What do you think?
The Naked City: A Screenplay
This is the first film shot by a Hollywood producer to make the island of Manhattan into a film studio. Shot as a semi-documentary at 107 locations throughout the city, Malvin Wald, Albert Maltz, and Jules Dassin skillfully used the city as protagonist and intensified the credibility of the story and its human characters.
Based on unsolved cases he found in New York police files, Malvin Wald’s suspenseful tale of murder, theft, and conspiracy was nominated for an Academy Award as “Best Story” in 1949. (The cinemaphotographer, William Daniels, and the film editor, Paul Weatherwax, won Oscars for their work.) Asked to create a role for James Stewart as the detective, Wald found that the research he had done and his personal knowledge of the detectives and their methods made that impossible. His police lieutenant emerged as a sixty-five-year-old veteran with an Irish brogue, and Barry Fitzgerald was given his now classic role.
The Naked City established a film style that is still used. It was the source of the successful television series of the same title which in turn gave birth to a rash of imitations. Like the previous books in the Screenplay Library series, the script published here is the original shooting script.
Based on unsolved cases he found in New York police files, Malvin Wald’s suspenseful tale of murder, theft, and conspiracy was nominated for an Academy Award as “Best Story” in 1949. (The cinemaphotographer, William Daniels, and the film editor, Paul Weatherwax, won Oscars for their work.) Asked to create a role for James Stewart as the detective, Wald found that the research he had done and his personal knowledge of the detectives and their methods made that impossible. His police lieutenant emerged as a sixty-five-year-old veteran with an Irish brogue, and Barry Fitzgerald was given his now classic role.
The Naked City established a film style that is still used. It was the source of the successful television series of the same title which in turn gave birth to a rash of imitations. Like the previous books in the Screenplay Library series, the script published here is the original shooting script.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 8, 2024
The screenplay to the innovative police investigation film shot entirely on the streets of New York City during 1947, which would later inspire the television series of the same name and endless other reincarnations.
Story revolves around the murder of a young woman and the step-by-step investigation conducted by Lt. Dan Muldoon (Barry Fitzgerald) and his team of detectives.
The film became famous for its stunning black and white photography and dynamic film editing of the locations, winning Academy Awards in both categories.
It was also nominated for Best Motion Story (Marvin Wald) plus citations for Best Written Drama and Best Screenplay Dealing Most Ably with Problems of the American Scene (Albert Maltz & Marvin Wald) by the Screen Writers Guild of America.
"Although it required the reassurances of director Jules Dassin to encourage producer Mark Hellinger to take this unconventional screenplay off his shelf and incur production costs that ran half a million dollars over budget, Hellinger later commented 'That's my celluloid monument to New York. I loved it.'
"The first Hollywood-produced film to use a semi documentary format, the film brought the excitement of New York to the screen with an immediacy never accomplished before. Marvin Wald's intimate knowledge of New York permitted him to use the city as protagonist as well as to intensify the credibility of the story and its characters. A month spent reading the records of unsolved murders in the New York police files and getting to know the homicide detectives and their methods added authenticity to his treatment and helped him avoid the mumbling, bungling stereotype that prevailed in Hollywood at the time."
The role of the detective had been planned for James Stewart, but Wald felt that his police lieutenant was ideal for the sixty-five-year-old veteran with an Irish brogue - Barry Fitzgerald.
Hellinger called upon Albert Maltz ("This Gun for Hire"/ "Destination Tokyo"/ "Pride of the Marines") to turn what he considered a "cockamamy treatment" into a final shooting script.
The screenplay featured in this edition is the original version and includes all added scenes. Also included are selected stills from the film and an afterword by Marvin Wald.
Footnotes:
Producer Mark Hellinger suffered a heart attack at his home while viewing the re-cut of the film and died the following day. He was forty-four.
Screenwriter Albert Maltz became a victim of HUAC - one of the "Hollywood Ten" - imprisoned and blacklisted.
The scourge of the Blacklist forced director Jules Dassin to relocate to England and Europe.
In the TV series, the Fitzgerald character Lt. Dan Muldoon was played by John McIntire until he was killed off in episode 25 of Season One.
Story revolves around the murder of a young woman and the step-by-step investigation conducted by Lt. Dan Muldoon (Barry Fitzgerald) and his team of detectives.
The film became famous for its stunning black and white photography and dynamic film editing of the locations, winning Academy Awards in both categories.
It was also nominated for Best Motion Story (Marvin Wald) plus citations for Best Written Drama and Best Screenplay Dealing Most Ably with Problems of the American Scene (Albert Maltz & Marvin Wald) by the Screen Writers Guild of America.
"Although it required the reassurances of director Jules Dassin to encourage producer Mark Hellinger to take this unconventional screenplay off his shelf and incur production costs that ran half a million dollars over budget, Hellinger later commented 'That's my celluloid monument to New York. I loved it.'
"The first Hollywood-produced film to use a semi documentary format, the film brought the excitement of New York to the screen with an immediacy never accomplished before. Marvin Wald's intimate knowledge of New York permitted him to use the city as protagonist as well as to intensify the credibility of the story and its characters. A month spent reading the records of unsolved murders in the New York police files and getting to know the homicide detectives and their methods added authenticity to his treatment and helped him avoid the mumbling, bungling stereotype that prevailed in Hollywood at the time."
The role of the detective had been planned for James Stewart, but Wald felt that his police lieutenant was ideal for the sixty-five-year-old veteran with an Irish brogue - Barry Fitzgerald.
Hellinger called upon Albert Maltz ("This Gun for Hire"/ "Destination Tokyo"/ "Pride of the Marines") to turn what he considered a "cockamamy treatment" into a final shooting script.
The screenplay featured in this edition is the original version and includes all added scenes. Also included are selected stills from the film and an afterword by Marvin Wald.
Footnotes:
Producer Mark Hellinger suffered a heart attack at his home while viewing the re-cut of the film and died the following day. He was forty-four.
Screenwriter Albert Maltz became a victim of HUAC - one of the "Hollywood Ten" - imprisoned and blacklisted.
The scourge of the Blacklist forced director Jules Dassin to relocate to England and Europe.
In the TV series, the Fitzgerald character Lt. Dan Muldoon was played by John McIntire until he was killed off in episode 25 of Season One.
March 11, 2019
This is always a good story.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews