City That Never Sleeps

This article is about a 1953 film. For other uses, see The City That Never Sleeps (disambiguation).

City That Never Sleeps
Theatrical poster
Directed by	John H. Auer
Produced by	John H. Auer
Written by	Steve Fisher
Starring	Gig Young Mala Powers William Talman
Music by	R. Dale Butts
Cinematography	John L. Russell
Editing by	Fred Allen
Distributed by	Republic Pictures Corporation
Release date(s)	August 7, 1953 (United States)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

City That Never Sleeps (1953) is a film noir produced and directed by John H. Auer with cinematography by John L. Russell.^[1]

Plot

Johnny Kelly (Gig Young) is a Chicago cop from a long line of police officers. He's grown tired of the job and his married life. He plans on leaving his wife for exotic dancer Sally "Angel Face" Connors (Mala Powers). When Penrod Biddel (Edward Arnold), a corrupt, powerful attorney, wants him for a job, Johnny is tempted. He needs money in order to get quick money to escape Chicago and start life anew with "Angel Face."

Kelly accepts an assignment to escort a low-life former magician (William Talman) now criminal across the border to Indiana. Not all is what it seems and the more Kelly learns the more he's determined to do right.

Cast

• Gig Young as Johnny Kelly
• Mala Powers as Sally 'Angel Face' Connors
• William Talman as Hayes Stewart
• Edward Arnold as Penrod Biddel
• Chill Wills as Sgt. Joe, the 'Voice of Chicago'
• Marie Windsor as Lydia Biddel
• Paula Raymond as Kathy Kelly
• Otto Hulett as Sgt. John 'Pop' Kelly Sr.
• Wally Cassell as Gregg Warren
• Ron Hagerthy as Stubby Kelly
• James Andelin as Lt. Parker
• Tom Poston as Detective
• Bunny Kacher as Agnes DuBois
• Philip L. Boddy as Maitre d'Hotel
• Thomas Jones as Fancy Dan

Critical reception

Film critic Craig Butler wrote, "City That Never Sleeps is an uneven crime drama, one that contains some enough good elements that it's frustrating the film as a whole is not better. The chief culprit is, as so often, the screenplay, which starts out promisingly. Gig Young's character seems to be one that is fairly complex, a cop who is dissatisfied with his lot in life and could fall prey to temptation. Unfortunately, the character is not developed sufficiently beyond that, which is also the case with the Wally Cassell "mechanical man" character; he, too, shows promise that goes unfulfilled, although the sheer strangeness of his job does fascinate.^[2]

The staff at Variety gave the film a mixed review, and wrote, "Production and direction loses itself occasionally in stretching for mood and nuances, whereas a straightline cops-and-robbers action flavor would have been more appropriate. Same flaw is found in the Steve Fisher screen original...John L. Russell's photography makes okay use of Chicago streets and buildings for the low-key, night-life effect required to back the melodrama.^[3]

See also

• List of American films of 1953

References

1. ^ City That Never Sleeps at the Internet Movie Database.
2. ^ Butler, Craig. Film review at City That Never Sleeps at AllRovi. Last accessed: November 26, 2009.
3. ^ Variety. Film review, August 7, 1953. Last accessed: November 26, 2009.

External links

• City That Never Sleeps at the Internet Movie Database