Robert Siodmak (director)
BFI Film (studio)
Cert 12 (certificate)
96min (length)
22 August 2016 (released)
22 August 2016
Considered one of the classics of the film noir genre, this 1948 thriller – based on the little known pulp novel ‘The Chair for Martin Rome’ by Henry Edward Helseth – CRY OF THE CITY features a bona fide performance by Richard Conte, plus some suitably atmospheric cinematography by Lloyd Ahern.
Martin Rome (Richard Conte), a tough-as-nails criminal, has been shot at least four times and recovers in a hospital bed. Actually it’s somewhat of a surprise that he receives any medical treatment at all, given the fact that he has killed a police officer and thus is destined for the electric chair. Rome is no ordinary street criminal, mind you, he is in fact rather intelligent. At the same time he seems a deluded dreamer because he entertains hopes to build a ‘new life’ with his virginal and adoring young girlfriend Teena Ricante (Debra Paget, who was 15 at the time). A little later, Rome is visited by Lt. Candella (Victor Mature), a man he has known since childhood from the same impoverished backstreets in New York’s Italian quarter. As in other film noirs before, we see the James Cagney/Pat O'Brian connection: one boy becomes a good and decent cop, the other a hardened criminal. Candella is hell-bent in finding out who the young girl was who visited Rome but he won’t reveal anything, least of all to Candella! Rome's next visitor is bent lawyer (now there's a surprise!) Niles (Barry Kroeger), who claims that he and his ingenuous girlfriend are the sole suspects in a big jewel robbery during which the owner was killed. The injured Rome, who for once is innocent, tries to strangle Niles from his hospital bed. Surprise surprise, Candella also doesn’t believe in Rome’s innocence! Rome knows he has got to act pretty damn quick, and it isn't long before he breaks out of the prison hospital thanks to the help of a trusty. His priority is to find the real culprit for the job he's been fitted up for. First port of call is Niles' office. Our anti-hero is not the kinda guy who is going to be fobbed off by any pseudo-claptrap from a fast talking lawyer and he just knows that the jewels from the job are hidden in Niles's safe. It doesn't take him long to find the precious gems nor to put a hasty end to the snide lawyer. Curiously Niles fires a gun direction ceiling and seconds later his eavesdropping secretary drops dead in the adjacent room - odd this, as the glass in the door doesn't appear to be shattered! With the help of old flame Brenda (Shelley Winters, who always excelled in such parts) and a shady backstreet doctor, Rome tracks down the real person behind the jewel robbery: a masseuse named Rose Givens (the absolutely awesome 6'2" actress Hope Emerson), who looks like she could easily hurl the relatively diminutive Conte through a window with ease! Forget Boris Karloff or Bela Lugosi, she is the real deal!
Meanwhile, Candella, who has been friends with ‘Mama Rome’ and the rest of Martin’s family for years, tries in vain to get vital information as to Martin’s whereabouts from teenager Tony (Tommy Cook) who clearly worships his dangerous older brother.
Next, Martin is planning on setting up Rose - he has the jewels after all. The police are tipped off by him and during the ensuing confrontation in a subway station where Rose is supposed to retrieve the booty, Candella is wounded from a stray bullet fired by Rose but intended for Rome. Well, there is only one bullet… this is also a little odd just like the office killing. Finally a cat-and-mouse game ensues between Rome and the badly wounded Candella who won’t give up on tracking down the criminal. One thing we all know from the beginning - and this is giving nothing away - is that there will be no happy end for Martin Rome!
Siodmak's achievement is far less sentimental than the Cagney/O’Brien vehicle Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) but nevertheless conveys a similar if not the same message and is beautifully played out. Conte is ideal casting and succeeds in getting us to actually sympathise with his character - very few actors (perhaps Paul Muni, the original ‘Scarface’) could achieve this. Victor Mature, despite criticisms over the years, always delivered in noir films and is equally good. Both leading men were coincidentally Italian-American actors and perhaps this may have added extra gravitas to their standout performances. The film is obviously enhanced by Lloyd Aherne’s low-key lighting and the few splendidly shot Brooklyn day location shots. As soon as the opening credits start rolling, we know from the titles and top composer Alfred Newman's score from the 1931 film Street Scene that we are in for a treat and what with Conte and Mature, how can we go wrong?
SPECIAL FEATURES of this Blu-ray release include Original trailer, audio commentary, ‘Cry of the City’ appreciation, illustrated booklet.