Jules Dassin

Richard Widmark died last week, and now Jules Dassin is gone. Dassin directed Widmark in one of his best--Night And The City (1950). In fact, with films like that one and The Naked City (1948), Dassin was one of the most promising directors in Hollywood.

But Night And The City turned out to be the last film Dassin made before he was, shamefully, blacklisted. He had been a communist, but that was no reason to force him out of filmmaking.

He didn't make another movie for five years, but when he did, it was his best, Rififi (1955). A French heist film, it set the standard. Particularly notable is the lengthy set-piece, done in almost complete silence, showing the robbery from beginning to end. Dassin also made his acting debut in the film.

He acted with his future wife, Melina Mercouri, in his celebrated (though not by me) Never On Sunday (1960). Topkapi (1964), also starring Mercouri, was much better--another heist film, but almost the exact opposite of Rififi. Where Rififi was dark, quiet and tragic, Topkapi was light, colorful and comic.

Many careers were ruined by the blacklist. It's good to know that some were still able to flower.