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Between 1936 and 1956, during his tenure in America, the German director Fritz Lang made some of the most psychologically astute movies ever to come out of the studio system, often working with the flimsiest of material; pulpish fiction indeed. Most of these films were thrillers, though perhaps only in the most nebulous sense of the term, dealing instead with the psychosis of the killer or, as here, with the iniquitous motives of those on the periphery of the case. 'Plot', in the strictest sense of the term, never really interested Lang, 'the story' as such being secondary to the observational detail and the characterizations. In "While the City Sleeps" the serial killer whom we expect to be at the centre is side-lined to such an extent that catching him is never the focus of attention. He's the 'McGuffin', if you like, for an entirely different movie, one in which the thriller element is dispatched in favour of a study of greed and the relationships, not always savory, between men and women.

The film is set in the world of newspapers and news agencies, so you expect an aura of venality from the outset. Vincent Price is the vain, self-centered scion of a recently deceased magnate who has taken over his father's business and wants someone else to do all the work. So he creates a new executive position then sets three of his top men against each other vying for the job. The one who 'catches' or names the serial killer terrorizing women in New York, gets it.

Like many of Lang's films, "While the City Sleeps" had the tawdry feel of a B-movie. There is a kind of rough urgency to it that a more main-streamed movie might have lacked. (You could say Lang's genius was for making silk purses out of sow's ears). He didn't work with 'stars' but character players. About the biggest name in the movie and the 'star' of the picture is Dana Andrews, (superb, he was a very under-rated actor), as the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who, like many of Lang's characters, is less noble than he first appears. As for the rest, despite there being two Oscar winners in the cast, (George Sanders, one of his poorer performances, and Thomas Mitchell, excellent), they were mainly the stable diet of the B-movie, though that said there is a terrific performance from the under-rated Sally Forrest as Andrews' girl who he is not above using as bait to catch the killer and a typically flamboyant one from Ida Lupino.

After this, Lang was to make only one more film in America before returning to his native Germany, the equally cynical "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt". Indeed it's Lang's cynicism and his critique of American values and mores that set him apart, that put him, like those other European émigrés, Otto Preminger and Douglas Sirk at a critical remove from his American counterparts. In this respect, perhaps, the only American who can be compared to him is Samuel Fuller.

The thing you must know about this film is that the crime drama element is secondary, and the main story is a critique of the media and human behavior. We first get a glimpse of this when before passing away, a media mogul talks about the importance of a free press, but in the next breath talks about how to sensationalize the murder we've just seen in order to strike fear into the public an sell more newspapers. His spoiled son (Vincent Price) then inherits his corporation, and soon pits three employees (George Sanders, Thomas Mitchell, and James Craig) against one another in a competition for a new executive position he's going to create (the one that will do all the work, so that he doesn't have to). We see in this a little comment director Fritz Lang has for inherited wealth as well.

One of the men runs the newspaper, another the wire service, and the third's angle is to take advantage of an affair he's having with the new boss's wife (Rhonda Fleming). The first two men scheme away, determining when to broadcast information and when to hold it for maximum effect (and personal gain). They think about how to add little elements in the story, like referring to one of the victims as "the attractive librarian," in order to titillate readers. They also use personal connections in the police force in order to get direct access to information (and even watch interrogations). It all becomes a bit of a circus, and the tragedy of the murders is lost, which is of course the point.

The main character is another man, a reporter (Dana Andrews) who is not involved directly in the fray, but is doing a lot of the investigation into the murders. He's also involved in a relationship with a woman in the office (Sally Forrest), though their relationship wasn't all that inspiring to me. The real issue, however, is that his actions don't seem all that believable, e.g. Is he really going to speak directly to the killer over the airwaves in the way he does, divulging information like that? Use his fiancée as bait? Swing from getting engaged to immediately carrying on with Ida Lupino when she tempts him? And is the media really going to be tasked with solving the crime, instead of just reporting on it?

