The Sleeping City

Two well-known titles in the noir cycle are The City That Never Sleeps (1953) and While The City Sleeps (1956). Before them, there was the less familiar The Sleeping City. In this last (or first), what seems asleep is not so much New York as a city-within-a-city – the huge old fortress of Bellevue Hospital, where, at night in its wards and among its staff, skulduggery is afoot. Bellvue opened its doors to the film's cast and crew, perhaps not wholly grasping that the resulting portrait might be less than reassuring to prospective patients. But it's not a story, at least explicitly, about malpractice.

A jumpy, distracted intern on his break goes outside to grab a smoke. He ends up with a bullet through his brain. Since the murder appears to be an inside job, an undercover department of the city police plants a detective (Richard Conte) in the hospital among the interns. He's had some medical training in the army and so should pass casual muster. Taking lodging in the building and going on rounds, he makes acquaintances. Among them are his bitter roommate, Alex Nichol, nursing some resentments about not being rich, either by birth or through wedlock; ward nurse Coleen Gray, raising a young son from an unhappy first marriage; and chummy elevator operator Richard Taber, who bunks down off the boiler room – where he runs a book where the cash-strapped interns can play the ponies.

What Conte's after is not just the killer but the source of an infectious but non-microbial malaise that will claim Nichol, too, the night before he was to marry. Conte finds himself the prime suspect in his roommate's death and comes close to blowing his cover before his own superiors intervene. But Conte's suspicions about Taber's bookmaking operation aren't quite on the mark; it turns out that a 'white-stuff job' is the real racket....

Light and portable equipment developed during World War II made location shooting finally feasible, and the low-budget second-features in the post-war years pioneered its use. The Sleeping City affects a pseudo-documentary style that also came into vogue as a complement to the new cinema-verité look (a chase through the bowels of the massive institution stays particularly sinister). Despite a nifty shot of the new interns descending an endless stairwell en masse, the vast hospital looks underpopulated, especially during the graveyard shift. But the claustrophobia (the whole picture is shot in and around the hospital) pays off. The main characters aren't many, but not so few that they can't deliver a final twist.

I saw this movie once, many years ago, in NYC. It was filmed on location at Bellevue Hospital, eighty blocks south from where I did my residency training in medicine (50's-60's.) The medical attire, locations, and medical palaver are certainly dated, but that was the way it was ... many years ago. The movie's characters (Conte et al.) were grand; an atherosclerotic, aging, Bellevue Hospital was really like that, the state-of-the-art treatments, the accomodations for patients were all shockingly interesting. In this sense, it is living history of a past medical era.

The Noir is also so nicely done: hospital corridors, primitive art deco elevators, and night shots of Gotham streets. (All these retro-images are based on a film once seen by me forty years ago!)

If film renovators/DVD entreprenuers were to read this clip, I would recommend they consider this movie as one that many forgotten Noirs that need to be resurrected. It would be a cryptogenic discovery. Conte was a great actor, and he has a loyal following. (This movie was in his early career, and he plays a good guy!) He would be lauded later for his Godfather roles.)

"Anything you can tell me?" "Sure...he's dead"

There is so much to like about this film that it makes me wonder how "The Sleeping City" isn't more famous. It's simply one of the best film noir pictures of the era...and that's saying a lot because I love noir and have seen many, many of these pictures.

The film begins with a vicious scene, as a young hospital intern is shot in the face at point blank range. The cops, however, have no leads and the killing seems senseless...perhaps the work of a psycho. With no other real options, the boss decides to call in three special agents. These men will obtain jobs at the hospital and see if there is anything that would lead them to understand why the man was murdered...as well as who did it.

The main undercover agent is Fred (Richard Conte). Because of his own background in medicine, he'll pose as one of the interns. It's a tough job, as he'll be around patients and it's pretty hard to fake it indefinitely! He's told to rely on his nurses, as they'll help him figure out what to do. And, if he has a case that's over his head, he'll just have to break cover and get a real doctor to help. However, when another intern soon ends up dead it sure looks as if some conspiracy is going on...but the viewer sure is surprised how deep this all goes and what it's all really about...and it sure isn't random!

There is so much going for the film and most of it has to do with realism. Apart from Richard Conte, most of the rest of the folks in the film don't look like actors and the cops especially seem like real cops. Additionally, Conte was no pretty boy and was excellent in the film...tough but no smart-alleck or unrealistic guy! But what also really helps is the story itself...it's hard to predict, very intelligently written and amazingly good. See this film...you won't regret it and it doesn't insult the intelligence of the viewer.

I happened to see this movie in the latter '60's on TV, while working as a resident in a NYC hospital. I was intrigued by the story, the gritty, noir hospital setting (a decaying [old]Bellevue Hospital), and unusual plot line. Although it depicts an unusual event in the 1950's, the same event had become truly epidemic a decade later. Richard Conte was wonderful, and the chronic atmosphere of the City and Bellue hung over the movie like a moldy, wet wash rag.

Now with old movies being restored on DVD, I would hope that an entrepreneur might read this and decide to add it to the annals of deep noir. Conte,a wonderful actor, needs to be seen more.

The Sleeping City is a 1950 film directed by George Sherman starring Richard Conte and Coleen Gray.

The story begins with an intro by Richard Conte, extolling the virtues of Bellevue Hospital, where the filming took place, and explaining that the story is fictional. This was done to overcome the objective of Mayor O'Dwyer, who did not want the hospital portrayed negatively.

In the film, an intern is shot and killed. In order to investigate, Detective Fred Rowan (Conte) who has a medical background, is sent in to pose as an intern from Los Angeles.

There is something going on among the hospital interns, but it's hard to pinpoint. Rowan suspects it may have something to do with an old man who works there, Pop (Richard Taber) who takes gambling bets from the interns.

Rowan refuses to bet on the horses, but eventually does to find out what's going on. He soon learns of the sinister happenings that caused one intern to be killed and another to commit suicide.

Good story that keeps the viewer absorbed throughout, with good performance by Conte, Taber, Gray, and Alex Nicol as an unhappy intern. Exciting finale.