Night and the City (1950), Jules Dassin, A
Absolutely fantastic. I’m embarrassed that I haven’t seen this movie before. Next to Thieves’ Highway, it may be Dassin’s best film. (His heist pictures are great, but these two are better.)
A nightmare of a story where a devilish but not altogether terrible man tries to make a score for himself and just can’t help but dig himself into a deeper hole. This is the type of movie you watch with knots in your stomach the whole time.
The look is outrageously beautiful, many of the shots are revolutionary for 1950 and there’s a wrestling scene in the middle that makes They Live look tame. Highly recommended.