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The Sleeping City

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Director
  
George Sherman

Music director
  
Frank Skinner

Duration
  

Language
  
English

6.8/10
IMDb

Genre
  
Crime, Film-Noir, Drama

Screenplay
  
Jo Eisinger

Country
  
United States

The Sleeping City movie poster

Release date
  
September 6, 1950 (1950-09-06) (United States)

Writer
  
Jo Eisinger (story), Jo Eisinger (screenplay)

Cast
  
Richard Conte
(Fred Rowan),
Coleen Gray
(Ann Sebastian),
Richard Taber
(Pop Ware),
John Alexander
(Insp. Gordon),
Peggy Dow
(Kathy Hall),
Alex Nicol
(Dr. Steve Anderson)

Similar movies
  
The Big Sleep
,
The Third Man
,
Out of the Past
,
Hell Drivers
,
The Asphalt Jungle
,
Due Date

Tagline
  
DANGER STALKS THE SILENT STREETS IN...THE SLEEPING CITY

The Sleeping City is a 1950 film noir crime film in semidocumentary style, that was set in and shot at New York's Bellevue Hospital. It was directed by George Sherman starring Richard Conte and Coleen Gray.

Contents

The Sleeping City movie scenes

The film is notable for its dark and evocative photography, above-par performances by featured players and taut script by Jo Eisinger, best known for his script of Night and the City. It was one of the few motion pictures of the era to be shot entirely on location.

The Sleeping City httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaen115The

The Sleeping City is viewed by critics as one of the best examples of the use of betrayal—in this instance, several layers of betrayal—as a noir plot device. However, as is typical in this genre/style, the film is simply plotted and economical in its characterizations.

The Sleeping City The Sleeping City 1950 Richard Conte YouTube

The movie begins with an unusual prologue, featuring Conte, to assure the audience that the story is "completely fictional" and did not take place at Bellevue or New York City. The prologue was inserted at the insistence of New York mayor William O'Dwyer, who had objected to the script as besmirching the reputation of the city-run hospital.

Kong s1e13 the sleeping city


Plot

The Sleeping City The Sleeping City 2 of 2 Extra Large Movie Poster Image IMP Awards

An intern is shot mysteriously on an East River pier adjoining Bellevue Hospital. The chief investigating detective views this as a difficult case, so with the cooperation of the Commissioner of Hospitals he assigns a detective who had been a medical corpsman, Fred Rowan of the Confidential Squad, to go undercover as intern "Fred Gilbert."

The Sleeping City Thrilling Days of Yesteryear Buried Treasures The Sleeping City 1950

Rowan becomes involved with the attractive nurse Ann Sebastian (Coleen Gray), and also becomes friendly with the popular elevator operator, Pop Ware (Richard Taber).

The Sleeping City Amazoncom The Sleeping City Richard Conte Coleen Gray George

Ware, who works part-time taking bets, seems initially to be a benign character. But it becomes apparent that Ware has been loaning money to the interns, including the slain intern and another intern, Rowan's roommate Steve Anderson (Alex Nicol), who is depressed and commits suicide.

The Sleeping City The Sleeping City 1950 George Sherman Richard Conte Coleen Gray

Rowan deliberately loses money betting with Ware, and Ware says that Rowan can pay off his bet by stealing "white stuff"—narcotics. Rowan plays along, encouraged by Ann Sebastian. He stops providing drugs to Ware. Ware tries to kill Rowan, and is shot in a shootout on the roof of the hospital.

Investigators find that the nurse worked as a courier for Ware. The movie ends with Rowan, turning aside pleas from Ann, placing her under arrest.

Cast

  • Richard Conte as Fred Rowan
  • Coleen Gray as Ann Sebastian
  • Richard Taber as Pop Ware
  • John Alexander as Insp. Gordon
  • Peggy Dow as Kathy Hall
  • Alex Nicol as Dr. Steve Anderson
  • Critical response

    Film critic Bosley Crowther dismissed the film, "New York's famous Bellevue Hospital is the literal and alluring locale for a frankly fictitious mystery drama about internes and the smuggling of dope ... But beyond this pictorial asset, which is employed mainly for atmosphere, there is little about The Sleeping City to distinguish it from any thriller film ... for all its performance and direction by George Sherman in a tensile thriller style, The Sleeping City is just a mystery-chase film with a hospital as its locale. It is not the fine cosmopolitan drama of medical practice and human life that it had every chance to be."

    Film critic Bruce Eder discussed the "cinéma vérité-style" crime thrillers produced in the 1950s. He wrote, "Universal made The Sleeping City as its own contribution to the cycle, directed by George Sherman. The results weren't as stylistically striking as The Naked City, but had an appeal all its own -- the location shots had a more polished and slightly more visually lyrical look than those of The Naked City, and if the music by Frank Skinner (who'd scored part of the Dassin movie) wasn't as ornate as that of Miklós Rózsa (who scored the Dassin movie's finale), it helped sustain the tension set up by the script."

    References

    The Sleeping City Wikipedia
    The Sleeping City IMDb The Sleeping City themoviedb.org