While the City Sleeps (1956 film)

Infobox Film
name = While the City Sleeps


caption = Theatrical poster
director = Fritz Lang
producer = Bert E. Friedlob
writer = Story: Charles Einstein Screenplay: Casey Robinson
starring = Dana Andrews
Rhonda Fleming
music = Herschel Burke Gilbert
cinematography = Ernest Laszlo
editing = Gene Fowler Jr.
distributor = RKO Radio Pictures
released = May 16 1956 (U.S.A.)
runtime = 100 minutes
country = United States
language = English
budget =
amg_id = 1:54262
imdb_id = 0049949|

"While the City Sleeps" is a 1956 film noir directed by Fritz Lang. The newspaper drama, written by Casey Robinson was based on "The Bloody Spur" by Charles Einstein. The film features Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders, Howard Duff, and others. [imdb title|id=0049949|title=While the City Sleeps.]

Plot

The film weaves together two stories: a serial killer hunt and the competition for a newspaper's editorship.

Power struggles between executives ensue after the death of media magnate Amos Kyne, who turned over power to his sole heir, his foppish son (Price). He decides, instead of running the newspaper company himself, to let the heads of the three divisions of the newspaper to fight it out for control.
Meanwhile, New York women become the prey of a serial killer. One of the three, newspaper editor John Daily Griffith, has an ally in high-profile reporter Edward Mobley, who is working on the biggest story of the day: "The Lipstick Killer," a serial murder, burglar and sex fiend who is terrorizing the city.

Cast

* Dana Andrews as Edward Mobley
* Rhonda Fleming as Dorothy Kyne
* George Sanders as Mark Loving, KNS Chief
* Howard Duff as Lt. Burt Kaufman
* Thomas Mitchell as John Day Griffith (Sentinel managing editor)
* Vincent Price as Walter Kyne
* Sally Forrest as Nancy Liggett
* John Barrymore Jr. as Robert Manners
* James Craig as "Honest" Harry Kritzer
* Ida Lupino as Mildred Donner
* Robert Warwick as Amos Kyne
* Mae Marsh as Mrs. Manners
* Ralph Peters as Gerald Meade (Sentinel crime reporter)
* Sandy White as Judith Felton
* Larry J. Blake as Tim, Police Desk Sergeant

Critical reception

Film critic Bosley Crowther liked the film, especially the acting wrote, "Since it is full of sound and fury, murder, sacred and profane love and a fair quota of intramural intrigue, a viewer is left wondering if the tycoons of the giant Kyne publishing combine ever bother to cover such mundane stories as the weather. But while this journalistic jamboree is more flamboyant than probable, a tight and sophisticated script by Casey Robinson and a clutch of professional performances make "While the City Sleeps" a diverting and workmanlike fiction." [ [http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9505EFD91E3CE03BBC4F52DFB366838D649EDE Crowther, Bosley] . "The New York Times," film review, May 17, 1956. Last accessed: February 7, 2008.]

"Time Out" film reviews wrote of the film, "Lang makes inspired use of glass-walled offices, where all is seen and nothing revealed, and traces explicit parallels between Andrews and the murderer. Lang's most underrated movie." [ [http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/64488/While_the_City_Sleeps.html "Time Out"] . Film reviews, 2008. Last accessed: February 7, 2008.]

References

External links

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