While the City Sleeps

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While the City Sleeps

1956

1h 40m

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

91%

Tomatometer

22 Reviews

65%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

A serial killer is on the loose in New York City. Dubbed The Lipstick Killer, he has also strangely become the center of a power struggle between three division chiefs in a media empire. The directive from their inexperienced boss, Walter Kyne (Vincent Price), is simple: Whoever catches the killer gets promoted to executive editor. But newspaper editor John Day Griffith (Thomas Mitchell) has one distinct advantage in the form of crack reporter Edward Mobley (Dana Andrews).

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Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Oct 15, 2014

The story is a cynical twist on Lang's famous M.

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Miranda Kiek

Independent (UK)

Oct 15, 2014

2/5

Although you could run a horse and carriage through the plot, the dialogue isn't bad.

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Variety Staff

Variety

Mar 26, 2009

Plot intricacies are deftly interwoven, with director Fritz Lang doing a topflight job of balancing the ingredients without dragging the pace.

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Joshua Polanski

Midwest Film Journal

Mar 10, 2025

The newsroom and the relationships between the newspaper men and women are the beating heart of While the City Sleeps.

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Nick Rogers

Midwest Film Journal

Nov 1, 2023

3/5

Fritz Lang’s framing of people in places of power also emphasizes the dizzying speed with which they rise, fall or simply burrow deeper into the building’s basement bar. Too bad the initial pulsing, personal urgency leeches as the narrative loses itself.

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André Bazin

L'Obs (France)

Dec 9, 2021

Even when he is reduced to working with scant means or idiotic stories, Lang can create something of substance.

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Bill B

@RT01438538 Feb 7, 2026

Quite a talented cast, but the story seemed like a weak retread of "Executive Suite". It passed the time.

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Robert S

@RT90862380 Mar 30, 2025

What a waste: A great director (Lang) and great actors (Dana Andrews, Ida Lupino, Howard Duff, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders) but a plot so stupid, unbelievable, and disjointed that the movie left me shaking my head. Hard to believe that Lang, who made great movies such as M, Metropolis, and The Big Heat, could make such a clunker.

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Shadowman4710

@RT96537255 Sep 4, 2023

A fairly good crime drama about members of a media conglomerate trying to solve a serial killer's murder spree. Dana Andrews leads a first cast that includes, Rhonda Fleming, Ida Lupino, George Sanders, Vincent Price and Howard Duff. The acting is first rate and the direction is also good. The ending is a little and down right silly in spots but overall, it's a solid thriller.

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Steve D

@RT35616104 Jul 5, 2023

Good idea bad script and characters.

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deke p

@RT96675217 Jan 20, 2022

Newsroom drama, very complex. GREAT CAST. BTW, Howard Duff & Ida Lupino got married 5 years later in 1951. She looked beautiful & sophisticated in this one. Directed by FRITZ LANG! This has been on the tv set Movie Channel often. Saw it again 1.20.2022

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paul d

@PaulusLoZebra Feb 1, 2021

I was a bit underwhelmed by Fritz Lang's While the City Sleeps. It has going for it two very strong and intertwined story lines, one about job competition, human deceit and manipulation, and the other a sordid crime mystery that everyone is trying to solve to help them advance their careers. While it is all highly improbable, these stories raise lots of interesting and important questions about people. But they couldn't overcome for me a rather dull look and feel. Visually it was straightforward and a bit boring, nothing like his top films. Perhaps they need a restored print to do it justice, or maybe Lang was deliberately moving against his signature style and went too far? In terms of the movie's "feel", the underlying cynicism weighs it down, and the "happy" ending was so incongruous that it seemed suspiciously like being a studio requirement. Despite a star-studded cast, only Rhonda Fleming and Howard Duff seemed natural and unmannered.

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Edward Mobley

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Synopsis

A serial killer is on the loose in New York City. Dubbed The Lipstick Killer, he has also strangely become the center of a power struggle between three division chiefs in a media empire. The directive from their inexperienced boss, Walter Kyne (Vincent Price), is simple: Whoever catches the killer gets promoted to executive editor. But newspaper editor John Day Griffith (Thomas Mitchell) has one distinct advantage in the form of crack reporter Edward Mobley (Dana Andrews).

Director: Fritz Lang
Producer: Bert E. Friedlob
Screenwriter: Charles Einstein, Casey Robinson
Distributor: Continental Home Vídeo [br], RKO Radio Pictures, Image Entertainment Inc.
Production Co: RKO Pictures
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 30, 1956, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 30, 2012
Runtime: 1h 40m
Sound Mix: Mono

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