User reviews

A 1953 Republic gem and a great noir find. This sort of small black and white drama was actually what finished off Republic as TV shows took up this sort of storyline and style, and the studio didn't adapt. Cop Gig Young and burlesque floozie Mala Powers go adulterous and the realism of the noir photography created on actual Chicago streets allow the viewer to be completely absorbed into their cheap backstreet world. This is such an interesting film, and the low budget actually works in its favour......like Monogram's startling DECOY of 1947. Chill Wills appears as a very special and strange character and I won't spoil who he is at all. A very clever and ultimately quite emotional film from a fascinating period in American Cop-dom: 1953...as LA CONFIDENTIAL proved for that city. Find this and relish it, and thank the crummy world of Republic for making it. As a bonus for all us noir-ees, the sensational Marie Windsor is here as well, by the narrowest of welcome margins.

...is but one of the many elements in this quirky film that makes it SO enjoyable. The plot is complex, but still masterfully laid out, the dialogue is clean and effective, and the imaginative direction, lighting, cinematography and editing clearly place "City" in the ranks of minor classics.

In fact, you are rarely aware that this was a low-budget Republic Studios pic. There's one scene near the end...the standard "calling all cars" scene in the police station, which could have been shot with a single guy at a microphone with a bare wall behind him; instead, we see a bee-hive of activity, with several radio cops reflected in a magical labyrinth of glass panes, with shadowy figures passing through the hallway in back of them. It's seemingly insignificant details such as this that keep "City" bristling with intense visuals and character interplay from beginning to end (yeah, the scene with William Talman breaking into Edward Arnold's office at night could have been edited down to about half its length, and the continually recurring stock footage of the police car's POV while racing past a bunch of 1940's parked cars is pretty comical).

Having a heavyweight actor like Arnold in a pivotal role lends acting "gravitas"; William Talman, an actor I've never really cared for, is superb---subtle, cunning, and ultimately maniacal. The confusion between John Kelly Sr. and Jr. as the tension builds is but one of the masterful plot devices, and the subplot of the Mechanical Man (Wally Cassell) and his dreams of an idyllic life with his lady love amidst the wonders of nature is positively brilliant, as is his change of heart and willingness to sacrifice himself for a noble cause. Cassell's physical skill is as impressive as the emotional sensitivity he brings to the role* And how about mother-in-law's offstage nagging of Gig Young? I found it subtly creepy, almost like mother's voice in PSYCHO.

On top of it all, we have the Chill Wills character; you must decide for yourself if it helps or harms the film; I took it as just another off-beat element in this imaginative story of a single night in Chicago. Who knows?--maybe the whole thing was a bad dream from which Gig Young wakes up at the end.

Only Mala Powers disappoints in her role; she was rather miscast as the tough, world-weary dame, though her more sensitive scenes are fine.

* NOTE - The December 22nd, 1960 episode of TV's June Allyson Show was entitled "SILENT PANIC", and featured HARPO MARX as a deaf-mute who works at Christmastime as a Mechanical Man in a department store window; he also happens to be the only eyewitness to a murder on the street. Sound familiar? Unfortunately, the hour-long show fails miserably to live up to its fascinating premise. But I wonder how many other films, radio shows, stories, etc have used this novel plot device over the years.

Contrary to the croonings of Liza Minnelli and Frank Sinatra, The City That Never Sleeps is not New York, New York but Chicago, Illinois. At least it is in John H. Auer's 1953 movie of that name, sort of a noir-inflected Grand Hotel or Dinner At Eight, that opens and closes with floodlit vistas of the wedding-cake Wrigley Building. Several characters' lives intersect in an urban crime drama that even offers a touch of the fanciful.

Gig Young, at the center, plays a cop who's dissatisfied with his job and with his marriage (his wife, Paula Raymond, makes more money than he does). Off hours, he hangs around a strip club called The Silver Frolics on Wabash Avenue to see, both on stage and backstage, headliner Mala Powers. That relationship is a rocky as his marriage, and she's as unhappy with her lot as he with his (`Whaddaya want me to do? Crawl into a deep freeze?' she taunts him during yet another breakup). Then Young heads to the precinct for the graveyard shift, riding in a prowl car with a new partner he's never met before (Chill Wills, who also plays the unseen `Voice of the City').

