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

Vito Scotti's first film.

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Goofs

The doctor that illegally treated Martin Rome (Richard Conte) was implicated by being paid in cash, in money reportedly taken from the lawyer Niles' safe. However Rome only finds jewelry and documents in Niles' safe, while emptying it.

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Quotes

Martin Rome: I had enough of that when I'm a kid. Crummy tenements, no food, no clothes.
Lt. Candella: Oh, save it for the jury, Marty. Who do you think you're kidding? l was brought up in the district too. I've heard that dialogue from you poolroom hotshots ever since l was ten years old. Get hip... only suckers work... don't be a square... stay with the smart money. Let the old man get the calluses digging the ditches. No food... no clothes... crummy tenements. You're breaking my heart, Marty.

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Connections

Referenced in Film 2017: Episode dated 12 November 2014 (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

Charismatic and fascinating villain

Had Cry Of The City been done at Warner Brothers in the Thirties this would have been perfect material for a James Cagney/Pat O'Brien film with the story of two childhood friends, one who goes into the police force and one who goes into a life of crime. Of course they would have to have been Irish because neither Cagney or O'Brien would have made convincing Italian protagonists as Cry Of The City has in its leads.

And the leads are Victor Mature and Richard Conte. Mature is good as the upright cop who makes it personal to go after Richard Conte who has now committed the ultimate sin, he's killed a cop. But like a film a year earlier for Mature, Kiss Of Death, the film is dominated by Richard Conte who plays a charismatic and fascinating villain just as Richard Widmark did in Kiss Of Death.

Unlike Widmark who is a loner, Conte is charming and is ruthless in his use of that charm. The film opens with him seriously wounded after shooting a police officer. But he recovers and is in a prison hospital awaiting trial. It's the death penalty for sure, but Conte does in fact charm his way into an escape (I won't say how) and from then on because of his wound has to rely on a lot of help including his own family.

Some other standout performances including an old girl friend, Shelley Winters whom he has obtain an unlicensed physician to tend him. Hope Emerson who is as evil as she was as the prison matron in Caged, plays a masseuse who Conte uses to obtain traveling money as the woman is quite mobbed up. Tommy Cook plays Conte's hero worshiping younger brother who realizes just how much he and the family were being used in the climax.

Most of all there's Berry Kroeger who plays one of his usual slime ball characters as a criminal attorney who indulges in a bit of criminality himself most discreetly behind the scenes. Kroeger split parts like that with George MacReady back in the day and is always fascinating to watch.

Most of all there is Richard Conte who should have merited Oscar consideration in one of his best screen performances.