An escaped convict, played by Vince Edwards, steals a metal container of what he thinks is uncut heroin, but is really radioactive cobalt and, as he ventures through sparse Los Angeles, slowly dying in a kind of nuclear cautionary tale version of D. O. A., a cop (WHITE HEAT heat John Archer), a dame (Patricia Blair) and doctor (Steven Ritch from PLUNDER ROAD) are after him...
The edgy, stylized yet subtle nuance of CITY OF FEAR exceeds the somewhat sluggish pace when our ailing anti-hero, not on screen, is discussed by other cast members: a symbolic comparison to that lethal cobalt and the 1950's American male criminal... both are active, deadly...
One character warns Edwards that he can't show his face for fear of EXPOSURE: which means being seen, but also contagious as the police, not wanting to cause citywide panic, warns anyone involved about how dangerous he is while only we know what they're really after all along...
Proof that heavy-handed symbolism can usually work within a Noirish setting, but, like MURDER BY CONTRACT also by director Irving Lerner/starring Vince Edwards, where side-characters randomly distract from the edgy mainline, our man wields enough palpably emotional tension to let the audience figures things out on our... and his... own.
The edgy, stylized yet subtle nuance of CITY OF FEAR exceeds the somewhat sluggish pace when our ailing anti-hero, not on screen, is discussed by other cast members: a symbolic comparison to that lethal cobalt and the 1950's American male criminal... both are active, deadly...
One character warns Edwards that he can't show his face for fear of EXPOSURE: which means being seen, but also contagious as the police, not wanting to cause citywide panic, warns anyone involved about how dangerous he is while only we know what they're really after all along...
Proof that heavy-handed symbolism can usually work within a Noirish setting, but, like MURDER BY CONTRACT also by director Irving Lerner/starring Vince Edwards, where side-characters randomly distract from the edgy mainline, our man wields enough palpably emotional tension to let the audience figures things out on our... and his... own.