Cry of the City
Tags: murder

Plot synopsis:
Martin Rome (Richard Conte), a hardened criminal, is recuperating in a hospital from a shootout that leaves a police officer dead. At the hospital, he is briefly visited by his fiancée, Teena Ricante (Debra Paget). A shady lawyer representing another crook, Niles (Berry Kroeger), claims that he participated in a jewel robbery with her in which a woman was killed. Rome is innocent of the jewel robbery, but the police suspect that he carried out the robbery in conjunction with Teena, and begin a search for her.
With the help of a trusty (Walter Baldwin), he escapes from the prison ward, afraid that the lawyer will try to frame Teena and himself. He is pursued by an old adversary, police lieutenant Candella (Victor Mature), who grew up in his neighborhood and knows his family. Rome, feverish from his bullet wounds, receives help from his brother Tony, who worships him, and an old girlfriend, Brenda (Shelley Winters). Meanwhile, Candella and his partner (Fred Clark), track him down through the streets of New York. He locates the female accomplice of the real jewel thief/murderer, a strongly built masseuse named Rose Givens (Hope Emerson). He tricks her and she is apprehended by the police. In the struggle she shoots at Rome, wounding Candella.
Candella, shot in the shoulder, flees the hospital in his obsessive pursuit of Rome, ultimately tracking him down and killing him. Just before that happens, Tony, in a final break with his brother's criminality, refuses to steal their parents' savings.

Review: Victor Mature and Richard Conte are in great form as Candella and Marty respectively.
There is no real romantic sub-plot - Teena appears briefly at the beginning and the end, but plays no part in the story - and Candella is too busy making himself at home in the Rome household to go out and get a girl.
Yes, it's a typical one of its day in that it highlights two boyhood friends who wind up on the opposite side of the law ("Angels With Dirty Face," etc.) but it is well done.Victor Mature "Lt. Candella") and Richard Conte ("Martin Rome") both do a very credible job as the good and bad guys, respectively.
Shelley Winters, Debra Paget and Hope Emerson all provide solid female acting support in this little-known film noir.
Emerson ("Rose Given") might be the least known of the three, but not to me since I am a big fan of the Peter Gunn TV series of the late 1950s in which she played a key role.With film noir making a comeback in recent years, I hope someone puts this movie out on DVD..
Victor Mature and Richard Conte deliver strong performances in this engrossing, uplifting story of the struggle between a cop and a criminal.
In New York, when the cop killer Martin Rome (Richard Conte) arrives in the hospital badly wounded, the lawyer W.A. Niles (Berry Kroeger) unsuccessfully tries to convince him to confess the robbery of a collection of jewels and the death of the owner.
When Martin escapes from the hospital, Lieutenant Candella (Victor Mature), who is an old friend of the Rome family, investigates the case and has to chase Martin."Cry of the City" is a moralist police story, with the fight between good, represented by Lt. Candella, and evil, represented by Martin Rome.
Cry of the City has good performances by Richard Conte and Victor Mature.
Lieutenant Candella (Victor Mature) pursues Martin Rome (Conte) relentlessly after he escapes from a prison hospital; Rome is determined to clear his girlfriend of suspicion in a jewel theft by finding the real culprits.
Director Siodmak, one of the masters of film noir, suffuses the film with a dark mood, atmospheric locations, and those corrupted personal transactions that define the genre.In a hospital in the middle of the night a priest murmurs and family-members weep quietly over a dying man who is chained to his bedMartin Rome has just killed a cop in a shoot-out.
From the opening strains of Alfred Newman's "Street Scene" Theme Music, which accompanies the Credits to the End title, "Cry of the City" invokes a tale of good and evil in the persons of Victor Mature & Richard Conte........Boyhood pals from the lower East Side of N.Y......One a Cop, the other a Gangster................But make no bones about it, this film is Conte's showcase and he makes the most out of it in a chilling performance as Martin Rome(Roma), a savage killer with no remorse at all.........He is persued throughout the film by Victor Mature as Leut.
