CRY OF THE CITY
US, 1948, 95 minutes, Black and white.
Victor Mature, Richard Conte, Fred Clark, Shelley Winters, Berry Kroger, Debra Paget, Hope Emerson.
Directed by Robert Siodmak.
Cry of the City was considered a good film noir, tackling contemporary problems in American cities, especially clashes between Italian Americans and the law.
Victor Mature and Richard Conte portray two friends from childhood who grow up, one a policeman (Mature) and the other a criminal (Conte). There is a crooked lawyer and Conte’s character is forced to go out and kill again to protect a young girl, an early role for Debra Paget. The film builds up to an inevitable confrontation between the two men. In the supporting cast is Shelley Winters in an early role as well.
Robert Siodmak had made a number of films in his native Germany and then in France after his leaving Germany with the coming of Hitler. He made quite a number of films in Hollywood, especially in the mid-40s with a number of excellent film noir including The Spiral Staircase, The Killers, The Dark Mirror, Criss Cross, The File on Thelma Jordan. After making The Crimson Pirate in 1952 he went to make films in Germany, returning only rarely to the United States. One of the films he made on a return was a Cinerama, Custer of the West.
A very good film illustrating the style of the times as well as the social issues of the late 40s.
1. How interesting, entertaining? Social criticism? The style of the black and white documentary thrillers of 20th Century Fox? The overall impact?
2. The documentary realism tone and the presentation, black and white photography, musical score, city locations and atmosphere? The black and white of the American city?
3. The portrait of an American city in the forties? The post-war period? The American gangster tradition? The world of the criminals, their crimes, homes? Their hold over one another? The effect of crime on families and friends? Violence, death?
4. The chase and confrontation structure of the film? The focus on Candella and his representing the law? On Rome as the criminal? The cat and mouse strategies? The importance of Tony and his admiration for both men? Tony as a moral focal point for the moral issues?
5. The character of Candella: Victor Mature's style, his explanation of his past, his place in the city and ambitions, his police work and his decision to remain with the police, his astuteness, his running the risk of danger? His powers of persuasion for Martin and for Tony? An a humane policeman? His encounters with the Rome family especially the mother? His being wounded, his achievement in bringing down Rome? A portrait of the admirable policeman of the forties?
6. The contrast with Martin Rome? The criminal type of the city, his arrest, his skill in his escape, his tense character, his hold over his brother, mother, family, the many girls in his life? His mother's reaction? Tony and his hero worship and his ultimate disillusioning his brother?
7. The portrait of the women and the way they were persuaded by Martin?
8. The Italian background and the portrait of the family and the mother and her way of life?
9. The character sketch of Tony, as a potential Candella or potential Martin?
10. The visualizing of crime, themes of responsibility. Consequences, example and hero worship? How satisfying was the resolution of the plot?
