City of Fear

Vince Edwards dominates the screen as Vince Ryker, a hard core criminal who makes a violent escape from prison. On his way out, he snatches a container that he mistakenly assumes to contain heroin, which he hopes to sell for a tidy profit. However, it actually contains "Cobalt 60", a dangerous radioactive substance. Cops played by the likes of Lyle Talbot, John Archer, and Kelly Thordsen have to track Ryker down before he can expose the city of L.A. to this substance. As it happens, any person who comes near the container does become seriously sick.

Movies like "City of Fear" may be what they used to call "programmers", but that doesn't mean that they're devoid of entertainment value. This one is sufficiently enjoyable, with right-to- the-point, no frills filmmaking courtesy of director Irving Lerner and company. Tight pacing results in a movie that runs barely an hour and a quarter. Ryker is definitely an anti hero, to be sure, and Edwards portrays him in an appropriately sneering, punkish manner. But the story (co-written by co-star Steven Ritch, who plays Dr. John Wallace) dares to invite a bit of sympathy for Ryker, as he gets progressively more sickly and doesn't understand why. The rest of the cast is likewise solid: stunning Patricia Blair as Rykers' girl June, Joseph Mell as shoe store owner Eddie Crown, Sherwood Price as creepy Pete Hallon, Kathie Browne as salesgirl Jeanne, and Michael Mark in a cameo as a restaurant proprietor. The viewer can also have fun with the catchy, lively score composed by a young Jerry Goldsmith (in his first feature film credit). Cinematographer Lucien Ballard does excellent work as usual.

"City of Fear" might not be anything "great", but it serves its purpose: it's good, straightforward fun, combining police procedural aspects with potential outbreak chills in a diverting way. Recommended to fans of old black & white crime flicks.

Seven out of 10.

A tawdry low budget pot boiler featuring dynamite performances by Vince Edwards and a similarly game supporting cast. I know Edwards is probably most famous for his heroic Ben Casey role, but he sure chewed up a lot of upholstery in movies like this one and MURDER BY CONTRACT the year before. A lot of the charm comes in watching this police procedural unfold. Lots of seedy low lives generally keep up the off color flavor and the suspense builds nicely over the course of time.

Some of the discussion of radioactivity is dated, but the cannister makes a great macguffin for the gruff talking' square-jawed Men of Law to pursue. It really wouldn't have taken much to raise this from a guilty pleasure and enjoyable cautionary tale to something along the lines of KISS ME DEADLY, but it's almost more quaint to see this mostly forgotten and obscure b-movie in its under-appreciated present form, if you can find it. The last shot of the movie is quite a hoot! Fine, jazzy musical score by a then-very young Jerry Goldsmith.

It's not a classic by any means. But it has its virtues - the black and white cinematography, the great jazzy soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith, and particularly the extensive on-location shooting in and around Los Angeles. There are lots of scenes of 1950s cars cruising the street, store fronts and interiors - more than average, because they're looking for the protagonist. Living in LA, I especially enjoyed that. As for the plot, I've seen three or four similar plotted stories the last year - someone is contagious and threatens the city, or is carrying something radioactive, etc. This one had a slightly less plausible plot line, since the police weren't particularly protective. But I soaked up the ancillary elements - the acting was passable, the camera-work and lighting were above average - and I'm a sucker for the '50s.

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 gets 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 does bring it into the noir universe. Ballard photographing is always a plus, though he does not get to show his considerable talents that 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

Irving Lerner, who worked far less as director than editor and cameraman, has the merit of making the most of a shoestring production with Vince Edwards - never a major star - as the male lead of a cast of otherwise character actors.

Steven Rich and Robert Dilton present a credible script of a prison convict escaping with what he believes to be a cocaine-laden cylinder but which does in fact turn out to be Cobalt radioactive material, which inevitably places in danger the residents of the Californian cities he goes through, mainly Los Angeles.

Vince Edwards convincingly plays Vince Ryker aka Vince Justin as the no-nonsense straight killer who wants a million bucks for the "cocaine" while police are chasing shadows with radiation detectors. Vince, short for Vincent, means victorious, but this triple Vince plays a complete loser.

Though a cheaper production and with production values a few notches beneath 1950's PANIC IN THE STREETS, CITY OF FEAR remains a very watchable film, particularly in these times of Covid and other viruses causing havoc around the globe.

As ever, excellent cinematography by Lucien Ballard. 7/10.