Tonight's Movie: City of Fear (1959)
Take PANIC IN THE STREETS (1950) and cross it with a dash of THE MAGNETIC MONSTER (1953), and you come up with CITY OF FEAR (1959), an atomic era film noir which I found great fun.Dangerous convict Vince Ryker (Vince Edwards) escapes from San Quentin with what he thinks is a cannister of heroin, but it actually contains radioactive cobalt 60. Anyone who comes near the cannister is likely to get radiation poisoning, and if the cannister is opened, it could wipe out the city of Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Police Chief Jensen (Lyle Talbot) and Lt. Richards (John Archer of WHITE HEAT) are on the case along with scientist Dr. John Wallace (Steven Ritch, who cowrote the screenplay). Will they find Ryker in time to save the city?
This movie is a perfect mix of well-made '50s film noir with some aspects which admittedly seem pretty silly, at least to a modern audience. But all of it is oh so entertaining! How can a noir fan not love grim-faced Talbot and Archer working day and night to save L.A.? Kelly Thordsen is their stoic assistant, Detective Johnson.
The "good stuff" in the movie includes a jazzy score which was the second feature film score by the late, great Jerry Goldsmith. There's also some very sharp Los Angeles photography by Lucien Ballard. Some of the nighttime shots and music seemed to foreshadow the excellent San Francisco based thriller EXPERIMENT IN TERROR (1962) and its Mancini score. CITY OF FEAR features terrific L.A. location work throughout the movie which makes it particularly fun viewing for Southern Californians.As far as the lighter aspects, I was amused that once the scale of the problem became clear, someone finally thinks to mention maybe Washington should be notified. However, we never see any hint of federal assistance, and the mayor of Los Angeles isn't notified for days! You've just got to love the cops and scientists with their geiger counters going it alone to solve the case, not even bothering to wear protective clothing. The mind boggles contrasting the handling of this case with a 2013 response to the same problem.
And how is it a convict so easily got his hands on this ultra-dangerous cannister? We're told "volunteer" experiments were being conducted on the prison inmates; Ryker thought the experiments involved heroin. Just what was going on at San Quentin, anyway?!
CITY OF FEAR was directed by Irving Lerner. Robert Dillon cowrote the screenplay along with actor Ritch. It runs 81 minutes.
This movie is available on DVD in the Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics II Collection. The other four films in the set have all been previously reviewed here: PUSHOVER (1954), FIVE AGAINST THE HOUSE (1955), NIGHTFALL (1957), and THE BROTHERS RICO (1957). This is a terrific set which I highly recommend. NIGHTFALL is the best film, followed by THE BROTHERS RICO, but CITY OF FEAR might be the most fun.My advice is to ignore the low rating in Leonard Maltin's CLASSIC MOVIE GUIDE, get the DVD, then sit back and have a good time.
posted by Laura @ 9:46 PM
5 Comments:
I've not seen this one, but just for a glimpse of Darren McGavin working in an elegant shoe store is worth a look.
I imagine the old practice of shoe store attendants helping customers select and try on shoes went out when they noticed how grubby the customers were getting.
Irving Lerner gained a minor cult reputation on the
strength of CITY OF FEAR and the even more impressive
(IMHO) MURDER BY CONTRACT both model B movies.
People were watching him with interest,future great
work was expected,but nothing much really happened.
Have not seen his later STUDS LONIGAN which is highly
regarded in some quarters,I would like to check it
out just for the cast alone.
Vince Edwards was obviously impressed with Lerner to bring him on-board his BEN CASEY TV series.
Apart from a War programmer with Van Heflin (CRY OF
BATTLE) there was the big budget flop ROYAL HUNT
OF THE SUN. Thats about it really but the two B
pictures are still very highly regarded especially
by Noir fans.
I got to thinking, Jacqueline, that I couldn't remember the last time a shoe salesperson helped me try on shoes! I must have been a teenager or younger.
John, thanks very much for all that info. I didn't know Irving Lerner's name and appreciated the background. I'll have to watch for MURDER BY CONTRACT as our tastes in B films are often very similar. I looked the title up and it's interesting that MURDER BY CONTRACT has some of the same cast members as CITY OF FEAR. Thanks!
Best wishes,
Laura
This movie is on TCM tonight and I hope to see it.
Elegant shoestores with fawning helpers still exist in the enclaves of the ultra-rich, here and overseas, I have no doubt. For the common man who prefer big white sneakers, there is no need - self-service is fine. (consider also the enormous population explosion, now in the billions - all those billions must be cheaply and quickly shod.)
I guess if elegant shoe stores still exist I'm not likely to visit one LOL.
I hope you enjoy the movie.
Best wishes,
Laura
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