Review for While the City Sleeps

It's curious that the gap between the greatest silent movies of all time, and the talkies just wasn't that great. But is seems strange relating this US film noir pot-boiler with Fritz Lang, the Auteur responsible for the sheer poetic Germanic brilliance of 'Metropolis' and the 'Dr. Mabuse' movies. Which isn't to say that it's a bad movie (it's not) but rather that it just feels like business pretty much as usual at RKO, with Lang just another in a line of studio Directors of the period.


Once you push that prejudice from your mind, and possibly Fritz Lang too (though the menacing serial killer betrays some of his Directorial brilliance), you'll be able to settle down for what is a fine film of its genre. And to be fair, it was the rise of the Nazi's that drove Lang to the US in the first place. They had asked him to become the 'official film-maker' for the Nazi's and, sensing it was time to go, he declared it a great honour went home and packed and left for the USA. But anyhow - on with the plot.


There's a little bit of everything in here - snappy film noir dialogue, pot-boiling melodrama, romance and sex - and a mother-fixated serial killer on the loose too. So never a dull moment.


The surprisingly wooden Ed Mobley (Dana Andrews) is a television correspondent for the Kyne media empire, and he's doing just fine, with at least one Pulitzer prize under his belt. There are also a few dames around the office who would like to see what else he keeps there. So life is good. Until the head of the empire, a strong moralist and all round good egg, dies mid-way through a discussion with Ed at his bed. Oh dear. Enter the waspish Vincent Price playing Walter Kyne, his conniving playboy son who decides to step in and shake things up.


In the meantime, a young lady has been killed by a black leather-gloved serial killer (which opens the movie) and the young Walter Kyne sees it as a chance to get some salacious headlines, dubbing him 'The Lipstick Killer', against the distaste of the existing crew.


He also decides to play members of the team off against each other to secure their positions, something which only Ed seems capable of riding above.


As a result, Mark Loving (George Sanders), wire-service boss; John Day Griffith (Thomas Mitchell), newspaper editor; and Harry Kritzer (James Craig), head of the photographic bureau - are tasked to e identify killer, in order to become Kyne's executive director.


Griffith enlists Mobley's help as he has a good contact in the Police department, Lieutenant Burt Kaufman (Howard Duff), the detective in charge of the investigation. Their cunning plan is to use Mobley's fiancée, Loving's secretary Nancy Liggett (Sally Forrest), as bait for the killer. Mobley then directly addresses the murderer on his television show (lucky he was watching!) and almost simultaneously announces his engagement to Nancy. He sure now how to treat a dame!


Of course the sub-plots mount too with Loving trying to negotiate a deal with a mid-Western company to ingratiate himself to the young Kyne whilst Kritzer, who is a friend of the young Kyne, but who is having an affair with his attractive young wife, believes that he can win him over with the wife's help.

There is a small twist at the end of the film (which I won't spoil) but justice seems to prevail and everyone who deserves to be happy is allowed to be.

One hilariously dated element is that we learn of the serial killers motive in a scene where he almost strangles his own mother, complaining that he overheard her one day, when he was helping her with her chores as a young child, proclaim that he made a lovely little daughter, because of the nature of the chores - cleaning, ironing and so on. Clearly nothing a self-respecting male would be caught doing in those days without deep questions relating to his sexuality being raised.


There are a bunch of related extras including stills, posters, publicity materials and so on - but no commentary. The picture quality looked very good indeed, despite my review copy being a single layer disc - so expect good things on the commercial release.

For the Fritz Lang completist, this one will fill the gap if not the heart, whilst those who enjoy good period drama with a tough film noir-ish edge will enjoy this tremendously.