S1 Ep. 2: Night and the City (1950; dir. Jules Dassin)
Join hosts Jason, Anthony, and Tim as they discuss Jules Dassin’s 1950 crime film Night and the City, a celebrated film noir picture (and film gris) shot on location in London. Like all of the directors discussed this season, Dassin was blacklisted during the infamous House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) hearings. The director subsequently relocated to Paris, where he made his groundbreaking heist film Rififi (1955), and later settled in Greece, where he lived the rest of his life. Dassin remained embittered about the blacklist and the Second Red Scare and never shied from speaking publicly about it. This history and a thorough analysis of the film are discussed at length in this episode. For further reading about Dassin, and especially his film Rififi, co-host Jason Christian wrote an essay, and it's found here. We hope you enjoy it!