During Young's nocturnal tour he meets up again and again with the various players in the plot. There's rich, crooked lawyer Edward Arnold, who blackmails him into burglarizing some incriminating papers; his two-timing wife, Marie Windsor; former magician turned criminal William Talman; his own brother (Ron Hagerthy) who's now Talman's apprentice; his pop (Otto Hulett), a police veteran; and a `mechanical man' (Gregg Warren) who entertains passersby in the Silver Frolics' window.

Some of the ties among the characters are up front, others furtive, to be doled out as the plots thicken. By the end (Poverty Row having learned the lessons MGM taught a couple of decades earlier in the titles cited above), there's tragedy and heartache, reappraisals and reconciliations. There's even a character who vanishes as mysteriously as he materialized – a whiff of the supernatural which curiously fails to leave any influence on the way the stories unfold.

The City That Never Sleeps shows the right breadth for a big, urban story – from Arnold's moderne penthouse to Young's middle-class flat to the raffish alleys running off Wabash Avenue. Director of photography John Russell (later to film Psycho) helps Auer out with some crafty touches (a telephone dial glowing from a flashlight shone upon it comes to mind). It's not a haunting movie, but it's a satisfying one – a title that did Republic Pictures proud.

If you like your mysteries on the strange side, this movie is the one. I keep wondering how they filmed it without any people on the streets. Stock footage to bolster an obviously low budget helps somewhat, but this movie depicts Chicago in the middle of the night, and the only car on the street is the police car occupied by our hero. But this was 1953, so it was a different world at 3:00 a.m. There is a little of "The Asphalt Jungle" in this one--including the crooked lawyer, a pretty woman too evil for comfort, a safe to steal something from and the usual payment at the end. Then there is the twist -- the "ghost" influence -- who is in the middle of the evening's events, and who also narrates. Plus there's a guy portraying a store window mechanical man. Like I said, this is a strange one, but worth a curious look.

Chicago cop Johnny Kelly wants to run away, from his job with the police force, and from his perceived mundane marriage. Hoping to flee Chicago with his stripper girlfriend Angel Face, he keeps putting it off with bouts of cold feet. Then one night when Johnny is assigned a new partner, Angel finally grows tired of false hopes and promises, just as Johnny is tempted by the dark side to finally realise both their dreams, but other factors are heading their way.....

Directed by John H. Auer and starring Gig Young as Kelly, City That Never Sleeps was brought to us out of the low budget Republic Pictures studio. Oddly fusing film-noir with fantastical elements makes for a most intriguing watch, yet it's very much a slog to get to a point where you feel your time has been worth it. But crucially it is worth the wait, lots of character strands all thread together to give us an exciting, and well executed climax, tho the fantastical finish point is something of a head scratcher to me personally. It's a weird film in many ways, and one that probably needs repeat viewings to fully grasp {and appreciate} what the hell is going on with all these characters. The weird feel is emphasised by John L. Russell's {Psycho & The Cabinet of Caligari} grimly lighted photography, who utilises the sparseness of the actual Chicago locations to great effect.

Known to be a favourite film of Martin Scorsese, City That Never Sleeps is actually a little better than it's B movie tagging. But it remains a film that one feels should have been much better. It's alright to fuse more than a couple of genre's, but you have to make it work convincingly within the structure of the plot{s}, and realistically they only just manage to pull it off, courtesy of a fine, if weird, ending. 6/10 but it could go either way upon a further viewing.

Unless you've the skill of an O. Henry, it's pretty ridiculous to talk about the spirit of a city, even as a generalization. But when that "spirit" takes human form and joins the local police force, really it's too much! Whatever induced scriptwriter Steve Fisher to introduce this bizarrely extraneous element into his otherwise tight little tale of the seamier side of Chicago, it was a mistake.

Fortunately, the assignment was handed to John H. Auer, who was most definitely the class director of the Republic stable. The action scenes here are handled with his usual vigorous finesse and there's plenty of excitement. The movie was actually lensed on location in Chicago, the city's streets made forcefully real by John Russell's deft photography.

