''Cry of the City'' is a 1948 American

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American '' ...

starring

Victor Mature Victor John Mature (January 29, 1913 – August 4, 1999) was an American stage, film, and television actor who was a leading man in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. His best known film roles include '' One Million B.C.'' (1940), '' My Darli ...

Richard Conte Nicholas Peter Conte (March 24, 1910 – April 15, 1975), known professionally as Richard Conte, was an American actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from the 1940s through 1970s, including '' I'll Cry Tomorrow'', ''Ocean's 11'', and ''Th ...

, and

Shelley Winters Shelley Winters (born Shirley Schrift; August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades. She appeared in numerous films. She won Academy Awards for ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959) and ''A Patch o ...

. Directed by

Robert Siodmak Robert Siodmak (; 8 August 1900 – 10 March 1973) was a German film director who also worked in the United States. He is best remembered as a thriller specialist and for a series of films noirs he made in the 1940s, such as ''The Killers'' (194 ...

, it is based on the novel by Henry Edward Helseth, ''The Chair for Martin Rome''. The screenwriter

Ben Hecht Ben Hecht (; February 28, 1894 – April 18, 1964) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, journalist, and novelist. A successful journalist in his youth, he went on to write 35 books and some of the most enjoyed screenplay ...

worked on the film's script, but is not credited. The film was partly shot on location in New York City. Siodmak later said "I thought it was good but it's not really my kind of film: I hate locations – there's so much you can't control".

Plot

Martin Rome (

), a hardened criminal, is in a hospital room awaiting surgery for wounds he received in a shootout where he killed a police officer. At the hospital, he is visited by members of his family and his girlfriend, Teena Ricante (played by 14-year old Debra Paget), as well as by police detectives Candella (

) and Collins (

Fred Clark Frederick Leonard Clark (March 19, 1914 – December 5, 1968) was an American film and television character actor. Early years Born in Lincoln, California, Clark was the son of Fred Clark Sr. He attended Stanford University with plans to become ...

). The officers question Rome about a jewel robbery and murder, for which another man has already been caught and sentenced to death. Candella especially despises Rome for having turned to crime though they had been childhood friends from the same poor Italian-American neighborhood. Rome is also visited by W.A. Niles (

Berry Kroeger Berry Kroeger (October 16, 1912 – January 4, 1991) was an American film, television and stage actor. Career Kroeger was born in San Antonio, Texas. He got his acting start on radio as an announcer on ''Suspense'' and as an actor, playing fo ...

), a shady lawyer, who attempts to coerce Rome into confessing to the jewel robbery, threatening to harm Teena. Rome reacts by trying to strangle the lawyer. Later, Rome charms his nurse, Miss Pruett (

Betty Garde Katharine Elizabeth Garde (September 19, 1905 – December 25, 1989) was an American stage, radio, film and television actress. Early years Born in Philadelphia, Garde was starring in productions of South Philadelphia's Broadway Players by ...

), into hiding Teena from Niles and the police at her own apartment. After being transferred to the prison's hospital ward, Rome escapes with the help of a

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to ...

(

Walter Baldwin Walter Smith Baldwin Jr. (January 2, 1889 − January 27, 1977) was an American character actor whose career spanned five decades and 150 film and television roles, and numerous stage performances. Baldwin was born in Lima, Ohio, into a theatr ...

). Going to Niles' office to demand money to allow him and Teena to get away, Rome discovers the stolen jewels and makes Niles confess that the woman accomplice in the murder/robbery was a surly, heavy-set masseuse named Rose Givens ( Hope Emerson). When Niles goes for a gun, Rome knifes him to death - the resulting gunshot which accidentally kills Niles' receptionist, Vera, who was listening in the conversation in the outer office - and takes the jewels, concealing them in a locker in a subway station. Rome, feverish and exhausted, goes to his parents' apartment. Although Rome is rejected by his father, his teenage brother Tony ( Tommy Cook) worships him. Their mother tells Rome he must leave, but while she is preparing him some food, Candella shows up. As he is about to search the apartment, Rome appears holding a gun. When Rome escapes, Candella has a talk with Tony, warning him about following in his brother's criminal ways. Rome uses an old girlfriend, Brenda (

), to track down Rose Givens' address, but he is so weak that Brenda gets an unlicensed foreign doctor (

Konstantin Shayne Konstantin Shayne (born Konstantin Veniaminovich Olkenitski; russian: Константин Вениаминович Олькеницкий, November 29, 1888 – November 15, 1974) was a Russian-American actor. Biography Shayne was born in Kh ...

) to attend to him. When Brenda finally drops Rome off at Rose Givens' address, he offers to give Rose the jewels that he took from Niles' office in exchange for "five thousand dollars, a car, a way out of the country and a good night's sleep". At the police station, Candella and Collins question people who might have helped Rome to escape from the prison hospital and after, including the trustee from the prison, the man in charge of the hospital ward, and several unlicensed doctors. One of those doctors is the veterinarian, who confesses to treating the wanted man. Meanwhile, Rose has set out to get money and transportation for Rome, who double-crosses her by telephoning Candella to let him know that he will meet Rose at a subway station where the jewels are stored in a locker. Rome meets Rose first and demands the cash she promised, but she demands to get the jewels first. When the police arrive to take her, she tries to shoot Rome but wounds Candella instead. Candella leaves the hospital where he was being treated to look for Teena, who might lead him to Rome. He discovers that Teena has gone to a church, where Rome meets her. Teena, however, refuses to go away with Rome, and Candella arrives, persuading her to leave the church. As Candella arrests Rome and leads him out of the church, Rome, seeing that Candella is wounded and bleeding and would not be able to keep up to him in a chase, breaks away and runs down the street. Candella fires at the escaping criminal, killing him. Just arriving on the scene, Rome's brother Tony, who could not bring himself to steal money from their mother as Rome had asked, breaks down in tears.

