Dark City [dir. William Dieterle]

Not Alex Proyas' dystopian sci-fi whose themes uncannily predated The Matrix, 1950's Dark City is a post-WW2 crime thriller that introduced Charlton Heston to the big screen (he had done TV work before this, and an experimental 'silent' film of Peer Gynt). While for most other actors to be handed the lead part in their first movie would be surprising, Heston even then exuded the personal charisma that made him a natural choice. The part of a small-time punk that draws a sucker into a card game with his friends (Ed Begley, Jack Webb), who then proceed to squeeze the man dry is somewhat grayer than his more famous roles, but Heston's aura automatically renders it more sympathetic than say a Kirk Douglas or Robert Mitchum would have been in the same role. Lizabeth Scott as the club singer besotted with him is a decent actress but the part is a bore. Almost every scene she has with Heston plays out the same:

Scott: "I love you so much, why can't you leave your dirty business and love me back?"
Heston: "That's the way it is, and I told you so."
Scott: "Oh it's all about you, boo-hoo-hoo" Rinse. Repeat.

Anyhoo, it turns out the man Heston and his pals left out to dry committed suicide and now his angry psychotic elder brother is after their blood. Meanwhile the cops led by Dean Jagger are investigating the growing trail of corpses. There's an interesting "what if" alternate romance with the dead man's wife (Viveca Lindfors) that gets nipped too early in the bud.

Heston makes tormented poses, and talks a little rough to his girl, but the film isn't true blue noir, and gets a not entirely believable happy ending. The long shadow of the war past makes for some interesting plot elements, like Heston's camaraderie with his gang's waterboy - and the film's conscience - Soldier (Harry Morgan, later famous as the TV MASH's Col. Potter). Taken in whole, this Dark City is reasonably engaging, with some interesting chiaroscuro visuals, including the noir genre's favorite Venetian blinds shot (DoP Victor Milner). I do wish they'd avoided the very obvious back projection shots of Heston walking down the main street at the film's beginning, they were distractingly amateurish.