I think that to be a satire, it needed to be a little more believable, and I could have used a little bit more of a shift into the darkness of the crime itself. The ending also undermines the film's message, and it reminded me a teeny bit of Otto Preminger's critique of the justice system in 'Anatomy of a Murder' - not immediately obvious that the critique is the main point, and then an ending that seems a little off in tone.

I did like how Lang seemed to enjoy himself thumbing his nose at the production code. The affair between Fleming and Craig is crystal clear, and under the guise of telling her husband she's going to her mother's. Andrews makes it clear to Forrest that he thinks people should "find out" about each other before marriage, and Lupino later quips that all men are polygamists as she flirts with him. Before marveling at his Forrest's nightgown (a "shorty" that "you can see right through") Andrews will also say "Get your things off; it's your wedding day, you want to look nice," which had me chuckling. It makes the fact that the middle-aged married couple (Mitchell and his wife) appearing in separate beds when he's phoned in the middle of the night extra comical, and one can sense Lang was well aware of that.

Lang may have taken joy in all this and the subversive commentary about the wonders of a free press, but it's hard to fathom it being among his personal favorite films he made, particularly given his body of work. It's entertaining enough to watch though.

One of my favorites by Fritz Lang, "While the City Sleeps" is also one of the neglected masterworks of 1950s American cinema, a decade as you may know full of insight and social criticism (e.g. "Ace in the Hole", "Bigger Than Life", "Phenix City Story", etc.) It was Lang's penultimate American film and one of his personal favorites.

The film, a dazzling allegory on media manipulation and modernity may not work on single viewing and perhaps that's why it's so underrated, despite a superb cast: Dana Andrews, George Sanders, Ida Lupino, Vincent Price, Mae Marsh, Rhonda Fleming and John Drew Barrymore(the son of the great John Barrymore).

In discussing the picture, Lang often compared it to his German masterpiece, "M"(1931) and the comparison is not inapt. In "M", Peter Lorre's Hans Beckert terrorizes the whole city and creates a paranoia among its citizens. In "While the City Sleeps", Manners's crimes mainly function as a gimmick for the press to sell papers while the normal life in the city seems to continue. Rather than simply conveying the necessary information in "M", the media here in "While the City Sleeps" (consisting of an interplay between television and newspaper) is much more ironic and cynical: they use Manners and his victims to terrify the public to sell more papers, something that is equally true today as it was back in 1956.

Not to be missed.

An interesting and twisted thriller, being based on "The Bloody Spur" by Charles Einstein. It is an interesting and nice picture , but also lends the story a certain disjointedness in its storytelling. A serial killer known as "The Lipstick Killer" has been killing beautiful women in New York and the new owner (Robert Warwick) of a media company offers a high ranking job to the first of his senior executives who can get the earliest scoops on the case with the editorship of their paper the prize . TV newsman Ed Mobley (Dana Andrews) wants newspaper editor Jon Day Griffith (Thomas Mitchell) to get the job and sets out to help him find the killer. Throughout the film a competition is developed between three journalists (James Craig, Thomas Mitchell, George Sanders) to get the best fron page news. With information from his police contact, he challenges the killer on air, putting both himself and, especially, his own fiancee, Nancy Liggett (Sally Forrest), in danger. Suspense as startling as a strangled scream !. Sensational Lipstick Murderer!. The story of these big-time newspaper people is more sensational than any crime they cover !. It will keep you on the edge of your seat... and your nerves !. Ten top stars!. Ten peak performances ¡, They'd sell out their own mothers! Ask Mother What Sins Are Committed...

