Starring
Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders, Ida Lupino, Howard
Duff, Thomas Mitchell, Vincent Price, Sally Forrest, John Drew
Barrymore. Directed by Fritz Lang. (1956/99 min).
So what does happen while the city sleeps? Plenty, and none of it
good...
There's
a serial thrill-killer (John Drew Barrymore) who preys on young women
in their apartments. At the scene of his latest kill, he scrawls a
cryptic message, "Ask mother," on the wall with lipstick, prompting the
press to dub him the Lipstick Killer.
Meanwhile,
Kyne Inc., one of the city's media empires, is thrown into
turmoil after its owner suddenly dies. Kyne's son and heir, Walter (Vincent
Price), is an arrogant douchebag who uses the Lipstick Killer story to
manipulate three of his greedy underlings into competing for second
in command. One newsman who wants no part of this is Edward
Mobley (Dana Andrews), who seems more concerned with
catching the killer than getting a promotion and keeps abreast of the
investigation through a friend on the force, Lt. Kaufman (Howard
Duff).
 |
| Guess who just had six cups of coffee. |
Not
much sleeping gets done in this city (though there's some sleeping
around) as everyone undermines each other's attempts to be promoted,
to the point where the film sometimes plays more like a soap opera
than hardcore film noir. Still, the story and its various subplots
are just interesting enough to keep our attention until this
perpetually perspiring perve strikes again. Good performances help,
of course. Andrews' no-frills acting style serves his
character well, while Rhonda Fleming & Ida Lupino make terrific
temptresses who are as conniving as they are easy on the
eyes. Sally Forrest, on the other hand, is duller than dishwater as Mobley's fiancée, (no wonder Lupino is able to lead him astray).
A
relatively minor late-career directorial effort from the great Fritz
Lang, While the City Sleeps is nevertheless an engaging
potboiler. Though not particularly memorable, it's efficiently-made,
fast-paced and sometimes quite humorous. Calling the film a
timeless classic is a stretch, but it's entertaining in-the-moment and looks great on Blu-Ray.
EXTRA
KIBBLES
TRAILER
KITTY CONSENSUS:
NOT BAD...LIKE CAT CHOW
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