While the City Sleeps (1956)

De gustibus non est disputandum...Taste is not a matter for argument. The great director's next-to-last American-made movie is either a fine example of the man's social criticism or a tedious melodrama. Review "numbers" that we amateur critics have given the film range from a barely watchable 4 to an enthusiastic 10. Talk about a lack of consensus.The twin plot lines concern a fight over management of a news media empire and the hunt for a young male serial murderer of attractive women. The element connecting the two is the contest among executives set up by the callow new owner of the company, the ne'er do well son of the hard-working founder. The "contest" offers the position of second-in-command to the newsman who solves the mystery of the murderer.The newsmen are a mixture of high-mindedness and venality, genuine romance and shabby use of women. I don't have a clue as to the background of my fellow reviewers, so I can't say why some found insightfulness in Lang's portrayal of a modern news media company while others, such as this reviewer, saw nothing beyond the obvious. It was the longer scenes between male and female that proved hardest for me to watch, and not because Lang was making an unpleasant point. To be blunt, the scenes seemed ridiculous. We've all seen films with lots of snappy dialogue between men and women, in which realism takes a back seat to cleverness. There's nothing snappy in these scenes.If one is curious, one might want to watch this movie to see how unfamiliarity with the everyday behavior of people from a different culture than a director's own distorts the director's attempt to produce realistic scenes.

One night in New York City, leather-clad delivery man John Barrymore Jr. (as Robert Manners) bludgeons to death a young woman as she gets into her bathtub. Relax, it occurs off-screen. The perpetrator a mother-fixated "Psycho" serial killer, targeting women who order feminine accessories from the drugstore. The sensational story of "The Lipstick Killer" is circulation gold for newspapers, with occasionally intoxicated "Sentinel" reporter Dana Andrews (as Edward "Ed" Mobley) getting the big scoops. Taking advantage of the situation, media mogul Vincent Price (as Walter Kyne), decides to promote his best worker to a financially rewarding position. Vying for the job are managing editor Thomas Mitchell (as John Day Griffith), wire service head George Sanders (as Mark Loving) and top photographer James Craig (as "Honest" Harry Kritzer)..."While the City Sleeps" boasts a great group of characters, taken from Charles Einstein's original story "The Bloody Spur" and kept lively by Casey Robinson's screenplay. They intertwine well, as directed by Fritz Lang. He moves everyone around multiple sets and a shadowy subway terminal. Sexy female roles go to fashion conscious Ida Lupino (as Mildred Donner), double dipping Rhonda Fleming (as Dorothy Kyne), and tightly attired Sally Forrest (as Nancy Liggett). A weakness is, however, that the "chemistry" between various players doesn't always work; the individual stars seem greater than the sum. The best couple is formed by Ms. Lupino and Mr. Andrews, but sparks aren't often flying like they should. In smaller roles, "silent" film stars Mae Marsh (the killer's mother) and Robert Warwick (the expiring Kyne) are used exceptionally well.******* While the City Sleeps (5/16/56) Fritz Lang ~ Dana Andrews, Thomas Mitchell, John Drew Barrymore, Ida Lupino

Maybe I was expecting too much from this picture. It's billed as a film noir, but I thought the mood was all wrong for a film noir. More like a melodrama bordering on a drama but for the presence of John Barrymore, Jr. It had a great cast with lots off recognizable names and the director was Fritz Lang.I just thought it wasn't up to the lofty standard set by Lang in earlier films like 'M" and "The Testament Of Dr. Mabuse", but truth be told, these pictures were made many years before this one. Too much dialogue here, and this picture dearly needed an injection of excitement to break the tedium of the love stories in the sub-plot.I like Dana Andrews, Thomas Mitchell, George Sanders, et al. A big boost was provided by Ida Lupino, always professional, as a sleep-around newspaper columnist. I also felt Barrymore tended toward ham in his portrayal of the psycho killer. My overall impression is of a master director who was losing his fastball, which is a shame. It could have been so much better.

While the City Sleeps is more of a thorough and thought-provoking social study than a genuine noir film. Although it features an intense manhunt for the serial killer, who runs around town killing innocent girl without a known motive, it's only a mean to and end in all this provocative intrigue. Still, apart from that macabre theme, the film concentrates mostly on its character-driven narrative, presenting an ongoing war, so to say, between the people who take part in this ingeniously allegorical story of media manipulation.It's a great example of how selfishness and greed guides our behavior, as we constantly struggle in order to stay ahead of the competition.When Amos Kyne (Robert Warwick), a respected media mogul, dies and his haughty and incompetent son (Vincent Price) takes over the empire all hell breaks loose. For his own great amusement, he decides to play a little game with the three divisions of the company, creating an enormously competitive and stressful atmosphere in the building. Being a lazy ne'er do well, he proclaims that whoever gets the scoop on the hot serial-murderer topic wins it all and becomes the head of the corporation. As the race begins, the competitors refer to many mischievous methods in order to gain advantage. In the middle of the fight between the three potential candidates - main editor Griffith (George Sanders), wire service director Loving (Thomas Mitchell), photo chief Kritzer (James Craig) - there is an aspiring, hot-headed reporter named Edward Mobley (Dana Andrews). Being associated with Griffith, he finds the whole idea of a race ridiculous, but he's sure as hell that he wants to be the first to catch the killer just to satisfy his ego and prove his skillfulness. Mobley is gradually starting to uncover the whole mysterious and gritty affair, and while he does so, he only infuriates other sides. Through a many hit-and-miss trials, 'The Lipstick Killer' is feeling more pressure to commit crimes every day. Mobley, using his enormous deductive abilities, and basing his assumptions on smart psychological factors, becomes entangled into the murderous rampage, as his loving fiancée becomes the killer's object of interest.With the most climatic and riveting finale, While the City Sleeps is Fritz Lang's most dazzling newspaper crime-drama. It presents a suspenseful story filled with violent imagery, fast-paced and right-on-spot dialogues, and many amazing performances from the stellar cast. Its social- criticism values are indisputable, and so is the fresh take on the topic of a dominant mother- figure, so frequently used as the killer's motive in many forthcoming pictures.