Naked City

This is the best of the realistic cop shows of the late 50's and 60's. Heart-wrenching episodes. Many of these episodes featured the debutes of bit actors who were later to become stars on TV and in the movies...you name 'em, they first appeared in Naked City. The two DVD's that are out (hopefully every one of the three years of the award-winning series will be released in the future) feature Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Sylvia Sidney, Walter Matthau, Eli Wallach, George Marahis and Lois Nettleton. Each of the one-hour episodes (four per DVD) are unforgettable. You'll also love the main characters, Paul Burke and Nancy Malone. If you think NYPD Blue and other dramas are good, you are in for a treat, as this series beats them all. Of course the main star is New York City in the late 1950's-early 60's. Gritty, smoggy, black and white, and absolutely gorgeous. Don't miss these DVD's if you believe in realistic drama and incredible performances by all the actors. (OK, and I don't even do PR for them...so trust me..this series is super!)

Naked City is an anthology series. Its stories are realistic and filled with compassion, pathos and immense human interest. The characters honestly portray the ambitions and emotions of people, rich and poor, living in New York.

The city is as much the star of the show as the actors. Filmed in black and white on location, the show visually captures the New York cityscape in the early 1960's, before the major building boom began.

The excellent cinematography, the forthright performances of the cast and guest performers, and the first-rate writing and direction make Naked City a gem to watch.

Few TV shows in history sustained such a high level of acting, production and writing. Naked City was a showcase for up-and-coming stage actors, such as Robert Duvall, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Ed Asner--the list goes on and on. But leads--Burke, McMahon and Bellaver--were superb. Some episodes were nothing short of breathtaking. A good example is "Hold for Gloria Christmas," starring Burgess Meredith as a Greenwich Village poet. It was filmed entirely in the Village, and the cast included Herschel Bernardi, Eileen Heckhart and--a real treat for theater buffs--a rare appearance by the famed acting teacher and Group theater veteran Sanford Meisner. The best episodes were like that--character studies, filmed in the early Sixties, finely wrought time capsules of a New York that no longer exists.

I highly recommend the 3 DVD box sets that are now available . Each set has 12 episodes exactly how they were first seen on ABC-TV 45 years ago. The location shooting in and around the streets of New York give a great view of the city in the early 60's. They even have included some commercials as an extra added feature that you can watch after you see the 4 episodes on each disk. But the real treat is the stories, many featuring some of the best all-time character actors of TV and Movies. No high tech, no sex, no graphic violence , no dirty words. Just good old-time TV drama, that seems to forgotten in today's lousy free TV with all of those lame reality shows.

Most of the indoor scenes were filmed at old Biograph/Gold Medal Studio the Bronx. The 50's and 60's were a great time for young , talented actors living in New York. Many good TV shows and movies were filmed at the Biograph and Naked City is among the best.

The IMDb lists Paul Frees as the narrator of "Naked City" - the series. But it was my understanding that actor Lawrence Dobkin was the voice behind "There are eight million stories in the Naked City...This has been one of them".

The discs of the show are excellent. You get the rare chance, not only to see some of the talent of yesterday like Roddy MacDowall, Carroll O'Connor, and Maureen Stapleton, but actors doing early roles, some only walk-ons, like Dustin Hoffman as a thief in BAREFOOT ON A BED OF COALS or Peter Falk in a tiny role as a gun man in DEATH OF PRINCES or Gene Hackman as a nervous reporter in PRIME OF LIFE.

The series seemed to be approached by it's writers as New York theater, people talking a bit more emotionally than you would see on LAW AND ORDER. Their characters were delved in, rather than simply being shelved as "good" or "evil" as they do on today's series.

There have been several discs on the show from Image Entertainment and I hope they continue to release them.