The Sleeping City

Director: George Sherman George Sherman

Overview

One of the finest and most troubling films to come out of Universal-International, The Sleeping City tried to emulate some of the cinéma vérité elements of The Naked City (which had been produced at Universal's facilities). The producers got the permission of the city of New York to shoot at Bellevue Hospital, and, in exchange, opened the movie with a disclaimer spoken by star Richard Conte, stepping out of character to point out that nothing like the story in this movie ever happened at Bellevue and offering tribute to the actual hospital and its staff. That's the last reassuring moment that one will find in this eerie crime drama -- in the first six minutes, a young doctor taking a break from work is shot in the head, and the police can't find a clue even as to a possible motive. Inspector Al Gordon (John Alexander) decides that he has to put some men on duty at the hospital, and one of them is Fred Rowan (Richard Conte), a detective with experience as an army medic, masquerading as an intern. What Rowan finds is a high-pressure world in which interns are hopelessly squeezed for time, sleep, energy, and -- most of all -- money, and walk a fine line on the edge of personal and professional disaster. His roommate, Steve Anderson (Alex Nicol), seems especially desperate. The only relief from the bleakness and tension, on a personal level, comes from the attentions of Ann Shelton (Coleen Gray), the ward nurse in traumatics, where Fred is assigned, and the good-natured needling of Pop Ware (Richard Taber), an elevator operator who likes to take an avuncular interest in the interns around him. But before he can get too far in his investigation, potential witnesses start dying around Rowan , and one of his friends at the hospital is threatened. Soon the whole scheme and the motives for the murders suddenly become clear, along with Rowan's earlier failure to spot the clue he needed. He also suddenly recognizes the involvement of the people closest to him at the hospital, but before the squad can move, he also finds his own life at risk.

Product Details

Release Date:	01/31/2017
UPC:	0025192181184
Original Release:	1950
Source:	ALLIED VAUGHN
Language:	English
Time:	1:26:00
Sales rank:	48,187

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Richard Conte	Fred Rowan
Coleen Gray	Ann Sebastian
Alex Nicol	Dr. Steve Anderson
Richard Taber	Pop Ware
Peggy Dow	Kathy Hall
John Alexander	Inspector Gordon
James J. Van Dyk	Dr. Sharpley
Hugh Reilly	Dr. Foster
Michael Strong	Dr. Connell
Frank M. Thomas	Lt. Lally
Richard Kendrick	Dr. Druta
Henry Hart	Dr. Nester
Robert Strauss	Lt. Marty Miller
Herbert Ratner	Detective Reese
Mickey Cochran	Detective Diamond
Ernest Sarracino	Detective Abate
Russell Collins	Medical Examiner
Mrs. Priestly Morrison	Miss Wardly
James O'Neill	Engle
Frank Tweddell	Kingdon
Victor Sutherland	Holland
Jack Lescoulie	Paulsen
Carroll Ashburn	Surgeon
Tom Hoirer	Gaye
William Martel	Male Nurse
James Little	Travers
Terry Denim	Intern
Harold Bayne	Intern
Frank Baxter	Intern
James Daly	Intern
Dort Clark	Intern
Mimi Strongin	Little Girl
Rod McLennan	Detective
Ralph Hertz	Patient with Broken Leg

Technical Credits

Leonard Goldstein	Producer
George Sherman	Director

Editorial Reviews

In 1947, producer Mark Hellinger and director Jules Dassin made The Naked City on the streets of New York, with distribution and studio facilities provided by Universal-International Pictures. The movie was a huge hit, and led to a cycle of cinéma vérité-style crime thrillers set (and usually shot) on the streets of New York -- RKO did The Tattooed Stranger and MGM did Side Street, while 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 Miklos Rozsa (who scored the Dassin movie's finale), it helped sustain the tension set up by the script. Richard Conte practically melted into the role of Fred Rowan, the detective masquerading as an intern, and Coleen Gray wasn't far behind him as duplicitous ward nurse Ann, and John Alexander, who'd made his name playing Teddy Roosevelt in the play and the film of Arsenic and Old Lace, was nicely hard-boiled as Rowan's boss, Inspector Al Gordon. Alex Nicol also acquits himself well in one of the better roles of his career, as a depressed, tormented intern. But the best performance in the movie comes from Richard Taber as Pop Ware, the eccentric elevator operator, who commands the camera with the cock of an eyebrow. Sherman, whose main forte was comedy, showed himself quite capable of handling a sometimes violent and very atmospheric mystery-thriller. The only criticism lies with the final chase, which -- apart from mimicking the chase in The Naked City, carrying us to higher and higher elevations -- isn't shot or edited too well, with a man clearly hit in his chest and looking stricken in some shots, yet shown capable of running very fast for a significant distance and up a large number of steps.

All Movie Guide - Bruce Eder