While the City Sleeps (1956)

Directed by

Fritz Lang

Genre

film noir

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 40m

Rated

NR

Rating

6.9 of 10 from 146 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A serial killer known as the Lipstick Killer terrorizes a city. A media mogul manipulates his staff into competing to solve the case for a top job.

tensenoir-ishcynicalsuspensefulbriskclaustrophobicurban

What happens

While the City Sleeps is a 1956 American film noir directed by Fritz Lang and starring Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders, Howard Duff, Thomas Mitchell, Vincent Price, John Drew Barrymore and Ida Lupino. Written by Casey Robinson, the newspaper drama was based on The Bloody Spur by Charles Einstein, which was inspired by the case of Chicago serial killer William Heirens (a.k.a. the "Lipstick Killer"). (The film even alludes to the crimes of Heirens in the script's dialogue, suggesting that the film's antagonist, also known as the "Lipstick Killer", is a copycat killer.) Five decades after the film's release, critic Dennis Schwartz wrote, "Fritz Lang ('M') directs his most under-appreciated great film, more a social commentary than a straight crime drama." (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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