***SPOILERS*** A lot like the 1955 Mike Hammer film noir classic "Kiss Me Deadly" the movie "City of Fear" has to do with a stolen cylinder of highly toxic and radioactive cobalt-60 in granular form that was histed from the San Quentin infirmary, what it was doing there is never explained, by escaped convicts Vince Ryker and his partner William Dafner. Thinking that the cylinder contains pure heroin Ryker and Dafner, who died from radiation poisoning within hours after his escape, are in for a big surprise once they open it. In not only killing each other but exposing million of people in the L.A Metropolitan area to it's deadly radioactive rays!
Not daring to tell the public what their facing the police under the command of Chief Jensen try to capture Ryker before he opens and expose himself as well as the entire city of L.A to the deadly cobalt-60! Ryker not realizing what he's got on him tries to get in touch with shoe salesman Eddie Crown who uses his store as a front for drug trafficking! It's Crown that Ryker wants to fence the drugs and make a cool million from the transaction in splitting the profits with him. While all this is going on everyone that Ryker comes in contact with including his girlfriend June Marlow are exposed to the deadly cobalt-60 and like him are not long for this world.
A pre Ben Casey Vince Edwards is eerily effective as escaped hood Vince Ryker who's so obsessed in what he thinks is the heroin canister he has on him that he doesn't seem to realize that it's in fact slowly killing him. On the run through the entire film Ryker starts to sweat and cough as well as suffer internal bleeding from being exposed to the cobalt-60 that he never lets leave his sight. This doesn't stop Ryker from murdering some half dozen people, including Eddie Crown, in his mad dash for freedom, to Mexico or South America, with his by now also dying from radiation poisoning girlfriend June Marlow.
***SPOILERS*** The end comes for Ryker in this greasy spoon diner in downtown L.A as he's running from the police where he staggers in and collapses in his cup of coffee barley being able to get up and stand on his feet! Finally realizing what a jerk he was in actually killing himself, with the cobalt-60, and taking a number of people along with him Ryker crumbles to the street and finally passes away. The irony to all that is that Ryker is by now so contaminated from the effects of the cobalt-60 that no one not the police or even the ambulance staff on the scene would dare lay a hand on him!
Not daring to tell the public what their facing the police under the command of Chief Jensen try to capture Ryker before he opens and expose himself as well as the entire city of L.A to the deadly cobalt-60! Ryker not realizing what he's got on him tries to get in touch with shoe salesman Eddie Crown who uses his store as a front for drug trafficking! It's Crown that Ryker wants to fence the drugs and make a cool million from the transaction in splitting the profits with him. While all this is going on everyone that Ryker comes in contact with including his girlfriend June Marlow are exposed to the deadly cobalt-60 and like him are not long for this world.
A pre Ben Casey Vince Edwards is eerily effective as escaped hood Vince Ryker who's so obsessed in what he thinks is the heroin canister he has on him that he doesn't seem to realize that it's in fact slowly killing him. On the run through the entire film Ryker starts to sweat and cough as well as suffer internal bleeding from being exposed to the cobalt-60 that he never lets leave his sight. This doesn't stop Ryker from murdering some half dozen people, including Eddie Crown, in his mad dash for freedom, to Mexico or South America, with his by now also dying from radiation poisoning girlfriend June Marlow.
***SPOILERS*** The end comes for Ryker in this greasy spoon diner in downtown L.A as he's running from the police where he staggers in and collapses in his cup of coffee barley being able to get up and stand on his feet! Finally realizing what a jerk he was in actually killing himself, with the cobalt-60, and taking a number of people along with him Ryker crumbles to the street and finally passes away. The irony to all that is that Ryker is by now so contaminated from the effects of the cobalt-60 that no one not the police or even the ambulance staff on the scene would dare lay a hand on him!