Candella, Chief of the Homicide Beaureau......and Mature gives a fine performance in the role...........Supporting players are highlighted by Hope Emerson in a performance of a lifetime, as a Female version of Conte.....their scenes together are cat & mouse......but which is which?.......For a special treat on the film noir craze of the 1940s; and a pure New York City feeling; do not miss "Robert Siodmack's"...."Cry of the City"-1948---20th.
Furthermore, the classic B&W photography of the city streets, a study in sunlight and shadows, heightens the tense mood and atmosphere of an engrossing crime story.VICTOR MATURE and RICHARD CONTE are adversaries, one good, the other bad, buddies who grew up together on the city streets.
He gets fully developed characterizations from his principal actors, as well as the supporting cast which includes FRED CLARK, DEBRA PAGET, TOMMY COOK, SHELLEY WINTERS and a standout turn from HOPE EMERSON as a woman intent on a jewel heist.New Yorkers will be especially interested in seeing the Third Ave. El appearing prominently in one of the lower Manhattan scenes, as well as other Manhattan shots that show the city as it existed in '48.
I hope there's a special place in Hollywood heaven for one-and-only characters like the hulking Emerson.In fact, the film features a number of unusual and unheralded players that spice up the proceedings—Walter Baldwin as the trustee Orvy, crooked teeth and all; Betty Garde as plain- looking nurse Pruett, who takes no guff from anybody including cops; and Barry Kroeger as puffy-face lawyer Niles, an insult to his profession.
It's the death penalty for sure, but Conte does in fact charm his way into an escape (I won't say how) and from then on because of his wound has to rely on a lot of help including his own family.Some other standout performances including an old girl friend, Shelley Winters whom he has obtain an unlicensed physician to tend him.
Tommy Cook plays Conte's hero worshiping younger brother who realizes just how much he and the family were being used in the climax.Most of all there's Berry Kroeger who plays one of his usual slime ball characters as a criminal attorney who indulges in a bit of criminality himself most discreetly behind the scenes.
In fact, this is the way they used to make great films.Victor Mature, as the cop, and Richard Conte, the criminal, star in this terrific film.The film shows that despite an excellent upbringing by a Conservative Italian Catholic family, Conte chose a life of crime and he is about to be joined by his kid brother who idolizes him.When Conte breaks out of jail, the fun really begins with everyone in hot pursuit for him.The picture is aided by a fine supporting cast.
We have Fred Clark as a fellow cop in a pretty serious role for him.What makes this film so good is that it shows how innocent, decent people could be drawn into Conte's web.
Richard Conte's performance as the truly ruthless bad guy is quite majestic and Victor Mature, as the ever on his heels good cop, does well to keep up, in both senses of the word.
It stars Victor Mature, Richard Conte, Fred Clark, Shelley Winters, Betty Garde, Hope Emerson and Debra Paget.
Music is by Alfred Newman and cinematography by Lloyd Ahern.They were once boyhood friends in New York's Little Italy, but now, on either side of the law, Lt. Candella (Mature) and cop killer Martin Rome (Conte), are on a collision course from which neither may survive?Excellent and under seen film noir from 20th Century Fox who initially conceived it as a follow up to cash in on the success of Kiss of Death the previous year.
Cry of the City may be simple in premise, that of a good versus evil chase like formula, with an extra edge added as Candella and Rome battle for the soul of Rome's younger brother, but what unfolds is a tough and uncompromising story painted vividly with style and atmospheric grace on a noir canvas by Siodmak.Siodmak made no secret of the fact he was "uncomfortable" about coming out of the confines of studio noir productions into airy location filming, but the great man need not have worried, for here we get a perfect example of what he could achieve outdoors.
New York thrums to the hustle and bustle of day time life, of transport duties and everyday mundane functions, only to then become at night a city crying to the tune of ghetto dislocation, where rain sodden streets, long shadows and emergency service sirens struggle to hide the corruptible and forlorn people shuffling about the place.Packed with classic noir characters, such as a shyster lawyer, amoral doctor and a devilishly brutish masseuse with a kink (the latter played by Hope Emerson with a near film stealing performance), it's the doppleganger effect that most shines through in this part of noirville.