Gig Young registers okay as the hero, while Chill Wills is saddled with the "spirit". However there are top performances by seasoned players like Edward Arnold, Marie Windsor, William Talman, Paula Raymond, and Wally Cassell as the mechanical man. Mala Powers is suitably cast as "Angel Face".

"City That Never Sleeps" is one of the strangest film noir movies I have seen--mostly because there is a real surreal aspect to the story that you just don't find in other noir pictures. I don't want to tell you more about this...suffice to say that one of the characters is VERY unusual and you learn just how unusual at the close of the movie.

Gig Young plays Johnny Kelly, a disaffected cop who is very unhappy in his marriage and is contemplating running off with his mistress, a stripper, and quitting his job on the force. When you see and hear why Johnny is unhappy, you do feel a bit sorry for him, as his evil mother-in-law lives with them and CONSTANTLY harangues him about his wife earning more than him! Instead of belting the old broad in the mouth (definitely a noir way of handling it) he plans on just leaving...for good. But before he does this he has one more night on the job...and a very eventful night it is. While there is MUCH more to the story and a plot involving William Talman who plays an amazingly cold and vicious killer, I think it's best you just see the film for yourself.

The big reveal at the end will determine whether you like this film or not...see the picture and see what I mean. I'd like to say more...but again, just see it for yourself. And, if you want to see it, it's currently up on YouTube.

In Chicago, the police officer Johnny Kelly (Gig Young) is unhappy with his work that pays low-salary and with his marriage. His wife Kathy Kelly (Paula Raymond) has a better salary and his mother-in-law frequently humiliates him. Johnny was forced by his father Sgt. John 'Pop' Kelly Sr. (Otto Hulett) to join the police, but he intends to quit his job and leave his wife to flee to California with his mistress Sally "Angel Face" Connors (Mala Powers), who dances in a night-club. When Johnny gets cold feet, Sally tells that she will move to California with the small-time actor Gregg Warren (Wally Cassell), who performs a robot in the window of the night-club where she works, and plans a show with her. During the night, the crooked lawyer Penrod Biddel (Edward Arnold) summons Johnny to participate in a scheme to arrest the thief Hayes Stewart (William Talman) and protect his younger brother Stubby Kelly (Ron Hagerthy) that has teamed-up with Hayes. However Biddel is betrayed by his ambitious wife Lydia Biddel (Marie Windsor) along the restless and busy night.

"City That Never Sleeps" is a film-noir with a good story of a cop dissatisfied with his job and wife that has the intention to give up of everything independent of the consequences and go to California with his mistress. The plot has many subplots but the conclusion is moralist and does not fit well to a film-noir. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Cidade Que Não Dorme" ("The City That Never Sleeps")

This film set in Chicago in 1952 starts ponderously with a voice-over of 'the voice of the city', strangely that of actor Chill Wills (whose voice is more that of a cowpoke or a ranch hand, thus highly unsuitable for this purpose), who then appears in the crime story as a ghostly police sergeant representing the spirit of the city. Really, we could have done without those affectations, and Wills's acting attempts to be mysterious are worse. However, setting all that aside, the rest of the film is a pretty straightforward crime drama which is very good. Gig Young plays a disillusioned policeman vacillating between leaving and staying with his wife and quitting and keeping his job. One wants to kick him so that he stops dithering, but the story requires him to be like that. There are some strong performances: Mala Powers is good as a wild love interest of Young's, Edward Arnold is suave and persuasive as a bent criminal lawyer, Marie Windsor as usual is svelte and corrupt, and William Talman is very effective as a bonkers criminal who wants to shoot everybody, and nearly does. It's all good entertainment, if you look the other way when the pontificating is going on. One needs to take it with a pinch of paprika (the director, John Auer, was Hungarian).

I can't wait to see the DVD release of this film with the features and commentary because it is one of those rare Noir films that stay with you. Not so much for the average domestic problems that Gig Young's character displays but more for his relationship with Mala Powers and their great quotable lines:

Sally "Angel Face" Connors, dressed in a stripper's costume to Johnny Kelly- "Come here." Kelly's reply: "I've been there."