Nice and entertaining thriller-plus with the emphasis on the reporters' ruthless methods of gaining information rather than on the killer's motivations. This engaging film contains murder thriller, plot twists , suspense and some far-fetched elements including plausible events. The movie is both a slick, smooth crime yarn and a jaded look at the morals of big-city newspapermen. This is a real critical on the American journalism; as this tale develops, a variety of submerged elements slowly surfaces to make this picture far more one of intrigue. It packs a memorable subway pursuit climax, though suffers only from having too many roles which throws meat to a hungry familiar cast. The movie was adapted from a novel, "The Bloody Spur" by Charles Einstein (1953), which in turn was based on a real murder case that took place in 1946. The picture ¨White the city sleeps¨results to be a classic film (1956) by Fritz Lang, a brilliant and masterly exposition in which Lang gets a first-hand view of the journalistic system, being finely starred by a great star-studded-cast. Acceptable acting from starring Dana Andrews, he is well cast in the impulsive main role, playing a writer who attempts to chase a series killer, while Sally Forrest as his girlfriend, but she seems a little long in the tooth in a role that called for more sparkle. And a good all-star-cast, such as: Rhonda Fleming , George Sanders, Howard Duff, Thomas Mitchell, Vincent Price, John Barrymore Jr, James Craig, Ida Lupino, Mae Marsh, and Robert Warwick.

It displays an adequate and atmospheric musical score by composer Herschel Burke Gilbert. Functional and evocative cinematography in black and white by Ernest Laszlo. This decent motion picture was compellingly directed by Fritz Lang who gets first-hand view of journalism. Here Lang completed 20 memorable years in Hollywood after a distinguished early career in the German cinema that incluyed such classics as Metropolis. Being one of Lang's last Hollywood movies and last big success, it has improved with age, although it still doesn't grip as it should, at times. This great German director Lang made various prestigious silent movies as ¨Metrópolis¨ , ¨Woman in the moon¨ , ¨Doctor Mabuse¨ , ¨Spies¨ , ¨Spiders¨ , ¨Nibelungs¨. And shot other excellent and classic films in all kinds of genres, such as: adventure movie as ¨Moonfleet¨ ; noir films : ¨Beyond a reasonable doubt¨, ¨While city sleeps¨ , ¨The big heat¨ , ¨Clash night¨ ; Drama : ¨Woman in the Window¨ , ¨Human Desire¨ , ¨Scarlet Street¨ , ¨Fury¨ ; Western : ¨Rancho notorious¨ , ¨Western Unión¨ , ¨Revenge of Frank James¨. Rating: 6.5/10. Better than average.

Tugboats scudding down a dark river nudge us urgently into `New York City – Tonight.' Fritz Lang's While The City Sleep opens like an urban legend: A drugstore delivery man (John Barrymore, Jr.) invades an apartment on a quiet street of brownstones and murders a young woman. Scrawled on the wall in lipstick is a cryptic, chilling order – `Ask mother.'

But Lang swiftly shifts registers; the young psycho-killer is but leaven for his loaf. His prime focus proves to be how the search to catch the culprit plays out in the executive suite of a huge media syndicate. Its founder, Amos Kyne (Robert Warwick), rules his empire from a hospital bed in his office; his last order, before his ticker tocks its last, is to label the anonymous Barrymore `the lipstick killer' and play him big. (`Kyne' seems deliberately to evoke another press magnate, Charles Foster Kane, even down to the maps showing his coast-to-coast reach and the encircled `K' logo that could have been ripped off the gates of Xanadu.)

Kyne's power, however, devolves to his pompous, petty son (Vincent Price). Knowing they hold him in contempt, he sets the heads of his various divisions to finding the killer, with a new directorship as the prize. Among the contenders are Thomas Mitchell, editor of the syndicate's flagship newspaper, the Sentinel; George Sanders, chief of its wire service; and James Craig, who runs its photo operation. Above the fray is Pulitzer-Prize winning TV commentator Dana Andrews, whose only ambition is to be left alone to pursue his drinking and his girl (Sally Forrest). Nor are any women eligible for the prize, though Price's trophy wife (Rhonda Fleming) pulls strings on behalf of her lover Craig, while mink-wrapped sob sister Ida Lupino (`Champagne cocktail. Brandy float.') initiates like maneuvers for her squeeze, Sanders.

Indifference to the prize, however, doesn't dampen Andrews' journalistic ardor. Not only does he use his broadcast to bait the `momma's boy' (who watches in his jammies as his mother, Mae Marsh, dotingly dithers around), he sets up Forrest as bait. For all his menace, Barrymore's not the brightest lad in the boroughs, and thus can be excused for mixing up his targets....

