Jules Dassin - The Life and Films

by Peter Shelley

McFarland & Company (series)

This is the first English language study of Jules Dassin (1911-2008), who began as a contract director at MGM in 1941 and earned his reputation with the films noirs Brute Force (1947), The Naked City (1948), Thieves' Highway (1949), and Night and the City (1950). Exiled to Europe after being unofficially blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee, Dassin re-surfaced to direct such popular hits as Rififi (1955), Never on Sunday (1960; he married Melina Mercouri), and Topkapi (1964). After a brief biographical chapter that also covers Dassin's work for the theatre, each of the director's 25 films is given its own chapter analysis, with cast and crew credits, synopsis, release information and reviews.