And Angel Face's great speech explaining her disillusionment: "I'm sick of this town. I'm with you Johnny. When I first came to this town I was gonna be... oh there were a lotta things I was gonna be- become famous. But Chicago's the big melting pot, and I got melted but good".

And there are also the throw-away lines in the bar: Waitress to Bartender: "Two Old Fashions- no ice, no water, no sugar, no grenadine".

"City That Never Sleeps" has a light step and has so many quirky little characters that you might wonder who the story is about. The film does focus on certain characters to make its point, is sometimes great to look at for its night-lit location photography and has some nice noir humor.

Gig Young has the unflappable charm and bon vivant attitude that almost gets in the way of his disillusioned cop Johnny Kelly. Kelly is the ultimate Everyman who has become a cop because his father wanted him to, and whose wife unwittingly emasculates him because she earns more money that he.

All in all, "City That Never Sleeps" is worth catching for its noir look and some good performances.

There is a group of films that fall within the definition of film noir that also have an unsettling, eerie mood such as "Night Has a Thousand Eyes", "The Seventh Victim", "Nightmare Alley", and this one, "City That Never Sleeps".

The film opens on scenes of Chicago with narration from The Voice of the City (Chill Wills). Although this seems an artificial device at first, the oddness of the story is set up early as the camera pans down to a strange mechanical man in the window of a nightclub.

Johnny Kelly (Gig Young) is a cop from a family of cops, he is embittered with the job and wants out. He is married, but is having an affair with a singer at the nightclub. The action of the movie takes place over the course of one night as Johnny crosses the line, becoming entangled with Penrod Biddle (Edward Arnold) a corrupt lawyer.

Johnny's usual partner for the night is replaced by Sgt. Joe played by Chill Wills - The Voice of the City takes human form. Sgt Joe challenges Johnny's conscience as he strays off the straight and narrow. This, plus the sad mechanical man, take the film into another realm of noir.

Director John H. Auer who seems to have had a list of workmanlike, but pedestrian movies under his belt, really dived into a shadowy and moody world for this film. The city at night is as much a star of the film as the actors with great locations in old warehouses, along menacing railroad tracks and down darkened streets.

Gig Young was always a likable actor whose shocking ending belied his affability. He is fine in this, as are Edward Arnold and William Tallman playing criminals who fall out.

The end result isn't perfect, the final chase, although superbly filmed, goes on just too long, and as was the way with films of the era, characters have quick changes of heart to get the whole thing wrapped up in a few moments before the end titles.

However, this one sticks in the memory and it's that touch of other worldliness throughout the story that does the trick.

CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS tries hard to be a major film noir, and does not quite make it. If THE RACKET had a promising central figure at sixes and sevens with the legal and illegal authorities, but no character development to explain how he got the way he did, CITY tries to be a film noir variant of those films like IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE or AN INSPECTOR CALLS where characters are not quite human, and are intermingling (and bedeviling) humans and their motivations.

We are watching Gig Young, a career cop from a family of cops, who is slowly being corrupted by crooked big - time lawyer Edward Arnold. Young is basically acting like a go-between between Arnold and the police, tipping the lawyer off about current investigations. He does get well paid for this, but he has to deal with Arnold's right hand man William Talman, who is not to be trusted. Young does not like Talman's cultivating Young's younger brother - possibly turning him into a complete criminal. He does not realize that Talman is also working in cahoots with Arnold's trophy wife (Marie Windsor) to get the upper hand over the lawyer. Young's own behavior is not really liked by his father, an honest old style cop who is regarded as a hero by the department.

You can see that the situation is going to lead to disaster. Young is working an evening shift, and his partner is unable to show up. An unknown Police Sergeant (Chill Wills) takes the partner's place, and the two go around the night world of the city. And while they do so, both are unaware of the explosions about to rend apart the worlds of Arnold, Windsor, and Talman - and dragging in Young's younger brother.

Some things to watch in the film: Talman (having shot someone) is aware that the only "witness" is a figure in a window. Is it a mechanical man or a real witness? Talman has to spend hours watching, and to see if the figure remains "mechanical" or not.

See also the sequence where Young chases Talman along a deserted set of elevated train tracks through Chicago. It is a tense and exciting sequence.

