City of Fear (1959)

Director:

Irving Lerner

Writers:

Steven Ritch (written by) and
Robert Dillon (written by)

Release Date:

February 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

A City in terror... Chills for millions...

Plot:

A vicious killer escapes from San Quentin with a cannister of what he believes to be heroin but is actually a radioactive substance that threatens all Los Angeles.

Plot Keywords:

Cobalt 60 | Escape | Heroin | Panic | Escaped Convict

Cast

Vince Edwards	...	Vince Ryker
Lyle Talbot	...	Chief Jensen
John Archer	...	Lt. Mark Richards
Steven Ritch	...	Dr. John Wallace
Patricia Blair	...	June Marlowe
Kelly Thordsen	...	Detective Sgt. Hank Johnson
Joseph Mell	...	Eddie Crown
Sherwood Price	...	Pete Hallon
Kathie Browne	...	Jeanne (as Cathy Browne)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Larry J. Blake	...	Police Sergeant (uncredited)
Jean Harvey	...	Landlady (uncredited)
Michael Mark	...	Restaurant Proprietor (uncredited)

Directed by
Irving Lerner

Writing credits
Steven Ritch		(written by) and
Robert Dillon		(written by)

Produced by
Leon Chooluck	....	producer

Original Music by
Jerry Goldsmith

Cinematography by
Lucien Ballard

Film Editing by
Robert Lawrence

Art Direction by
Jack Poplin

Set Decoration by
Lyle B. Reifsnider

Costume Design by
Norman Martien

Makeup Department
Ted Coodley	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Louis Brandt	....	assistant director

Art Department
Charles Stokes	....	property master

Sound Department
Jack Solomon	....	sound

Music Department
Jerry Goldsmith	....	conductor
John Williams	....	musician (uncredited)

Other crew
Jack Barton	....	title designer
Pat Miller	....	script supervisor
Joe Steinberg	....	dialogue coach

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1959) (USA) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD) (Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics, Vol. 2)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

81 min | West Germany:75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Sound)

Certification:

Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles County, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Towards the end you see a policeman in uniform in front of a door. Look at the holster on the right hip. It is what is called a "clam shell" holster. The holster is cut in half and held together with a spring. To release you put your finger into the holster and into the trigger guard. You push a button and the holster springs open releasing the revolver. The danger is, if you don't push the button, you can't get the revolver out. These are no longer used.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The exact same shots of the policemen surrounding Michael Mark's restaurant are repeated between the time Vince Edwards enters and leaves.

Quotes:

Lt. Mark Richards:Did any of his friends contact you?
Eddie Crown:[Shakes his head] Just his girl once. The reason I remember is because once you've seen her, you've seen her.
[He gives a knowing smile]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Little Nicky (2000)

It's all gone feverish in Los Angeles.

City of Fear is directed by Irving Lerner and stars Vince Edwards, Lyle Talbot, John Archer and Steven Ritch. The latter of which co-wrote the screenplay with Robert Dillon. Music is scored by Jerry Goldsmith and cinematography by Lucien Ballard.

"Last night a convict by the name of Vince Ryker escaped from San Quentin. After stealing what he believed to contain a pound of pure heroin.....does not contain heroin, it contains Cobalt-60 in granular form."

Cheap, compact but very effective B thriller from the tail end of the first noir cycle, City of Fear thrives on sweaty paranoia played out amongst Los Angeles locations. It's a ticking time bomb structure, convict man thinks he has a gold mine in his hands but actually holds something that is killing him by the hour. This lets in the police procedural aspects as the cops and scientists try to locate convict man and his radiation container. Urgent! Not only to save the convicts life, but also the city from probable disaster!

OK, the science does not add up, nor does the fact that convict man never once tries to open the container to inspect his supposed golden haul! But the claustrophobic feel is high and the sense of doom married up to the helplessness of the protagonist, brings it into the noir universe. Ballard photographing is always a plus, though he does not get to show his considerable talents much here, while Goldsmith, in one of his first musical scoring assignments, couples dramatic thrusts with jazzy reflections to great effect. Edwards (Murder by Contract) makes for a good noir loser. 7/10