THE NAKED CITY (1948) There are 8 million stories in the naked city. This is one of them

In an era of Hollywood sets and back lots, director Jules Dassin's NAKED CITY was nakedly different and daring – and in fact became the template for the TV cop show genre, starting with its own critically acclaimed TV spinoff in the ‘50s. Shot on Manhattan streets using passersby as extras (sometimes unknowingly), the grittiness and realism are palpable. The story concerns the investigation of the murder of a young woman, and though tame and utterly familiar by today's standards, is absorbing. Barry Fitzgerald and Howard Duff, the leads, are excellent, and are well supported in small, unbilled roles by character actors James Gregory, Molly Picon (a giant of Yiddish theatre), Paul Ford, Arthur O'Connell, and as the beefy villain, Ted de Corsia, a a familiar film noir face. The engaging narration is by writer-producer Mark Hellinger. In 2007, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."