Finally, note the appearance (in his first movie role according to this board) of comedian Tom Poston as a police officer, who gets involved in a situation that is far from amusing. It's an odd first role for such a funny figure to have played at all.

The acting in this film is very good. Gig Young gives a fine performance in a very serious, hard-drama role. Talman, Arnold and Marie Windsor demonstrate serious, essential film-noir acting skills. So does Powers but she isn't a dancer that's for sure.

So if you like noir, view "City that Never Sleeps". The cinematography is way above average with deep black and sharp whites, dark alleys with stark lighting and shadows, and some unique camera angles. And I really like the brassy music score and highlights.

One aspect I don't understand is an apparition-like approach to "Naked City" style narration. It fails because ordinary narration would have sufficed. And they used the wrong narrator - hearing Chill Wills carrying on about the "pore and magnif'cent citadel" or being "talented with his fangers" seems more appropriate for a horse opera than noir. However this element is kept to a minimum and thankfully used only sparingly.

On the plus side of experimentation is an intriguing mechanical man character that strangely does work in this noir.

The film's drawbacks are more in the nature of experimentation and uniqueness than ruinous, so I can recommend "City that Never Sleeps" for all noir fans.

An underrated little noir gem is The City That Never Sleeps. Gig Young, of "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" fame is the lead in this solid noir piece with lots of moving parts; just like the robot man in the window. This story of a bored cop who wants out of the force and his marriage is a perfect character for this dark tale, along with other well-formulated characters (my favorite is the magician). A sleazy businessman is going to be blackmailed, and there are a few surprises along the way. Good, sound, noir and recommended.

Having been pressured to follow in his father's footsteps and join the Chicago Police Department, "Johnny Kelly" (Gig Young) has come to despise his current job. Part of that is because he has become insecure over the fact that his wife "Kathy" (Paula Raymond) makes more money than he does. It also doesn't help that his mother-in-law is constantly bringing up that fact either. In any case, he is unhappy in his marriage and he wants out. To that effect, after pondering it over for a while, he decides to simply start all over by quitting his job and running away with his mistress "Sally 'Angel Face' Connors" (Mala Powers) who works as a dancer in a local nightclub. However, his plans are put on hold temporarily when he accepts an offer from a corrupt lawyer named "Penrod Biddel" (Edward Arnold) to do something highly illegal on his last night as a cop. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a peculiar crime-drama which adds a super-natural element into the intricate personal dynamics. In addition to that, it also featured the rather unique character of a mechanical man in a window which was played by Walley Cassell (as "Gregg Warren"). As far as individual performances are concerned, while I liked the acting of Gig Young, I especially enjoyed the performance of "Sergeant Joe" (Chill Wills) who seemed oddly suited for his strange role. Be that as it may, I was pleasantly surprised by this film and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Not to be confused with Fritz Lang's "While the City Sleeps", "City that Never Sleeps" is a first-rate little programmer about a disillusioned cop's plans to ditch his wife and run off with showgirl Mala Powers. The cop is Gig Young, (miscast and not at his best), and the city in question is Chicago and the action takes place over the course of one night. The good supporting cast includes William Talman as a killer, Edward Arnold as a crooked lawyer, Marie Windsor as Arnold's two-timing wife and Chill Wills as Young's slightly out-of-this-world partner. Imaginatively directed by John H. Auer, (whoever he was), and with a good and somewhat unusual plot with fine, atmospheric cinematography from John L. Russell this is certainly a cut above your average B-Movie and is worth seeking out.

This is a very ordinary Hollywood film noire story about the usual stud crooked hero turned to good because a good dies. In this case the stud is a cop.

Our favorite prosecuting attorney (William Talman) is an evil villain in this movie, and Gig Young is the stud cop. These two are the Hollywood elements, and bring the movie down.

However, it's saved by the other characters.

Like most good movies, it is the supporting characters that make this a good movie. A mystic police partner played by one of the most famous of supporting actors, a few other good cops, an actor who plays a robotic man in a window, a big shot gangster, the gangster doll, a caring heroine, and a young naive soul whose character may have inspired a famous Hollies song.

Those characters make the movie less Hollywood, and worth the watching.

