While the City Sleeps (1956)

Synopsis: WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS is one of Fritz Lang's must successful American movies and a classic of the psychological Noir genre. It is not merely a thriller, but rather a multi-layered vision of the power and problems both of the press and of... WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS is one of Fritz Lang's must successful American movies and a classic of the psychological Noir genre. It is not merely a thriller, but rather a multi-layered vision of the power and problems both of the press and of humanity's all-encompassing greed. The editor of a flailing New York City paper dies just as a series of sex murders sweep the city. His dastardly son (Vincent Price) takes over the paper and pits three rival editors against each other in a contest to see which one of them can crack the case and identify the killer. As the murderer continues to stalk the city's women, the reporters go all out to catch him in hopes of securing the top spot at the newspaper. While several of the editors use their girlfriends to bait the killer, airing taunting television spots attempting to rouse his anger, Lang paints a portrait of professional greed and moral weakness in the face of physical danger. Set both in stark glass-walled newspaper offices and in the dark and dense streets of New York City, the killer's crimes take a back seat to the film's focus on the dog-eat-dog race of the three editors to win the favor of the newspaper's owner. [More]

Starring: Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders, Howard Duff

Starring: Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders, Howard Duff, Sally Forrest, Thomas Mitchell, Vincent Price, Ida Lupino

Director: Fritz Lang

Director: Fritz Lang
Producer: Bert Friedlob
Screenwriter: Casey Robinson
Composer: Herschel Burke Gilbert

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