William Dieterle

Williame Dieterle’s Dark City’s standing in film noir lore is generally viewed as mixed at best. It is cited as having a mediocre script but, on the other hand, serving as a welcome introduction for Charlton Heston, who gets his first ever starring role in a motion picture. True enough, the overall plot to Dieterle’s film, conjured by the screenwriting duo of John Meredyth and Larry Marcus, stretches things out a bit too far and for a bit too long, yet there is nonetheless a fair amount to relish in this truly seedy and at times dastardly twisted thriller about a con man with little to no scruples essentially trying to save his own skin and not much else.

There is a salient point to be made about pictures that start off strong yet fail to maintain their initially impressive momentum. The opposite also proves true sometimes, but this second variation makes for a much more satisfying experience. Most would rather have a film require some opening sequences to get really going and then hit its stride until the finish line. A movie that accomplishes the first feat leaves much to be desired, the same of which can be said for William Dieterle’s The Turning Point, an unfortunately fitting title considering that there is indeed a very specific moment at which the film begins to stagnate, finding it very challenging to pick itself before the end credits roll.