This was a great movie!

Beautiful shadowed images lingering on the screen. I saw this gem at the '06 San Francisco Film Noir Festival #4.

The movie was slow early on but when it finally got going it led to an exciting climax. Interestingly narrated is all I'll say about this story. It's a great and sordid tale from a night in the urban jungle. Don't miss this if you get the opportunity.

This tight little drama is about a cop ~ Gig Young ~ who gets tempted to dabble in the web of corruption and vice. With Marie WIndsor, Chill Wills, William Tallman, and a few other familiar character actors of the day.

And, yes this movie was loaned to the festival by Martin Scorsese. It was his personal 35mm print.

Edge of your seat plot with extraordinary camera work. Great cast of bad guys, gumshoes and dames. Strippers in early 50's?? Hot stuff Gonna watch again

I almost canned this tape after 50 minutes because it was just too slow-moving and had no characters to care about. However, the last 30 minutes were very good, not only because the action picked up but because of the realistic nature of it. Also, the film noir cinematography really picks up that last half hour. In the end, I was glad I watched it.

However, to be honest, I wouldn't look at it again. The villain, William Tallman (who, for some reason, gets no billing on the video box), shoots people who get in his way, with one exception, and is a no- nonsense guy. In other words, he's a killer portrayed realistically. The cops in here are either corrupt or rogue heroes such as we saw two decades later with the "Dirty Harry" series.

Sidenote: Despite all the corrupt cops shown in the movie, the filmmakers must have felt they needed to cover themselves so, at the end of the film you see the words "The first line of defense!" in lauding police.

And not only for me, I am sure, but for anyone who was lucky enough to see this pure gem. The best film from John H Auer, as far as I know, because I did not see all his filmography. But this urban crime drama is absolutely memorable, mainly because of its atmosphere - typical from true film noirs of this period - but also this terrific, outstanding scene, with the crying Mechanical Man behind the showcase, and this kid saying to his mother that the Mechanical Man has tears on his cheeks. It is purely marvelous. This film has no real lead, most charismatic lead, I mean. I can't undertsand why I love this film so much. It is an unusual crime film and thats enough for me. From time to time, when you dig ddep enough, you can find such gems. An excellent role for William Talman.

When not doing B westerns with singing and even non-singing cowboys Republic Pictures occasionally did a top drawer item like this one. It's the tale of a rather disillusioned young uniform cop ready to chuck it all, job and family to run away with a stripper and in doing it get a big payoff in the process.

Gig Young just might have gotten the finest acting role in his career in City That Never Sleeps as a motor car officer whose our protagonist. From shady lawyer Edward Arnold he gets a real proposition. On this last night on the force before he resigns he's asked to pick up William Talman who's done a few special ops for Arnold and take him from Chicago across border to Indiana where he's wanted. The idea is Talman is getting too big for his britches and Arnold wants to cool him off and enforce a bit of discipline.

Talman too gets one of his great career roles as a diabolically clever and sociopathic hood. He turns the tables on Arnold in all kinds of ways setting up tragedy that makes him a most wanted and hunted man in Chicago. A far cry from that honest but feckless representative of law and order Hamilton Burger.

Besides those mentioned this is a beautifully and impeccably cast noir film with people like Paula Raymond as Young's wife, Mala Powers as the stripper, Otto Hulett as Young's policeman dad and Marie Windsor in one of her great bad girl roles as Arnold's wife.

I must also single out Wally Cassell who is in a geek like role as a pantomiming mechanical man in front of the strip joint where Powers works. She's prepared to leave him, but a lot happens to her on this night of nights. Her scene with Cassell doing his mime routine is beautifully played with Cassell so touching beneath the silver mime paint job expressing so much with his face as Powers talks to him. There's also a real element of unknown danger for him in this scene as well.

It's not often one sees Chill Wills in an urban setting. I'm thinking he must have relished getting away from westerns for a change. He's the rather mysterious sergeant who rides with Young on this night. It's left to the viewer to figure out exactly who and what he is and I think you can watch City That Never Sleeps again and again and come up with a different answer.

Republic Studios which did not do urban noir dramas as a rule comes up with a real winner here.