City That Never Sleeps
Original price was: $24.95.$13.65Current price is: $13.65.
Price: $24.95 - $13.65
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Film Noir veterans John H. Auer (Hell’s Half Acre) and Steve Fisher (I Mobster) directed and wrote this police thriller in the vein of the popular Detective Story of two years earlier. The film juggles around five characters through a particularly bad night in a Chicago police precinct – Johnny Kelly (Gig Young), a stressed out cop ready to crack; Sally “Angel Face” Connors (Mala Powers), a lounge singer looking for a way out; Hayes Stewart (William Talman), a thug-for-hire who’s dying to move up in the syndicate; Penrod Biddel (Edward Arnold), a smooth and corrupt district attorney; and Sgt. Joe (Chill Wills), an honest cop trying to keep Joe on a straight path. Beautiful black-and-white cinematography by John L. Russell (Psycho) and another great bad-girl performance by film noir goddess Marie Windsor (Force of Evil).
Aspect Ratio : 1.37:1
MPAA rating : NR (Not Rated)
Product Dimensions : 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 2.72 ounces
Item model number : 607
Director : John H. Auer
Media Format : Black & White, Multiple Formats, NTSC
Run time : 1 hour and 31 minutes
Release date : April 23, 2013
Actors : Edward Arnold, Gig Young, Mala Powers, Marie Windsor, William Talman
Studio : Olive
ASIN : B00BGARG3C
Writers : Steve Fisher
Number of discs : 1
Best Sellers Rank: #45,537 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV) #2,245 in Mystery & Thrillers (Movies & TV)
Customer Reviews: 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 104 ratings var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
Customers say
Customers praise this film noir for its evocative Chicago cityscape cinematography and compelling plot, with one review noting how it perfectly captures all elements of the genre. They appreciate the leading actors’ performances and find the movie visually appealing, with one highlighting its semi-documentary stylization. Customers find the film entertaining.
7 reviews for City That Never Sleeps
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Original price was: $24.95.$13.65Current price is: $13.65.
William de Lay –
A Very Stylish, Ambitious, And Dynamic Film Noir
I’ve watched this film several times now. It is true that it is very complex in its plotting, and the shadings of good and bad in pretty much all of its characters make for a dense and complicated viewing experience. But after you have seen it all the way through a few times, the whole thing begins to jell, to come together powerfully in your mind. This level of highly ambitious complexity in behavior and motivation is just one of the reasons this great movie deserves its five stars.Like other highly memorable noirs, such as Naked City, Where The Sidewalk Ends, and Deadline At Dawn, you have to watch this film very closely, and keep careful track of all the plot threads as the story-line resolves itself into a simmering mixture of good and bad, of violent climaxes, and also of fate. There is also an existential element in the figure of the “mechanical man”, who peers through a picture window and observes both kindness and greed, folly and remorse, and the full spectrum of human emotion. He is, in fact, the central fulcrum of the movie, since he not only has insight into key characters, but he also occupies a kind of mystical space, where he can peer out and witness all manner of good and evil.All the actors are extremely effective in this film. William Talman brilliantly stands out as a former stage magician who has turned to a life of crime, deceit, and grifting. Marie Windsor, the high priestess of noir, is seductively wily and wicked here. And Gig Young gives a terrific, knockout performance as a world weary, emotionally conflicted, and burned out cop. But the whole cast is quite good, including Edward Arnold as the slickly smooth and corrupt attorney.The direction and cinematography are top notch. The skillful use of saturated blacks and grays gives this gritty film a great deal of somber menace. And the archival visuals of a Chicago pulsating with life are delightful to behold.I truly enjoyed how the plot strings came together and resolved themselves. Will Gig Young’s character find redemption? Will his father, the honorable and decent senior cop, put a final flourish on his law enforcement career? Will the “mechanical man” finally find real love, commitment, and the fulfillment of grace? These, and other, life clarifying questions will ultimately be resolved in this superb film.
fischerman –
New York noir comes to Chicago in this gritty crime drama
Maybe somewhere just below or in-between “Night and the City”(1950)and the “Naked City” (1948) falls the “City That Never Sleeps”.And though it lacks the quality script and polished feel of those films it nevertheless delivers the noir goods on that gritty, on-location, and semi-documentary stylization.The on-location shooting gives that wonderful dark underbelly of Chicago realism, a lot of moving camera work and natural lighting add to the gritty B-movie delights.Fans of noir I think will easily soak up the atmospherics and forgive its shortcomings, for “style over substance” often makes a great noir film.As for the film elements, it’s not a restoration, neither picture or audio, as far as I could tell. But it does look way better than when I’ve seen the movie on TV.I actually don’t mind the movie not being a restoration, it only adds to the flavor to keep those film artifacts in there.Fans of “Perry Mason” will also have fun seeing several characters from the show, including the wonderful William Talbot.
Alyce –
Film noir. Takes place in the early 1950’s
I enjoyed this. Comes in clearly and sound is fine. Fun to watch. I remember seeing some of these things, since I am almost 70 now. I like seeing the old buildings, furniture and accessories, etc. I was a baby when this was filmed. But the styles and buildings, and furniture and autos, buses etc, still looked the same and were still around when I was growing up. Movie has a good storyline and an unexpected ending. Basically, it’s about a cop who wants to quit the force…in Chicago. But he decides to stay.
David E. Baldwin –
Chicago Rides Shotgun In My Patrol Car
The most striking thing in this film is John L. Russell’s evocative cinematography of Chicago’s cityscape. This is so overpowering that it threatens to overwhelm character and storytelling. Your initial reaction here is there are too many characters, too many relationships, interrelationships and the film is overplotted. There’s a point, however, in the film where it achieves equillibrium. In my opinion that is when we are introduced to a character named Hayes Stewart played by William Talman who would later be better known as Hamilton Burger on the old “Perry Mason” TV show. On the surface Stewart is a common thug. Talman imbues him with complexities that if you don’t sympathize with him at least there is a glimmer of empathy. Truth be told in the script by Steve Fisher there are shadings of good and bad in all the principal characters whether it be a patrolman (Gig Young) who is contemplating leaving his wife for a showgirl or the unscrupulous lawyer (Edward Arnold) dealing with the duplicities of his trophy wife. The one thing I didn’t buy was the introduction of a supernatural element that to me was an ill fit for the noir trappings. I’ve read the other reviews on this page some more critical than others and even the ones I don’t necessarily agree with have a point. “City That Never Sleeps” is far from a perfect film but one that elicits a reaction so it is worth pursuing.
Ray –
a movie to watch very good
Mr-george-pickford –
good-ok
Western Maven –
Excellent film noir type movie. Fun story with some unexpected twists. Well worth the price.