City That Never Sleeps (1953)

Director:

John H. Auer

Writer:

Steve Fisher (written by)

Release Date:

12 June 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

Tagline:

...from the Honky Tonks to the penthouses...the creeps, the hoods, the killers come out to war with the city!

Plot:

During one crowded night, a Chicago cop is tempted into crime.

Plot Keywords:

Stockings | Murder | Beautiful Woman | Dead Woman On Ground | High Heels

Cast

Gig Young	...	Johnny Kelly
Mala Powers	...	Sally 'Angel Face' Connors
William Talman	...	Hayes Stewart
Edward Arnold	...	Penrod Biddel
Chill Wills	...	Sgt. Joe, the 'Voice of Chicago'
Marie Windsor	...	Lydia Biddel
Paula Raymond	...	Kathy Kelly
Otto Hulett	...	Sgt. John 'Pop' Kelly Sr.
Wally Cassell	...	Gregg Warren
Ron Hagerthy	...	Stubby Kelly
James Andelin	...	Lt. Parker
Tom Poston	...	Detective (as Thomas Poston)
Bunny Kacher	...	Agnes DuBois
Philip L. Boddy	...	Maitre d'Hotel
Thomas Jones	...	Fancy Dan

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Norway:16 (1954) | Finland:(Banned) (1954-1958) | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #16316) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Republic Pictures

Quotes:

Sally 'Angel Face' Connors: When I first came to this town I was gonna be - oh, there were a lot of things I was gonna do. Become famous. But Chicago's the big melting pot, and I got melted, but good.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hollywood Ending (2002)

Superior B noir film

This film set in Chicago in 1952 starts ponderously with a voice-over of 'the voice of the city', strangely that of actor Chill Wills (whose voice is more that of a cowpoke or a ranch hand, thus highly unsuitable for this purpose), who then appears in the crime story as a ghostly police sergeant representing the spirit of the city. Really, we could have done without those affectations, and Wills's acting attempts to be mysterious are worse. However, setting all that aside, the rest of the film is a pretty straightforward crime drama which is very good. Gig Young plays a disillusioned policeman vacillating between leaving and staying with his wife and quitting and keeping his job. One wants to kick him so that he stops dithering, but the story requires him to be like that. There are some strong performances: Mala Powers is good as a wild love interest of Young's, Edward Arnold is suave and persuasive as a bent criminal lawyer, Marie Windsor as usual is svelte and corrupt, and William Talman is very effective as a bonkers criminal who wants to shoot everybody, and nearly does. It's all good entertainment, if you look the other way when the pontificating is going on. One needs to take it with a pinch of paprika (the director, John Auer, was Hungarian).