Cry of the City (1948)

Must See Movie...

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Lieutenants Victor Mature (Candella) and Fred Clark (Collins) get to gangster and cop-killer Richard Conte's (Martin) hospital bedside because they want to bust his backside and get information regarding a couple of crimes. He's not the sort to play ball, though, and gives them the slip. Mature gets on his case despite there being a family friendship.The story seems a little empty and the film never really kicks into gear. The cast are good but the storyline is unrealistic and uninteresting. Family friends take a different life-path - one good and one bad - leading to a showdown in the end. Even the climax is horribly contrived. Nothing very memorable but the cast make it ok for a single viewing to pass some time.

For what seemed the bulk of his career Victor Mature was regarded as something of an acting joke not least by himself and he developed a nice line in self-deprecation. In the nineteen forties however he made a handful of films in which he turned in decent performances - Kiss of Death, Moss Rose, I Wake Up Screaming and this entry, Robert Siodmak's Cry Of The City which co-stars him with Richard Conte in our old chestnut friend, the one about the two guys from the same tough neighbourhood one who takes the easy way out and becomes a hood (see Jimmy Cagney) and one who becomes one of the good guys (see Pat O'Brien). This time around it's Richard Conte who remains a hood and Victor Mature who becomes a cop. Robert Siodmak was, of course, a German émigré who fled from the Nazis, would up in Hollywood and brought with him a highly developed feel for 'noir' and a touch of the expressionism so that his movies were always worth watching. This is no exception and if Fred Clark makes an unlikely cop the Mature-Conte psychological dual more than compensates. Vastly underrated it remains a first-class example of film noir.

Very fine noir. From beginning to end this character driven tale is very well told with some solid performances, dialogue and location shooting. Maybe this lacks a little 'action' but it is gripping and suspenseful in places nevertheless. Everyone is believable, even the kid, and that's a rarity. Richard Conte's performance as the truly ruthless bad guy is quite majestic and Victor Mature, as the ever on his heels good cop, does well to keep up, in both senses of the word. Even the smaller parts are great, including a lovely performance (which I understand was virtually all removed from the US release) from Shelley Winters. It is an almost nothing part and easily cut but she plays the moll so well, with a mixture of caring, humour and concern for her own safety. I was astonished that the several family scenes did not slip into sentimentality and even increased ones general concern for all concerned. Great street scenes, busy ones too and including shots of overhead railway. Really good, attention grabbing noir of the first order.

In New York, when the cop killer Martin Rome (Richard Conte) arrives in the hospital badly wounded, the lawyer W.A. Niles (Berry Kroeger) unsuccessfully tries to convince him to confess the robbery of a collection of jewels and the death of the owner. Along the night, Martin's girlfriend Teena Riconti (Debra Paget) sneaks and visits him. Later Niles threatens Martin telling that he would catch Teena to force her to assume the other crime. When Martin escapes from the hospital, Lieutenant Candella (Victor Mature), who is an old friend of the Rome family, investigates the case and has to chase Martin."Cry of the City" is a moralist police story, with the fight between good, represented by Lt. Candella, and evil, represented by Martin Rome. Both characters have the same origins in the lower class neighborhood, but follow different paths of law: while Candella accepts to earn a low salary and "sleep well at night", the manipulative Martin uses people and prefers to taste the pleasures of life whatever the final price is. Their duel has a predictable and corny conclusion, but the story is engaging and supported by a beautiful black and white cinematography and good acting. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Uma Vida Marcada' ("A Marked Life")