SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

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Highly Overrated But Still Good

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

While the City Sleeps is more of a thorough and thought-provoking social study than a genuine noir film. Although it features an intense manhunt for the serial killer, who runs around town killing innocent girl without a known motive, it's only a mean to and end in all this provocative intrigue. Still, apart from that macabre theme, the film concentrates mostly on its character-driven narrative, presenting an ongoing war, so to say, between the people who take part in this ingeniously allegorical story of media manipulation.It's a great example of how selfishness and greed guides our behavior, as we constantly struggle in order to stay ahead of the competition.When Amos Kyne (Robert Warwick), a respected media mogul, dies and his haughty and incompetent son (Vincent Price) takes over the empire all hell breaks loose. For his own great amusement, he decides to play a little game with the three divisions of the company, creating an enormously competitive and stressful atmosphere in the building. Being a lazy ne'er do well, he proclaims that whoever gets the scoop on the hot serial-murderer topic wins it all and becomes the head of the corporation. As the race begins, the competitors refer to many mischievous methods in order to gain advantage. In the middle of the fight between the three potential candidates - main editor Griffith (George Sanders), wire service director Loving (Thomas Mitchell), photo chief Kritzer (James Craig) - there is an aspiring, hot-headed reporter named Edward Mobley (Dana Andrews). Being associated with Griffith, he finds the whole idea of a race ridiculous, but he's sure as hell that he wants to be the first to catch the killer just to satisfy his ego and prove his skillfulness. Mobley is gradually starting to uncover the whole mysterious and gritty affair, and while he does so, he only infuriates other sides. Through a many hit-and-miss trials, 'The Lipstick Killer' is feeling more pressure to commit crimes every day. Mobley, using his enormous deductive abilities, and basing his assumptions on smart psychological factors, becomes entangled into the murderous rampage, as his loving fiancée becomes the killer's object of interest.With the most climatic and riveting finale, While the City Sleeps is Fritz Lang's most dazzling newspaper crime-drama. It presents a suspenseful story filled with violent imagery, fast-paced and right-on-spot dialogues, and many amazing performances from the stellar cast. Its social- criticism values are indisputable, and so is the fresh take on the topic of a dominant mother- figure, so frequently used as the killer's motive in many forthcoming pictures.

'While The City Sleeps' is a tale about nocturnal goings-on and those who engage in them. In this case, villains, cops & journalists. The villain in question is a serial killer. Dana Andrews plays a star investigative reporter at a paper with executive power struggles.There's plenty of American stalwarts of the day, including its director, but the movie never generates much momentum. Lang seemed to be making a point about the interaction between the three branches of life. As a result, presentation is piecemeal and priorities seem a little confused. We focus on the petty rivalries of those at the paper, whilst some villain is murdering lonely women. A great deal of time is spent following Andrews' character's turbulent love-life. This would be fine if the movie was a romantic comedy of manners, but it tends to eclipse the stalking beast and his terrible crimes. Likewise the squabbling over promotion amongst his colleagues.All the threads rub along together. there's almost no developing tension. Only when the stalker goes after Andrews' fiancée do things move up a gear. But he's caught after a pretty formulaic chase. Then we're back to the office squabbles again.It's often described as a film-noir, but doesn't cut it for me. It's too stagy, filming is unimaginative, the plot is too predictable, the action too stilted and even the script is only average. Chandler it ain't.Worth a watch if there's nothing else to do, but it's just a pot-boiler, and certainly no classic.

Fritz Lang's personal favorite of all his films is, unfortunately, not his best, but he adds a cynical twist to the familiar story of a psychopath pursued by a headline-hungry press by showing more sympathy for the Freudian torments of the killer than for the scheming newsmen out to apprehend him. No one is completely innocent, least of all the supposedly white-hatted journalists, who would rather compete for personal kudos than bring a serial killer to justice: sharks in a feeding frenzy exhibit better ethics. Goodness prevails, in the guise of square-jawed hero Dana Andrews, but the film is sparked more by the presence of Vincent Price as the Machiavellian, milquetoast media tycoon who exploits 'the lipstick murders', and by Ida Lupino as a gossip column queen willing to sell her soul to the highest bidder. The actress couldn't have had much choice about her role: in film noir women were usually relegated to playing good girls or tough cookies, and the former position was already filled.

Fritz Lang's Hollywood career was almost ending in 1956. His choice to direct this film will baffle anyone that has followed the master's career from his early days in Germany. The picture marked almost the end of his involvement in the American cinema for he only directed "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt" after this one, then left for Germany.The film combines two subjects that were close to Mr. Lang's heart, crime, and the way he perceived the empowerment of the news media in the country. We suspect the inspiration for this film might have been CBS, one of the most powerful networks in the land, and his star correspondent, Edward R. Morrow, a figure that might have influenced his own take on Edward Mobley, the television newscaster that is the clear favorite of the founder of the empire, Amos Kyne.The film combines the newspaper drama with that of a serial killer, an event that occupies the front page and the leading piece in Mobley's telecast. As Amos Kyne dies, there is a power struggle trying to be selected as the successor to the founder. The weak son of the late Amos Kyne, Walter, is the one to call the shots, as whom will be in charge of the media corporation, while the killer gets involved in the story in curious ways.The film gathered enough talent to make it commercially viable. Dana Andrews, with his good looks, was the perfect choice to play Mobley. The ensemble cast was wonderful because it brought together George Sanders, Thomas Mitchell, Ida Lupino, Vincent Price, Rhonda Fleming, and the menacing John Drew Barrymore Jr. to give the director a satisfying film.The only puzzling sequence involves a supposedly subway chase with a Los Angeles setting, something that clearly did not make much sense for those that realized the conflict of sites.