It's fascinating that Candella is still a firm favourite of the Rome family elders, like he is the good son that Martin never was, while the attire of hunter and prey is most interesting, why is it that our good cop Candella is in dark clobber and our cop killing criminal is in lighter garb?The pretty girls Paget and Winters are just peripheral characters, so there's no femme fatale angle to speak of here.
Richard Conte and Victor Mature play tough adversaries in "Cry of the City," a 1948 film noir from 20th Century Fox, directed by Robert Siodmak.
The underrated Conte was always a force to be reckoned with, and this is one of his best roles.There are some stunning shots to be appreciated in "Cry of the City" - my favorite is as Rose Given takes a walk down her long hallway, the shadows that look like prison bars giving way to curtains and Rose's face and body walking into focus.Much to like here, but in the end, it's quite predictable, right down to the ending.
This Robert Siodmak work may seem derivative as another film noir.But it does not follow the rules.First the two leads are cast against type.We would expect Mature as Rome and Richard Conte as Candella.It increases the interest because we do not know how their characters will evolve.Then ,and it was extremely unusual at the time,there is no female central character;gorgeous Debra Paget appears in the first sequences ("she must be an angel") and only returns at the end of the movie in the church.No central female character ,but plenty of them ,and all are interesting: a nurse and her mom,a street gal (Shelley Winters),a mannish (lesbian?) female crook-the scene in the subway is very suspenseful-,and finally Rome's mom.A true mom,who still believes in her children ,but who begins to lose her illusions; fortunately there is a younger son,and the cop keeps a close watch on him.This mother is very different from the terrifying over possessive one Siodmak had introduced in his overlooked " Christmas holiday" (1944).
A familiar story of a cop (Victor Mature) and a criminal (Richard Conte) who grew up in the same tough New York City neighborhood, in the same culture, but chose different paths in life, and end up facing off against each other.
Mature's part as the detective could almost put him in the role of the bad cop out to bring down the neighborhood hero, though the story, with some excellent lines for Mature, leads us to the truth, that Conte was playing the part of a fairly ruthless con man, especially with the people closest to him.
Victor Mature plays the cop, Richard Conte the criminal Martin Rome, who is in jail for killing a cop but is able to escape and go looking for the girl who might have helped him in a jewel heist.
Siodmak does a terrific job with the material as he milks all the suspense he can out of each scene but he also lets the screenplay do its job of bringing the characters to life and making them seem real and not just something out of a bad crime movie..
First of all, there seems to be a misunderstanding regarding the backgrounds of both Lt. Candella (Victor Mature) and Martin Rome (Richard Conte).
Was it because of prior incidents with her son Martin?, 2) Martin's criminal background is never addressed in any way in the film; we know him only from the time he has killed a cop, just before the movie starts, 3) The whole family is known as the Romas, yet Martin seems to be known everywhere as Rome; did he Americanize it, just get known by it in nefarious circles, or what?, and 4) When we first see the Roma family, the father is handing over what looks to be some kind of ceremonial sword and the cash balance of the treasury of some Italian fraternal organization for which he has acted as treasurer, and it appears that he is being forced to do so; is this because the family name has been so blackened by his son?
Hope Emerson's performance is one of the greatest in all of Film Noir, even for her relatively short time on the screen, and the subway scene with her, Rome, and Candella is surely the most exciting in the film.
Anyway, despite those unanswered questions of mine, this is a terrific film, containing Richard Conte's finest film performance, Emerson's quite mesmerizing one, and with lots of good work by everybody else, especially by the oft-maligned but really quite excellent and charismatic Victor Mature, who managed to inhabit most of his roles in a manner that did not call attention to itself..
Lieutenants Victor Mature (Candella) and Fred Clark (Collins) get to gangster and cop-killer Richard Conte's (Martin) hospital bedside because they want to bust his backside and get information regarding a couple of crimes.