Cast

as Lt. Vittorio Candella *

as Martin Rome *

as Lt. Jim Collins *

as Brenda Martingale *

as Nurse Frances Pruett *

as W. A. Niles * Tommy Cook as Tony Rome * Debra Paget as Teena Ricante * Hope Emerson as Rose Givens *

Roland Winters Roland Winters (born Roland Winternitz; November 22, 1904 – October 22, 1989)DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 287. was an Ame ...

as Ledbetter *

as Orvy *

June Storey Mary June Storey (April 20, 1918 – December 18, 1991) was a Canadian-born American film actress who appeared in 45 films during the 1930s and 1940s. She was leading lady to cowboy singer Gene Autry in 10 films. Early years Storey was bor ...

as Miss Boone *

Tito Vuolo Tito Vuolo (22 March 1893 – 14 September 1962) was an Italian-born American actor, best known for his supporting work playing often stereotypical Italian characters. Prior to his film career, he toured the United States as a stage actor. His wi ...

as Papa Rome *

Mimi Aguglia Mimi Aguglia (21 December 1884 – 31 July 1970) was an Italian actress, born Girolama Aguglia in Palermo, Sicily, while her mother, actress Giuseppina Aguglia, was playing Desdemona in ''Othello''. Biography She was born in the wings of t ...

as Mama Rome *

as Dr. Veroff *

Howard Freeman Howard Freeman (December 9, 1899 – December 11, 1967) was an American actor of the early 20th century, and film and television actor of the 1940s through the 1960s. Biography Freeman was born in Helena, Montana, and began working as ...

as Sullivan * Joan Miller as Vera * Dolores Castle as Rosa *

Kathleen Howard Kathleen Howard (July 27, 1884 – April 15, 1956) was a Canadian-born American opera singer, magazine editor, and character actress from the mid-1930s through the 1940s. Biography Howard was born in Clifton Hill, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Cana ...

as Miss Pruett's Mother

Production

Director Robert Siodmak was loaned from

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...

for this motion picture. Filming took place on location in New York originally under the title ''Law and Martin Rome''.

Reception

At the time the film was released, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' praised ''Cry of the City'' as "taut and grimly realistic". The review praised the performances as "thoroughly effective", and said that "Victor Mature, an actor once suspected of limited talents, turns in a thoroughly satisfying job as the sincere and kindly cop, who not only knows his business but the kind of people he is tracking down". The staff at ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' magazine liked the film and wrote, "The hard-hitting suspense of the chase formula is given topnotch presentation in ''Cry of the City''. It's an exciting motion picture, credibly put together to wring out every bit of strong action and tension inherent in such a plot. Robert Siodmak's penchant for shaping melodramatic excitement that gets through to an audience is realistically carried out in this one". The film has been highly praised by modern critics, and is viewed as an important example of the film noir genre. The ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an engine ...

Film Guide'' praises the realistic look and feel of the city: "Rarely has the cruel, lived-in squalor of the city been presented in such telling detail, both in the vivid portrayal of ghetto life and in the astonishing parade of corruption uncovered in the night (a slug-like shyster; a monstrous, sadistic masseuse; a sleazy refugee abortionist, etc.)".Time Out Film Guide
film review, 2010. Raymond Borde and Etienne Chaumeton writing in ''A Panorama of American Film Noir 1941–1953'' comments that director Siodmak had better noir efforts but the film does have one lasting image, "Siodmak will rediscover neither the brilliance of ''

The Killers The Killers are an American rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After going through a number of short-term bass players and drummers in t ...

'' nor the 'finish' of '' Criss Cross'' in the over-rushed, too uneven, ''Cry of the City'': for all that, one will remember the figure of a forever famished masseuse, a real '

phallic woman In psychoanalysis, phallic woman is a concept to describe a woman with the symbolic attributes of the phallus. More generally, it describes any woman possessing traditionally masculine characteristics. Phallic mother Freud considered that at the ...

' who, with a flick of the wrists, has a 'tough guy' at her mercy". In ''Film Noir: The Dark Side of the Screen'',

Foster Hirsch Foster Hirsch is the author of sixteen books on subjects related to theatre and movies. A native of California, Hirsch received his B.A. from Stanford University, and holds M.F.A, M.A. and PhD degrees from Columbia University. Hirsch joined the E ...

said that Siodmak's characters "are nurtured by their obsessions". The Candella character, "as Colin McArthur notes in ''Underworld USA'', 'hunts his quarry with an almost metaphysical hatred'". Hirsch describes Rome's innocence in the jewel robbery, despite his criminal background, as an "ironic variation on the wrong man theme" of some film noir movies. "Branded for a crime he did not commit, the Conte character becomes a true criminal, enmeshed in a web from which there is no escape".

Soundtrack

The musical score of the film is

Alfred Newman Alfred Newman (March 17, 1900 – February 17, 1970) was an American composer, arranger, and conductor of film music. From his start as a music prodigy, he came to be regarded as a respected figure in the history of film music. He won nine Aca ...

's ''Street Scene'', which had debuted in a 1931 movie of the same name and became iconic in big-city gangster pictures produced during that era.

References

Bibliography

* ''A Panorama of American Film Noir 1941–1953'' by Raymond Borde and Etienne Chaumeton * ''Film Noir: The Dark Side of the Screen'' by

(Da Capo Press, 1983)

Notes

External links

* * * * * {{Robert Siodmak 1948 films 1948 crime drama films American crime drama films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films Film noir Films set in the 1930s Films set in the 1940s Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City 20th Century Fox films Films directed by Robert Siodmak Films with screenplays by Ben Hecht Films scored by Alfred Newman Films produced by Sol C. Siegel 1940s American films