Good concept, poorly executed.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Cry of the City is directed by Robert Siodmak and adapted to screenplay by Richard Murphy and Ben Hecht from the novel The Chair for Martin Rome written by Henry Edward Helseth. 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. Candella and Rome are consistently mirror images of each other, both in the futile lives they currently lead, or in how afflictions lead them to their night of reckoning. 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. This is more a noir bromance gone wrong story, with shades of religious motifs and a toying of audience sympathies evident for a good portion of the picture. From a beginning that ironically begins with the last rites, to a finale that blends death with a dangled hope of surrogacy, Cry of the City earns the classic noir badge that it was not granted back in the 40s. 8.5/10

You just know that slimy lawyer Niles (Kroeger) is going to get his somewhere along the line in this highly interesting noir. More a movie of parts than a whole, some of these parts nevertheless remain pretty memorable. Was there ever better tough guy than Richard Conte. Here he's wounded gangster Martin Rome getting his way with everyone, that is, until he runs into Rose. Now, whatever the 6'2", 230 lbs, Hope Emerson is, she's no rose. Her massage scene with Conte is priceless, and in my book, the movie's high point, one of the most amusingly unexpected and well calculated in all noir. At the same time, scope out the breakfast scene with Conte, where she fills her mouth like Godzilla churning up Tokyo, or where she manhandles the unfortunate cops trying to take her down. 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. These are not pretty people in the usual Hollywood sense, and I think one of the fascinations of noir is to feature such types at a time when movies prized good-looking people above all. Here, along with the shambling Emerson, they leave us with an impression of real city streets instead of a casting call along Hollywood and Vine.Among the more conventional, it's fun to see a still slender Shelley Winters (Brenda) doing her cheap blonde bit as she fends off a tipsy masher in a bar. Her character sort of drops into the narrative out of nowhere, making me wonder whether something connective got edited out. Frankly, headliner Victor Mature (Candella) hasn't much to do except stand around and look handsomely imposing. Instead, co-star Conte gets all the best scenes, good lines, and audience interest. At the same time, something should be said for young Tommy Cook who makes a good gritty impact as Conte's younger brother. Then too, check out director Siodmak's visual approach to the filming. Usually the light and shadow of expressionist noir takes place on a sound stage where control is absolute. But here, the imaginative Siodmak mixes expressionist light and shadow with location shooting to create an unusual overall effect. Note the number of location shots without the natural lighting that ordinarily would create a more documentary feel. It's a curious but effective blend. In passing—note too Siodmak's beautifully paced direction of the jailbreak sequence, a really suspenseful look at bureaucratic paper-shuffling, in this case, a police department.The story itself is pretty shopworn—two friends growing up together in the ghetto, where one ends up becoming a cop, while the other turns to crime. In short, the sort of thing Cagney and O'Brien did in the 30's. Nonetheless, Siodmak's imaginative approach, plus the many interesting characters and entertaining vignettes make this version a noir worth catching up with.

Very fine noir. From beginning to end this character driven tale is very well told with some solid performances, dialogue and location shooting. Maybe this lacks a little 'action' but it is gripping and suspenseful in places nevertheless. Everyone is believable, even the kid, and that's a rarity. 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. Even the smaller parts are great, including a lovely performance (which I understand was virtually all removed from the US release) from Shelley Winters. It is an almost nothing part and easily cut but she plays the moll so well, with a mixture of caring, humour and concern for her own safety. I was astonished that the several family scenes did not slip into sentimentality and even increased ones general concern for all concerned. Great street scenes, busy ones too and including shots of overhead railway. Really good, attention grabbing noir of the first order.

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. Along the night, Martin's girlfriend Teena Riconti (Debra Paget) sneaks and visits him. Later Niles threatens Martin telling that he would catch Teena to force her to assume the other crime. 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. Both characters have the same origins in the lower class neighborhood, but follow different paths of law: while Candella accepts to earn a low salary and "sleep well at night", the manipulative Martin uses people and prefers to taste the pleasures of life whatever the final price is. Their duel has a predictable and corny conclusion, but the story is engaging and supported by a beautiful black and white cinematography and good acting. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Uma Vida Marcada' ("A Marked Life")