Robert Siodmak packs a lot of color and tension into this tale of Martin Rome (Richard Conte), an escaped and wounded murderer who wanders around a city that oozes staged authenticity, bringing trouble to everyone he manipulates into helping him -- a kind of "Odd Man Out" as seen in a schmutzy mirror.It's a very well-done example of a dark crime drama, and this despite the fact that it lacks a sense of place.
This is, in my opinion, a vastly underrated gem of the film noir genre, and I fervently hope that some day soon it will get the restoration and DVD release it richly deserves.Victor Mature is often a rather wooden actor, but in this film he plays perfectly against Richard Conte.
Conte is a wounded cop- killer on the run who encounters a variety of richly drawn and often bizarre characters in his long flight through the dark streets of the city.Often in film noir there will be a moralizing speech tacked in towards the end that is supposed to teach some imaginary, incredibly naive audience that "crime doesn't pay." In this film Mature's version of that speech actually rings true.
The unglamorous style actually was a major plus here--no cops working people over in the back room, no bullet-proof good guys and these cops were basically honest yet human.The film begins with Richard Conte in the hospital after having killed a policeman.
Reflecting lights off the wet streets  neon signs flashing inside buildings  the noises of a busy city  odd angles  low angles  exotic women  black and white  of course we are into a noir movie.At the beginning we see Martin Rome (Richard Conte), badly wounded in a hospital bed, receiving the Last Rites of the Church.
As Rome tries to leave on his own, he is stopped by Candella."Cry of the City" is filmed on location in New York.
**SPOILERS** Suffering from four bullet wounds cop killer Marty Rome, Richard Conte, had just about had it.
Teena wasn't wanted by the cops for any crime that she committed like Marty is!The other half of the story in "Cry of the City" has to do with Marty's boyhood friend from the neighborhood police Let. Candella, Victor Mature.
Cop killer Richard Conte escapes from a prison's hospital ward with police lieutenant Victor Mature and his partner Fred Clark on his tail.
Conte however is only interested in making sure his girl Debra Paget doesn't get caught up in anything and tries to get her out of harm's way by finding the people behind the heist.A basic plot that is transformed into a crackerjack top-shelf noir by the excellent cast and crew led by director Robert Siodmak ('The Killers').
Noir regulars Conte ('New York Confidential') and Mature ('I Wake Up Screaming') play characters that fit them like a well- worn glove and it shows.
And of course this is helped by some great performances, especially Mimi 'Mama' Aguglia ('The Brothers Rico') as Conte's mother and Hope Emerson ('House Of Strangers') as a masseuse/jewel-thief are memorable.Shot both on backlots and on the streets of NYC, the movie looks great.
It focuses on two long-time family friends, Victor Mature and Richard Conte, one on the right side of the law, the other accused of killing someone on the right side of the law, playing a game of cat and mouse where only death can bring peace for one of them.
It gets complicated, but not convoluted, and that keeps you gripped to the screen.There are two small roles for the film's "leading ladies", Shelley Winters as Conte's girlfriend and Debra Paget as a neighborhood girl who knew both Mature and Conte growing up.
But for me, it is Emerson who steals this film with her long scene taking care of an exhausted Conte (having escaped), then using her brute force to get her hands on the jewels he had stolen before allegedly killing a cop, and ending up with a gun herself shooting randomly in a Manhattan subway station.
The natures of the movie's two leading characters, however, are far more straightforward.Cop killer Martin Rome (Richard Conte) is being cared for in a New York City hospital after having been seriously wounded during a shootout that took place when he was interrupted in the course of carrying out his latest robbery.
You remember that scene where Lieutenant Candella (Victor Mature) challenges Marty (Richard Conte) by stating that he (Candella) has a gun and Marty doesn't believe it?
In the nineteen forties however he made a handful of films in which he turned in decent performances - Kiss of Death, Moss Rose, I Wake Up Screaming and this entry, Robert Siodmak's Cry Of The City which co-stars him with Richard Conte in our old chestnut friend, the one about the two guys from the same tough neighbourhood one who takes the easy way out and becomes a hood (see Jimmy Cagney) and one who becomes one of the good guys (see Pat O'Brien).
This time around it's Richard Conte who remains a hood and Victor Mature who becomes a cop.