With its high-powered (and hammy) cast, its blend of psychopathology and cutthroat corporate culture, While The City Sleeps would end up standing as Lang's last American film but one (the far-fetched Beyond A Reasonable Doubt, also starring Andrews). His following so many plot strands results in a thinning of atmosphere, some fragmentation of focus – there's a buoyancy of tone which was decidedly absent from his other films of the ‘50s, like Clash By Night or The Big Heat or Human Desire. While The City Sleeps tempers hard-core noir with more mainstream motives. It's a slick, entertaining, and at times even scary movie.

Great cast and an interesting premise of the three execs vying for newly created top job by solving and profiting from a rash of serial killings. The flaw with the movie is the character Nancy.

I don't know if the fault is with the actress or the way her character is written but "Nancy" feels like she has been dropped into the movie from a Doris Day film. She even looks like a tiny version of Doris Day. Her playful dialogue with Dana Andrews is completely "off" for this film and their scenes really throw the movie out of sync. Nancy belongs in a romantic comedy. She does not belong in a drama about the media and what the various players will do to get ahead.

Great entertainment for late night viewing, and still making the rounds. This is also one of director Fritz Lang's favorite films and has a lot to recommend. First and foremost is one dynamic cast, especially Vincent Price as the smug, arrogant head of a metropolitan newspaper that is competing with rival papers to get the scoop on a pyscho on the loose, better know as the Lipstick Killer (and well played by young John Drew Barrymore). Strangely, the film received critical reviews through the years, but it has stood the test of time because it may have been ahead of its time in the first place. The story is basically two-fold. First, its a fascinating look at the media and the people, good, bad or indifferent, who bring the story to you. Second, this is a neat little crime thriller, and possibly the first of its kind to zoom in exclusively on a serial killer. An interesting footnote is the big letter "K", which represents the name of the newspaper, was an old prop from CITIZEN KANE! Recommended.

Fritz Lang, who brought us so many marvelous films in the '30s and '40s - Metropolis, M, Fury, Woman in the Window, Scarlett Street etc., by the 1950s was in a decline. With the problems that the studios were having coping with television and the breakup of their monopoly of theaters, no one really wanted to deal with the difficult Lang. Therefore, he was relegated to B movies, some of which, like "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt" are quite impressive.

1956's "While the City Sleeps" is a little less impressive but still highly entertaining. It stars some actors who had either seen better days in film or hadn't moved up the ladder much - Dana Andrews, Ida Lupino, George Sanders, Thomas Mitchell, Vincent Price, Sally Forrest, James Craig, and John Drew Barrymore. It's a '40s cast, and the film, set in New York City, has a '40s feel to it.

Andrews plays a Pulitzer-prize winning writer, Ed Mobley, an Ed Murrow type, who does a television commentary. With the death of the big boss of the media conglomerate - which includes a newspaper, television news, and a wire service - his waste of a son, Walter Kyne, (Price) takes over the company. He sets up a competition among the three heavy-hitters in the company - the newspaper editor John Day Griffith (Mitchell), the head of the wire service, Mark Loving (Sanders) and a news photographer Harry Kritzer (Craig). The first one who solves the "Lipstick Killer" murders wins the job as director of the company.

The black and white cinematography gives "While the City Sleeps" a great atmosphere, and some of the characters are a real hoot, including Lupino, who plays Mildred, a columnist for the paper, and Rhonda Fleming as Kyne's gorgeous wife who is having an affair with one of the contenders, Kritzer. Everyone drinks like a fish at a nearby bar, Mobley gets into trouble with his fiancé Nancy (Forrest) for kissing Mildred in a cab, and Kyne's wife is discovered in flagrante delicto due to a bizarre set of circumstances. Meanwhile, Griffith and Loving fight to be first and can't figure out why Kritzer doesn't seem to be trying very hard. Well, he is, just not at the paper. Nancy is set up (with her permission) as a target for the Lipstick Killer, who uses his delivery job to unlock apartment doors by pushing in the button, and then returns and kills his single female victim.

