City That Never Sleeps (1953)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

John H. Auer

Writer:

Steve Fisher (written by)

Release Date:

7 August 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 | Dead Woman On Floor | Corruption | 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 (I)

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)

It works, but it's very much an oddity.

Chicago cop Johnny Kelly wants to run away, from his job with the police force, and from his perceived mundane marriage. Hoping to flee Chicago with his stripper girlfriend Angel Face, he keeps putting it off with bouts of cold feet. Then one night when Johnny is assigned a new partner, Angel finally grows tired of false hopes and promises, just as Johnny is tempted by the dark side to finally realise both their dreams, but other factors are heading their way.....

Directed by John H. Auer and starring Gig Young as Kelly, City That Never Sleeps was brought to us out of the low budget Republic Pictures studio. Oddly fusing film-noir with fantastical elements makes for a most intriguing watch, yet it's very much a slog to get to a point where you feel your time has been worth it. But crucially it is worth the wait, lots of character strands all thread together to give us an exciting, and well executed climax, tho the fantastical finish point is something of a head scratcher to me personally. It's a weird film in many ways, and one that probably needs repeat viewings to fully grasp {and appreciate} what the hell is going on with all these characters. The weird feel is emphasised by John L. Russell's {Psycho & The Cabinet of Caligari} grimly lighted photography, who utilises the sparseness of the actual Chicago locations to great effect.

Known to be a favourite film of Martin Scorsese, City That Never Sleeps is actually a little better than it's B movie tagging. But it remains a film that one feels should have been much better. It's alright to fuse more than a couple of genre's, but you have to make it work convincingly within the structure of the plot{s}, and realistically they only just manage to pull it off, courtesy of a fine, if weird, ending. 6/10 but it could go either way upon a further viewing.