Naked City (1958–1963)

A crime drama that focused on the lives of the detectives of New York's 65th Precinct. The emphasis in the stories was mostly on real-life crime and the human element. Season one stars were... See full summary »

Stars:

Harry Bellaver, Horace McMahon, Paul Burke

Won 4 Primetime Emmys. Another 2 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Harry Bellaver	...	Det. Frank Arcaro (135 episodes, 1958-1963)
Horace McMahon	...	Lt. Michael 'Mike' Parker (112 episodes, 1958-1963)
Paul Burke	...	Det. Adam Flint (99 episodes, 1960-1963)

Storyline

A crime drama that focused on the lives of the detectives of New York's 65th Precinct. The emphasis in the stories was mostly on real-life crime and the human element. Season one stars were Lt. Dan Muldoon and Det. Jim Halloran; seasons 2-4 stars were Det. Adam Flint and Lt. Mike Parker.

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Plot Keywords:

police

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 September 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Naked City

Filming Locations:

Biograph Studios, Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Screen Gems Television, Shelle Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 30 min (1958-1959) (39 episodes) 60 min (1960-1963) (99 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

John McIntire ("Lt. Dan Muldoon") left the series midway through the first season because, reportedly, he was tired of the New York location filming grind and wanted to return to his home in California. An earlier trivia statement claimed that McIntire couldn't stand working with series star James Franciscus. However, McIntire worked with Franciscus on at least two episodes of Longstreet, including the 1971 television pilot.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[first season only]
Narrator: Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to see "The Naked City." I'm Bert Leonard, the producer. This story was not photographed in a studio. Quite the contrary. The actors played out their roles in the streets and the buildings of New York itself.

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Crazy Credits

On some season 2 (1960-61) episodes, the main guest star was listed before the show's regulars in the opening credits.

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Connections

Spoofed in Everybody Loves It (1964)

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Soundtracks

"This is the Naked City"
(Season 1)
by George Duning and Ned Washington

User Reviews

Question

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.