Though a little slow at times, "While the City Sleeps" is more of a newspaper story than a mystery, so there isn't a lot of suspense or excitement to be had. It's just good, old-fashioned entertainment. Recommended for a very good cast and decent story.

While this is the sort of film that will not appeal to everyone (particularly teens and action film fans), this is a very well made drama from famed director, Fritz Lang. Unfortunately for Lang, his success directing American films was very limited and he eventually moved back to Europe soon after completing WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS. It's a shame, really, because many of his films (such as SCARLET STREET and this one) were darned good films but weren't blockbusters and weren't received too well by the public.

This film stars one of my favorite actors, Dana Andrews, though he is certainly NOT the entire show--as he has many fine supporting actors to make this movie about the future of a media empire quite interesting. Towards the very beginning of the film, the owner of a news wire service, newspaper and TV news empire dies--leaving the future to his ne'er do-well son (Vincent Price). Instead of picking a man to head this organization, he deliberately pushes these men to try to undermine and outdo each other to garner his favor! At the same time, there is a plot involving a serial killer which soon takes up most of the film's focus--particularly Dana Andrews'. How all this is worked out is pretty interesting and seemed pretty realistic. While not a great film, it was very good and is worth your time if you'd like a more cerebral type film as opposed to an action or suspense film (though there is quite a bit of both towards the very end).

This is a movie that should have been much better than it was. When I saw the listing of who was in the cast and when I read a brief synopsis of the story, I expected to be royally entertained with a good suspense filled film. I watched about three-fourths of the movie before I gave up. It is very slow moving with virtually no action and a great excess of talk. The overabundance of sub-plots just adds to the plodding nature of the story.

While the City Sleeps has an interesting premise. A newspaper is taken over by a rather dissolute millionaire who sets three executives scrambling for a big promotion. They all have different angles to get the job, but the main focus is on the attempt to show off their skills by getting the best news on a wanted serial killer.

This is a promising setup for a hard-edged examination of the cynicism of the newspaper industry, but it lacks that hard, cynical edge. The movie doesn't seem to be all that appalled by the actions of its executives nor does one get a real sense of hard men doing anything to get ahead. In other words, this is no Sweet Smell of Success.

The movie also has some pretty dumb plot elements, most notably reporter Andrews absurd plan to catch the killer. Admittedly this is pretty typical of movies of the kind, but that doesn't make it any less stupid. The dialogue is artificial and often a little ridiculous.

On the plus side, the movie has an entertaining adult sensibility. Even though the Hayes code means little is said explicitly, there is a remarkable amount of implied sex in this movie, and the sleaziness of most of its characters is the most interesting aspect of the film. But overall, this is just sort of watchable.

Maybe I was expecting too much from this picture. It's billed as a film noir, but I thought the mood was all wrong for a film noir. More like a melodrama bordering on a drama but for the presence of John Barrymore, Jr. It had a great cast with lots off recognizable names and the director was Fritz Lang.

I just thought it wasn't up to the lofty standard set by Lang in earlier films like 'M" and "The Testament Of Dr. Mabuse", but truth be told, these pictures were made many years before this one. Too much dialogue here, and this picture dearly needed an injection of excitement to break the tedium of the love stories in the sub-plot.

I like Dana Andrews, Thomas Mitchell, George Sanders, et al. A big boost was provided by Ida Lupino, always professional, as a sleep-around newspaper columnist. I also felt Barrymore tended toward ham in his portrayal of the psycho killer. My overall impression is of a master director who was losing his fastball, which is a shame. It could have been so much better.

5/10 - Website no longer prints my star rating.

