In its earlier half-hour series starring James Franciscus "Naked City" was a pretty conventional cop show, but when it was expanded to an hour's length and recast with Paul Burke it became more like an anthology series, with its famous "eight million stories" taking in the ordinary people and eccentric characters of New York City. Gradually it developed a unique tone and style, mixing action with sentiment, humour, and occasional moments of the surreal - how many other cop shows, then or now, would begin an episode with a voice-over meditating on the meaning of the Talmud? These DVDs feature episodes from the hour series, chosen in seemingly random order, a wise move as many of the best episodes came later. Picture quality is excellent, showing the atmospheric New York locations to great advantage. I've bought all the discs released to date and am keenly looking forward to future volumes.
Incredible vintage TV
I cannot praise this late 50's, early 60's series too much. This DVD contains four episodes. By far the best is "A Case Study of Two Savages" starring a young Rip Torn and Tuesday Weld as two hillbillies with virtually no ethics. The acting is superb and heart wrenching. Another episode, "The Night the Saints Lost Their Halos," stars Martin Sheen and a pimply Peter Fonda as two young boys who have tried to rob a store and must pay the messy consequences. Two additional powerful episodes make this a must buy for fans of film noir and gritty reality. The real star, of course, in this tough and totally realistic series filmed on location is a black and white New York City with finned cars, stores, snowy streets and a smoggy skyline vastly different from today's. It is an entrancing step back in history for lovers of New York City and reality TV.
One of the best dramatic series ever made
Like "The Twilight Zone" without the fantasy element, "Naked City" is a superby crafted television series from the golden age. "The Hot Minerva" is a bit too comical for the overall series concept, however "New York to L.A." and "The Nights the Saints Lost Their Halos" are heady stuff, far more thought provoking than the current crop of tv fluff. Observe Frank Sutton and Robert Blake in "NY to LA", this is what dramatic method acting is all about. Like the other fine episodes in the remaining volumes, characters are multi-dimensional, beset with inner conflicts, flaws and ambiguities that make for a top notch series. "Dragnet" had its straight forward good guy vs. bad guy approach but "Naked City" was far more complex and nebulous in its portrayal of the human condition. Let's hope Image Entertainment releases all 99 episodes of this superlative show.
There are eight million stories in the Naked City, and this disc compiles four of them from the ABC police drama that should please vintage TV fans with its gritty stories, noirish photography, and New York locations. The quartet included here is culled from the series' second season (1960-61), which was distinctly different from its 1958-59 debut. Stars John McIntire and James Franciscus were replaced by Paul Burke and Horace McMahon as the lead detectives; the half-hour program had also been expanded to 60 minutes. Untouched, however, were the complex, character-driven scripts, powered by stellar actors and directors. Among those featured on this disc are actors Eli Wallach and Walter Matthau, writers W. R. Burnett (High Sierra) and Stirling Silliphant (also the series'... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Harry Harris - William A. Graham - Lawrence Doheny - Tay Garnett - William Beaudine DVD Release Date: Released the 14 January 2003 Usually ships within 24 hours
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This and the other DVDs of the early 1960s TV show "Naked City" are all excellent.
The New York locales give the episodes a distinct look. It was very nostalgic for me to see what the city that I grew up in and still work in looked like in 1961.
The stories are interesting and unique in that the guest star/criminal is on camera more than the policemen investigating the case.
I especially liked the Walter Matthau episode in which he's kidnapped by a Las Vegas showgirl who threatens to kill him unless he makes good on his promise to marry her. The humor of this situation makes this episode a nice light-hearted change of pace from the other more dramatic and poignant ones that are on this disk, such as the Jack Klugman episode revolving around the kidnapping of a little girl.
After watching both available Naked City (TV) DVDs, I have only one question--where are the rest? Why aren't the other episodes available on DVD? Because, believe me, I and thousands of other Naked City devotees would snap them up.
This particular DVD has my personal favorite, an episode starring a young Robert Duvall as a homicidal maniac holed up in the Bronx. The other has Eli Wallach as a Shakespeare-quoting homicidal cop.
These wee magnificent shows, well-acted and, above all, beautifully written. These DVDs, while free of any frills or features (which would have been nice) are excellent quality. Bring on more! More Info about this DVD Director(s): Harry Harris - William A. Graham - Lawrence Doheny - Tay Garnett - William Beaudine DVD Release Date: Released the 14 January 2003 Usually ships within 24 hours
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The first season of Have Gun--Will Travel makes it easy to see why this Western series was an overnight success. Making its debut on September 14, 1957, the half-hour show ranked no. 4 in the ratings for its entire first season, which ran almost completely uninterrupted (minus a one-week preemption) until June of 1958--a punishing schedule unheard of in present-day television. (It ranked even higher in subsequent seasons, holding the no. 3 spot, behind Gunsmoke and Wagon Train.) Richard Boone was perfectly cast in the lead role of Paladin, a cultured gunslinger whose West Point education, impeccable style, literate sophistication, and distinguished Civil War service made him unique among Western heroes, and the prototype for many dashing figures to follow. Based in... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Richard Boone DVD Release Date: Released the 11 May 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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