace McMahon replacing James Franciscus and John McIntyre.
This hour long version lasted three seasons producing 99 episodes,all in classic black and white that aired from October 12,1960 until May 29,1963.
In all,a total of 138 episodes were produced for ABC.During the show's fantastic run,it included some of the best writers and best actors in television history and it shows in the Four Prime-Time Emmys it won for Best Drama Series (1959,1961,1962,1963),and was nominated for three Golden Globes as Best Prime-Time Drama Series in 1962.The best writers for this series came from Frank R.
But what made the show stand out was the acting were some episodes were nothing short of breathtaking but were absolutely incredible.This series was a showcase for up and coming actors who made their debuts here ranging from Gene Hackman, Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Brock Peters, Dabney Coleman, Jessica Walter, Eli Wallach, Peter Falk, Dennis Hopper, Bruce Dern, Roddy McDowell, Martin Sheen, Diane Ladd, Christopher Walken, to Jon Voight, Robert Duvall, William Shatner, James MacArthur, Burt Reynolds, Telly Savalas, Susan Oliver, Leonard Nimoy to future up and coming actors like Sandy Dennis, James Caan, George Segal to Robert Blake, Valerie Harper, Brenda Vaccaro, Greg Morris, to Ivan Dixon and Vic Morrow.
The show also had the rare occasion for actors who were just starting out and one episode had future television actor Conrad Bain in a small role along with future Oscar winning actress Faye Dunaway in bit parts."Naked City" was a series that featured a "ethnicity" of fine acting in various roles and for an anthology drama it did not stray away from several subject matters even though this was one of the great cop shows ever produced from television's golden age..
That's why I love watching shows like The Naked City.
Yes Virginia, there was a golden time when great writing and really fine acting made TV such a pleasure to watch.
Back then producers had much more time to develop characters and situations because an hour show like The Naked City had far fewer interruptions for commercials.
Every time I watch an episode of this fine program I am reminded of just how much change has not been kind to TV.
The stories in The Naked City were about real people in situations that almost anyone could relate to.
This was a great human interest police show with the "wet streets" look and feel of New York City.
My uncle worked as an electrician on Naked City and my father was friendly with the very talented Paul Burke (Adam Flint).
Watching some episodes on Image's DVD set, it struck me how bizarre and outre Naked City really was.
I've just been introduced to this series through the DVD releases and have found myself highly impressed by the location photography in New York and the atmosphere of the stories.
You know if you watch "Breakfast at Tiffany's" you get to see New York at street level, alley level all kinds of levels.
Naked City takes you inside all of those nooks and crannies you might wonder about as you watch Holly Golightly race down the streets and alleys after her cat.Naked City not only excels in its cinematography of this great city but consistently includes captivating, colorful stories "one of the 8 million" as well as characters with dimension and growth throughout the original 4 seasons.
Before 2014 I had never heard of this show but have always appreciated great writing and colorful character development, Naked City has all that.
In many cases Naked City was their first television debut or close to it.
After watching every episode at least once, I can't believe we didn't see more from Paul Burke and Nancy Malone as well as Bellaver even though it's noted that Horace McMahon died just a few years after the series concluded, one of his last performances in Family Affair..
First of all, it ran from 1958 until 1963 and it was about honest cops in New York City.
The character of the main focus, a hard working detective played by James Franciscus, is a little too introspective and self doubting to be a good New York street cop.
New York City, even in those days, was a lot more interesting than the show is able to present it.
Loved the gritty/real Manhattan / New York City scenes  somewhat like Law and Order or NYPD Blue.
Many top-flight actors made guest appearances, and Paul Burke, the star of the show and who later appeared in Dynasty, was great.
Watched several episodes from 1961 on one DVD: The Fault In Our Stars (a pretty good classic detective story), Take and Put (a funny farce), Make Believe Man (too "dark" a story  didn't watch much of it).
These were hour long episodes starring Paul Burke (who rather resembled Franciscus) as the idealistic sharp young Det.Adam Flint, with his supportive aspiring actress fiancé Libby (Nancy Malone) plus Parker & Acaro continued in their established roles.This team investigated the deeper 'human drama' episodes, with famous guest stars, some just starting out on their acting careers (young actors such as; Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Christopher Walken, etc appeared in supporting roles) plus a few lighter comedic episodes were included and some very complex/intense 'character driven' tales which featured many strong compelling acting performances often in rather 'offbeat' stories.The show stands as the template for many TV Cop shows and dramas that followed with the city of New York itself being very much a featured 'star' of the show..
This show is great, because it really shows the life of cops and people in NYC back then.
There were great episodes, like when the cops were forced to work long shifts and sleep in cots at the station.