A serial killer is on the loose leaving the words "Ask Mother" at a crime scene. Sickly media mogul Amos Kyne is taken with the story calling the killer "The Lipstick Killer". Amos dies leaving the company in the hands of his feckless son Walter Kyne (Vincent Price) who assigns the story to the various heads of the media conglomerate. He creates a new title Executive Director to run the whole corporation for him pitting his news teams against each other for the scoop. Mark Loving runs the Kyne news wire service and recruits gossip columnist Mildred Donner (Ida Lupino). On the other team, Jon Day Griffith runs the newspaper New York Sentinel. Edward Mobley (Dana Andrews) is the star TV reporter dating Loving's secretary Nancy Liggett. Mobley insults the killer on the air while announcing his engagement to Nancy to lure the killer out.

For me, there is simply too much going on. The movie starts with a serial killer and I assumed this is a crime drama. Then the newspaper politics and intrigue begin. It's sometimes fun. It's sometimes chaotic. The portrayal of the killer as he listened to Mobley is disappointing. He's not threatening. He's not scary. I would have been more interested in the inter-corporate rivalries if they're not talking about a serial killer. The seriousness of the murders don't match the chaotic fun of the news rivals.

Despite a terrific cast, this film suffers from the real lack of excitement.

It starts out well. The lipstick killer, as he is known, strikes again. This event should have evoked terror in the film. Instead, we go to a publisher who dies and his son, a miscast playboy (Vincent Price) wants to create an executive position. James Craig, Thomas Mitchell and George Sanders vie for the position. You would think that with Craig carrying on with Rhonda Fleming, the wife of Price, that we would have some excitement here. In addition to all this, we have Ida Lupino playing a columnist who seems to be aggressive but her part just seems to fizzle out as the rest of the film.

Even the part dealing with the capture of the serial killer is benign at best.

Based on some actual murders from 1946, according to the trivia section. This cat and mouse chase to catch the murderer story spends almost the equal amount of time on the inner workings of the newspaper copy room. When the son of the owner takes over the paper, he comes up with a contest to find the killer. Whoever finds the killer will get the promotion. Some big names... dana andrews, george sanders, thomas mitchell. Vincent price. Even ida lupino! It's a pretty good story. Kind of like an episode of the lou grant television series, or maybe dragnet. Directed by the amazing fritz lang. He also directed m, metropolis, big heat, blue gardenia. How did lang not get the oscar for any of those films ??

Okay, but not great, drama.

From master crime-drama director Fritz Lang, the movie centres on the machinations and office politics of a media company during a murderer's killing spree.

The crime aspect is good, as you would expect from Lang. He builds the tension well, and keeps you intrigued throughout. Even though the identity of the murderer is revealed fairly early, this does not diminish the suspense.

The office politics side, however, is mostly quite dull. The machinations are hardly that appalling (at least not by today's standards). If Lang was trying to make a point about (the lack of) ethics in the media (or business in general), he missed the mark.

Good performance by Dana Andrews in the lead role. Solid supporting cast.

Media mogul Amos Kyne dies at the inception of a juicy item about a sex killer designated the Lipstick Killer. Amos orders his newspaper chief to hustle all out with that story. Amos's megacorp domain is comprised of a major newspaper, a television station, and a wire news service. It's bequeathed to his singular beneficiary, his pariah son Vincent Price, who hits the ground running to establish that he's not his father's imbecile offspring by devising a new top executive position to act as his man Friday and run the whole enterprise, and grants the candidacy to be among the city editor played with Thomas Mitchell's infectious presence, the head of the wire service played with George Sanders' Transatlantic adaptation of his unabashedly British persona, and the photo editor played with James Craig's old-fashioned American masculinity. The plotting Sanders and the factotum Mitchell egotistically vie for the job and struggle to crack the headline murder case, feeling that the one who solves that case will get the job. At the same time, Craig is having an affair with Walter's eye-popping wife Rhonda Fleming, and hopes to get the job through her seductive wiles. Pulitzer-winning reporter and the station's commentator, played by the always appealing laid-back Dana Andrews, is unwilling to get involved, but after all does and signs on to help his close friend Mitchell.

