Jules Dassin

Dassin Noir - Three Film Noir Classics By Jules Dassin

Triple bill of film noir features from celebrated director Jules Dassin. 'Brute Force' (1947) stars Burt Lancaster as Joe Collins, an inmate at the tough and overcrowded Westgate Penitentiary, where power-hungry prison guard Captain Munsey (Hume Cronyn) rules with fear and violence. After the suicide of one of the prisoners, prompted by Munsey's sadistic bullying, Joe and his cellmates devise a plan for mutiny and escape.

In 'The Naked City' (1948) homicide detective Dan Muldoon (Barry Fitzgerald), along with his sidekick, Jimmy Halloran (Don Taylor), is assigned to investigate when the dead body of a model is discovered in the bathtub at her Manhattan apartment. Although the case looks at first glance like a suicide, the coroner soon confirms that it is in fact murder, and suspicion falls on various shady characters, all of whom have dubious connections with the dead woman. 'Rififi' (1955) stars Jean Servais as master thief Tony le Stephanois.

Recently released from jail, the ageing Tony is reluctant to return to a life of crime until he discovers that his girlfriend has thrown him over for a rival gangster. He agrees to attempt one last job. Together with three collaborators - young father Jo (Carl Möhner), boisterous Franco-Italian Mario (Robert Manuel) and sentimental Milanese safecracker Cesar (played by the director under the pseudonym of Perlo Vita) - Tony meticulously engineers his biggest heist yet: robbing the most heavily guarded jeweller in Paris.

But when a rival gangster, Pierre Gruter (Marcel Lupovici), finds out about their haul, he stakes a claim to a cut of the take in a most persuasive manner. The film is best known for its celebrated half-hour silent robbery sequence.