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Cry Of The City

1948, Movie, NR, 96 mins

Cry Of The City: Review

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A complex, grim crime drama set in New York City, CRY OF THE CITY becomes more than routine under Siodmak's excellent direction. Conte gives a blood-chilling performance as a conniving, unrepentant murderer who kills a cop during a jewelry holdup and is held in a prison hospital awaiting trial. Police lieutenant Mature visits him in a vain effort to get Conte to reveal the identity of a young girl, Paget, who may be a confederate. Flattering Garde, the nurse attending him, Conte convinces her to take Paget home to protect her from police "harassment." As he is being transferred from the hospital to prison, he escapes, going to crooked lawyer Kroeger and killing him when he refuses to lend escape funds. Conte finds the gems from the jewelry heist in Kroeger's safe and takes them to buy his way out of the country. Mature is hot on his trail, tracking him to his parents' home, but the elusive criminal again escapes, this time hiding out with former girl friend Winters before being taken in by Emerson, an Amazon masseuse as vicious as he. Conte offers Emerson the jewels in exchange for $5,000 and a steamship ticket to South America. Conte has also been working on his kid brother, Cook, to steal money from their parents to finance his escape. Wary, Emerson agrees to exchange the jewels for the cash, but she insists that Conte accompany her to the stash before she pays him. On the subway, she sees Mature and believes Conte has set her up. She fires at the fleeing Conte but wounds Mature. The cop pursues the killer to a church where Conte meets with Paget. Mature confronts them, telling the girl that Conte, his boyhood pal, is evil through and through. Conte's true nature emerges as he threatens to kill the wounded Mature, and Paget is persuaded to depart. Conte pulls a gun on Mature, who threatens to kill the murderer even if it costs him his own life. Mature has no weapon, but his bluff works and Conte turns over his gun. Once outside, Mature collapses from his wound, and Conte makes a run for it. The cop shouts for him to stop, but Conte keeps going, and Mature kills him with a single shot. Cook then arrives at the scene, weeping over the fallen body of his dead brother, telling Mature that he couldn't bring himself to steal from his parents, even for the bad brother he loved. Splendid on-location photography by Sersen and top performances from Mature, Conte, and the wicked Emerson make this a film noir must, one on a par with KISS OF DEATH, THE STREET WITH NO NAME, and NAKED CITY. leave a comment
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