While the City Sleeps 1956

     This film is based on a real murder case that took place in 1946 and a novel written by Charles Einstein titled Bloody Spur.  William Heirens killed three women in Chicago.  He left a message in lipstick on the bathroom mirror after the second murder.  He wrote to police and asked them to catch him before he killed again.  He was called the lipstick Killer by the press.  Amos Kyne was a media mogul and his sudden death is creating a power struggle between his executives.  Reporter Edward Mobley wants to be the one to catch the killer and he also wants to prevent this media empire from going to the wrong person.  He becomes engaged to Nancy Liggett but he keeps making mistakes with their relationship.  Finally, Nancy is not even speaking to him!! 

     I knew it was Ida Lupino in this film.  She was in many films from 1933 to 1947.  In 1947 she left Warner Brothers and she began a new career as a director, writer and producer.  Good roles for women were hard to get and there was a LOT of competition between young actresses and established stars.  Most of her films were inexpensive melodramas and she switched to television.   She directed The Untouchables of 1959 and The Fugitive of 1963.  I didn’t know how this was going to play out in catching the murderer?  There was a LOT of tension since the viewer doesn't know if he will kill again or if he will be caught?  There was a LOT of fighting in the newsroom and they needed to get going on stopping the killer.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)     

100 min, Crime directed by Fritz Lang with Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders, Howard Duff, Thomas Mitchell, Vincent Price, Sally Forrest, John Drew Barrymore, James Craig, Ida Lupino, Robert Warwick, Mae Marsh, Ralph Peters, Sandra White, Larry J. Blake.

Note:  Imdb 7 out of 10, 89% critic 68% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Eye For Film 3 1/2* out of 5*, Blu-ray.com 3 1/2* out of 5* with 25 ratings, Amazon 3.7, 38 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Downtown and the Pacific Electric Subway Tunnel, Los Angeles, California but the story is supposed to have taken place in New York.  Howard Duff is in the role of Lt. Burt Kaufman and Ida Lupino is Mildred Donner.  In real life they are married but they have no scenes together.  They were married in October of 1951 and divorced in 1984.   The producers were set to distribute this film through United Artists but it was sold to RKO for $500,000 ($4.57M in 2017).  This was done to ensure a faster and wider release.  The original title was News Is Made At Night.