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Night and the City

Night and the City

Drama · Crime · 1950

Londoner Harry Fabian is a second-rate con man looking for an angle. After years of putting up with Harry's schemes, his girlfriend, Mary, becomes fed up when he taps her for yet another loan.

Movie details

Night and the City

“The inside story of London after dark.”

1950 Drama · Crime 1h 35m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.5 / 10

Community rating

Londoner Harry Fabian is a second-rate con man looking for an angle. After years of putting up with Harry's schemes, his girlfriend, Mary, becomes fed up when he taps her for yet another loan.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Night and the City?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Alex is going through a midlife crisis and it has become a very difficult time for him. His marriage is struggling, he's worried about his son, and his job of killing people for his family has become the most stressful part of his life. He seeks the help of a therapist and meets a woman in the waiting room that he connects with.

True Believer

True Believer

Crime · 1989

Eddie Dodd is a burnt out former civil rights lawyer who now specializes in defending drug dealers. Roger Baron, newly graduated from law school, has followed Eddie's great cases and now wants to learn at his feet. With Roger's idealistic prodding, Eddie reluctantly takes on a case of a young Korean man who, according to his mother, has been in jail for eight years for a murder he didn't commit.

Salvable

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Crime · 2025

When a battered boxer past his prime finds his dreams and his relationships on the ropes, he falls back in with a dangerous crowd and has to take the biggest swing of his life to reclaim his hope and his family.

The Most Hated Woman in America

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Layer Cake

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Jules Dassin

Written by

Jo Eisinger · Austin Dempster · William E. Watts

Richard Widmark

Richard Widmark

Harry Fabian

F

Francis L. Sullivan

Philip Nosseross

Gene Tierney

Gene Tierney

Mary Bristol

Googie Withers

Googie Withers

Helen Nosseross

Stanislaus Zbyszko

Stanislaus Zbyszko

Gregorius

Herbert Lom

Herbert Lom

Kristo

Hugh Marlowe

Hugh Marlowe

Adam Dunn

Court is in session

Put Night and the City on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.