Fritz Lang's 22nd English-language film, which itself, interestingly, is a conglomeration of film noir, psychological thriller and sociopolitical drama, is a complete observation of the modern media. It applies to a media empire which merges newspapers, wire services, photography and television. All of these come under acute and generally cynical analysis in this film. The utter notion that so many different media are all amalgamated in one company scares this film's forever socially concerned director Fritz Lang, who sees the makings of fascistic tyranny here, something of which his own first-hand experience surely made him particularly wary.

The K symbol that is everywhere in While the City Sleeps as the insignia of a media empire. One recalls that in real life, the CBS eye was part of the first successful corporate logo and corporate identity crusade of any modern corporation. It is intriguing that Lang, with his eye consistently scanning for the cutting edge of communications, would give the media empire in his film such a syndicated characteristic. Real corporate media offices look significantly flashier than the dishwater headquarters of the media in Lang's film.

The media show up in other, more esoteric ways, as well. The bar is rife with photographs, ostensibly of celebrities who've stopped off at it. The photo-viewer maneuvered by Ida Lupino, who plays Sanders' star journalist with detached intensity, evinces Lang's strong interest in new media. Even the car chase at the end of the film involves a car knocking over a mailbox, part of the broadcasting framework of contemporary civilization.

Somehow the killer, who is psychologically troubled and cannot help himself, is treated in a more sensitive depiction than any of the cutthroat newspaper people. He is played by John Drew Barrymore in a vivacious and edgy performance. He is sporadically seen, but with intrigue as we almost always see him alone, and even once at his home with his mother, a wrenchingly sad scene. Even the story's apparently most upright character, Dana Andrews, utilizes his girlfriend to get what he wants, which is not necessarily worlds apart from what Craig's character does. The essence of the story is seen through the glass-walled newspaper offices and all the deceitful day-to-day goings-on there are disclosed, as Lang secures his most severe reckoning on the indiscriminately aggressive newspaper people who could so easily forfeit their dignity for control, fanfare and affluence.

WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS is a film noir-cum-thriller from directorial maestro Fritz Lang, who of course made one of the greatest early serial killer movies in M. Sadly, this is a far cry from that movie, although it still proves worthwhile for fans of both the film noir genre and serial killer movies in general. Lang's directorial style is solid if unspectacular, but what lets this film down a bit is the script.

Now, the serial killer storyline is very good and well handled. John Drew Barrymore is an effectively sleazy villain and you can truly believe the madness in his eyes. The scenes of him stalking and attacking women are as disturbing as you'd want. And the other thriller elements of the plot, including a top chase scene, are expertly staged as you'd expect from Lang.

No, the problem is that to sustain the running time, the scriptwriter all this extra stuff exploring the internal politics of a newspaper office. Thus we get Vincent Price (on admitted top form) as the proprietor, and a bunch of others (including the reliable George Sanders) hot on the story. Dana Andrews's lead sometimes barely gets a look in. I appreciate all the media satire stuff, but it overwhelms the story at times and drags it down to a sluggish pace. Even screen lovelies like Rhonda Fleming and Ida Lupino barely get a look-in. These flaws don't make WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS a bad film, because it's still more than presentable, but it could have been up there with the best of Hitchcock had it focused more on the killer storyline.

I don't think that While the City Sleeps is among Fritz Lang's best, like M or Metropolis. However, despite a rather tepid final chase sequence and Rhonda Fleming coming across as rather bland, it is an interesting film. It looks good, with the cinematography excellent even in the final chase, and the score has some hauntingly atmospheric themes. The dialogue is arch and sharp, with a cynical yet involving tone, and the story even in the more talky moments, and there are many of those, is compelling with some tension. Lang's direction is accomplished as are the cast. Dana Andrews is solid in the lead, while Ida Lupino oozes sex appeal and Vincent Price is wonderfully snide and unprincipled. George Sanders brings an oily if not exactly subtle nature to his role, Thomas Mitchell is again memorable and there is also a menacing performance from John Barrymore. Overall, a solid and interesting film, though not the best work that everybody here has done. 8/10 Bethany Cox