Tales from the Urban Jungle

Double bill of 1940s crime dramas directed by Jules Dassin.

In 'Brute Force' (1947) Burt Lancaster stars as Joe Collins, an inmate at the tough and overcrowded Westgate Penitentiary, where power-hungry prison guard Captain Munsey (Hume Cronyn) rules with fear and violence.

After the suicide of one of the prisoners, prompted by Munsey's sadistic bullying, Joe and his cellmates devise a plan for mutiny and escape.

In 'The Naked City' (1948) homicide detective Dan Muldoon (Barry Fitzgerald) and his sidekick, Jimmy Halloran (Don Taylor), are assigned to investigate when the dead body of a model is discovered in the bathtub at her Manhattan apartment.

Although the case looks like a suicide at first glance, the coroner confirms that it is in fact murder, and suspicion falls on a number of shady characters who have connections with the dead woman.