“Watching Brute Force is a reminder of just how dynamic Dassin could be. From the opening, a wholly rain-soaked primer of gloom that immediately sets the right mood, to the blazing final climax, he has the viewer pinned inside a well of claustrophobia and hopelessness.” (Brute Force)

“There’s a distinct and real affectation of empathy that Dassin continues to master in this film. He was so adept at forming favorable portrayals of these flawed, demonstrably volatile protagonists that you can’t help but cheer the characters’ potential redemption.” (Thieves’ Highway)

“The double cross is a vital theme in Night and the City. Nearly every character in the film says one thing and does another, usually without a pang of guilt. These are evil people made interesting by compelling performances and brilliant storytelling.” (Night and the City)

“Shrouded in darkness, the four men, including Dassin as an Italian safe cracker, are the epitome of professional efficiency. Dassin the director even teases out the wordless interplay after the heist, knowing he has a riveted audience in the palm of his hand. Later on, when the character Dassin plays is shot on-camera for breaking the rules of informing, it’s impossible not to draw a connection with the blacklist.” (Rififi, from Remembering Two Icons of Film Noir)

“The film may work best as a curiosity to gawk at and a timepiece projected squarely against both whites and blacks of that difficult era. Dassin barks more at philosophy than race. Some of this inevitably dates the movie, even prefiguring the blaxploitation films that would come just a few years later, but there are also striking scenes and encounters, albeit played broadly in typical Dassin fashion, that seem to resonate as loudly today as they would’ve at the time.” (Up Tight)