In reviewing "The Captive City" one must acknowledge the great director Robert Wise. Wise will always be remembered for "The Sound of Music", "West Side Story", and "The Day the Earth Stood Still". But, for this viewer The Captive City fell through a crack as I'd never seen or heard of it. Until now, that was my loss
However, it's always a joy to find an old film in the noir vein with some "meat-on-the-bone", and this definitely qualifies.
Following on the heels of the excellent sci-fi drama "The Day the Earth Stood Still" may have hurt this film in the annals of time a bit. I can't say that I know what it did to the box office at the time, but it certainly had slipped through my grasp in the intervening years. It certainly had a limited budget as evidenced by the "C-list" cast, yet John Forsythe puts forward an admirable lead that the good story was hung on. I couldn't find out for sure how the screenplay was concocted, but I definitely get the feeling it was a composite of real events occurring at the time in many places in a post-war USA. In other words: The Captive City was based on fact if dramatized. I'd say it did a good job of coming off as just that. It reminded me of "The Phenix City Story" in many ways as a town was in the midst of increasing graft whereby "the mob" wanted a bigger cut with more control. Something needed to be done as things began to take a murderous turn. Enter newspaper editor Jim Austin played by the aforementioned John Forsythe. Austin is contacted by a private investigator whose simple divorce case turned ugly when the woman who hired him estranged husband's associates apply pressure on him to back-off. The investigator contacts Austin since the police are part of the problem. He feels he must turn to the "power of the press" in hopes he can make public outcry turn against the criminal element. The only problem is that Jim Austin thinks he's living in an idyllic town and he initially thinks the investigator is a bit of a crackpot sensationalist. Just about the time Austin has a gnawing suspicion that he's wrongly pegged the man he is found dead with the cause being a hit and run accident complete with no witnesses. The story predictably from here as against large odds Austin pressures the police department for not having an interest in solving the case. Even if you've guessed the rest it doesn't matter too much because the movie moves along nicely and keeps the viewer interested.
Wise has made a latter day excellent film noir drama with "The Captive City". The camera work is fantastic as it frames the subjects in a very involving and immediate way. Wise is one director with a wonderful eye for composition and he certainly chose correctly in using black and white in which to present it. You will not help but notice the depth of field in every shot, a technique learned from the great Orson Welles and augmented with the use of the special Hoag lenses whose focal length seemed to go on forever. Though not quite as overall involving as "The Phenix City Story" it is still quite good and highly recommended (in no way an embarrassment over half a century later). Wise was one of the finest directors of any time and even with a limited budget he proves it here. Also, of note is the introduction of young Martin Milner, who we would later come to love in the TV-series "Route 66" (reruns for me), as the Forsythe's staff photographer.
Following on the heels of the excellent sci-fi drama "The Day the Earth Stood Still" may have hurt this film in the annals of time a bit. I can't say that I know what it did to the box office at the time, but it certainly had slipped through my grasp in the intervening years. It certainly had a limited budget as evidenced by the "C-list" cast, yet John Forsythe puts forward an admirable lead that the good story was hung on. I couldn't find out for sure how the screenplay was concocted, but I definitely get the feeling it was a composite of real events occurring at the time in many places in a post-war USA. In other words: The Captive City was based on fact if dramatized. I'd say it did a good job of coming off as just that. It reminded me of "The Phenix City Story" in many ways as a town was in the midst of increasing graft whereby "the mob" wanted a bigger cut with more control. Something needed to be done as things began to take a murderous turn. Enter newspaper editor Jim Austin played by the aforementioned John Forsythe. Austin is contacted by a private investigator whose simple divorce case turned ugly when the woman who hired him estranged husband's associates apply pressure on him to back-off. The investigator contacts Austin since the police are part of the problem. He feels he must turn to the "power of the press" in hopes he can make public outcry turn against the criminal element. The only problem is that Jim Austin thinks he's living in an idyllic town and he initially thinks the investigator is a bit of a crackpot sensationalist. Just about the time Austin has a gnawing suspicion that he's wrongly pegged the man he is found dead with the cause being a hit and run accident complete with no witnesses. The story predictably from here as against large odds Austin pressures the police department for not having an interest in solving the case. Even if you've guessed the rest it doesn't matter too much because the movie moves along nicely and keeps the viewer interested.
Wise has made a latter day excellent film noir drama with "The Captive City". The camera work is fantastic as it frames the subjects in a very involving and immediate way. Wise is one director with a wonderful eye for composition and he certainly chose correctly in using black and white in which to present it. You will not help but notice the depth of field in every shot, a technique learned from the great Orson Welles and augmented with the use of the special Hoag lenses whose focal length seemed to go on forever. Though not quite as overall involving as "The Phenix City Story" it is still quite good and highly recommended (in no way an embarrassment over half a century later). Wise was one of the finest directors of any time and even with a limited budget he proves it here. Also, of note is the introduction of young Martin Milner, who we would later come to love in the TV-series "Route 66" (reruns for me), as the Forsythe's staff photographer.