Cry of the City (1948)

Police Lieut. Candella, longtime friend of the Rome family, walks a tightrope in the case of cop-killer Martin Rome.

Director:

Robert Siodmak

Writers:

Richard Murphy (screenplay), Henry Edward Helseth (novel)

Stars:

Victor Mature, Richard Conte, Fred Clark

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Victor Mature	...	Lt. Candella
Richard Conte	...	Martin Rome
Fred Clark	...	Lt Collins
Shelley Winters	...	Brenda Martingale
Betty Garde	...	Miss Pruett
Berry Kroeger	...	W.A. Niles
Tommy Cook	...	Tony Rome
Debra Paget	...	Teena Riconti
Hope Emerson	...	Rose Given
Roland Winters	...	Ledbetter
Walter Baldwin	...	Orvy
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Martin Begley	...	Bartender (scenes deleted)
Dan Sheridan	...	Detective (as Michael Sheridan)

Storyline

Petty crook and cop-killer Martin Rome, in bad shape from wounds in the hospital prison ward, still refuses to help slimy lawyer Niles clear his client by confessing to another crime. Police Lt. Candella must check Niles' allegation; a friend of the Rome family, he walks a tightrope between sentiment and cynicism. When Martin fears Candella will implicate his girlfriend Teena, he'll do anything to protect her. How many others will he drag down to disaster with him?

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Plot Keywords:

water cooler | city | cry | murder of a policeman | murder of a police officer | 

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Taglines:

Society exacts retribution for defiance of its laws !

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

11 October 1948 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

The Chair for Martin Rome

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Debra Paget's screen debut.

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Goofs

Midway through the film, while Rome is knifing Niles to death, the latter manages to pull a pistol from his desk drawer, but is only able to fire 1 shot through the ceiling; moments later we see Niles' secretary, who was eavesdropping just outside the door, is seen dropping dead, apparently from that bullet.

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Quotes

Martin Rome: Go away. Don't get mixed up in this.
Teena Riconti: Oh Marty. Why did you have to shoot? Why did you kill?

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Connections

Featured in The Drop (2014)

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Soundtracks

I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now
(1909) (uncredited)
Music by Joseph E. Howard and Harold Orlob
Instrumental background music

User Reviews

Same Origins, Different Paths

In New York, when the cop killer Martin Rome (Richard Conte) arrives in the hospital badly wounded, the lawyer W.A. Niles (Berry Kroeger) unsuccessfully tries to convince him to confess the robbery of a collection of jewels and the death of the owner. Along the night, Martin's girlfriend Teena Riconti (Debra Paget) sneaks and visits him. Later Niles threatens Martin telling that he would catch Teena to force her to assume the other crime. When Martin escapes from the hospital, Lieutenant Candella (Victor Mature), who is an old friend of the Rome family, investigates the case and has to chase Martin.

"Cry of the City" is a moralist police story, with the fight between good, represented by Lt. Candella, and evil, represented by Martin Rome. Both characters have the same origins in the lower class neighborhood, but follow different paths of law: while Candella accepts to earn a low salary and "sleep well at night", the manipulative Martin uses people and prefers to taste the pleasures of life whatever the final price is. Their duel has a predictable and corny conclusion, but the story is engaging and supported by a beautiful black and white cinematography and good acting. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Uma Vida Marcada' ("A Marked Life")

Note: On 20 Dec 2018, I saw this film again. Now my vote is eight.