Wallis Mints Another Melodrama --- and a New Star

Dark City (1950) Noir Introduces Charlton Heston

Another fine Hal Wallis noir, and the H'wood debut of Charlton Heston. Both recommend Dark City highly, as does fact of its availability on Blu-Ray from Olive. Wallis had a postwar way with guilt and psychological themes. He said later that greed drove characters in Paramount released thrillers bearing Wallis trademark. He rode herd on every inch director William Dieterle shot, auteurism checked at this producer's door. Dark City turned up again in 1968 as Five Card Stud, Wallis mindful still of the good yarn it was (there are different story/screenplay credits, but it's the identical set-up). Heston was a sure screen thing, Wallis knowing he had the goods soon as the young actor walked through his door. Dark City Chuck is dynamic, his line reads just offbeat enough to stick in memory. A support cast is as able: Jack Webb a surly hood, Ed Begley drunken and doomed, Don DeFore similarly so, with Lizabeth Scott on fading side of stardom, while Viveca Lindfors channels Ingrid Bergman to startling degree. DeFore and Scott were part of Wallis stable, latter a known, and oft-successful, starmaker. Dark City was network run on 2/11/67 by NBC, one of several Hal Wallis properties that were late premiering on TV, but made a big impression (at least on me) when they finally did.