The Captive City (1952 film)

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For the 1962 film, see The Captive City (1962 film).
The Captive City
File:Poster of the movie The Captive City.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Robert Wise
Produced by Theron Warth
Screenplay by Alvin M. Josephy
Karl Kamb
Story by Alvin M. Josephy
Starring John Forsythe
Joan Camden
Music by Jerome Moross
Cinematography Lee Garmes
Edited by Robert Swink
Production
company
Aspen Productions
Distributed by United Artists
Release dates
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  • March 26, 1952 (1952-03-26) (United States)
Running time
 91 minutes
Country United States
Language English

The Captive City is a 1952 film noir, directed by Robert Wise.[1] The screenplay is based on real life experiences of Time magazine reporter Alvin M. Josephy, Jr., who co-wrote the script.[2]

Plot

As newspaper editor Jim Austin prepares his testimony before the Committee, the story flashes back to the events which led to his testifying.

Mob boss Murray Sirak has the entire police force of Austin's small town under his thumb. Sirak takes his orders from an unseen "untouchable" Mister Big.

Austin is driven to investigate corruption after Clyde Nelson, a local private detective, working on an apparently harmless divorce case, discovers the existence of a big-time gambling syndicate operating with the consent of the city fathers, the local police, and the respectable elements of the community. Nelson is killed in a hit-and-run which appears to be an accident. Austin thinks otherwise because he is harassed by police when he looks into the PI's death.

Cast

Background

The screenplay of The Captive City was inspired by the Kefauver Committee's hearings.[3] The television broadcast of the hearings attracted huge public interest and educated a broad audience about the issues of municipal corruption and organized crime. The tremendous success of the broadcast led to the production of a whole cycle of "exposé" crime films dealing with the dismantling of complex criminal organizations by law enforcement.[3][4] The Captive City had the blessing of senator Kefauver himself: Robert Wise took a print of the film to Washington D. C. to show to senator Kefauver, who not only endorsed it but even appears in the prologue and epilogue, cautioning audiences about the evils of organized crime.[5] Other notable examples of exposé films include Hoodlum Empire (1952) and The Turning Point (1952).

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). The Captive City at IMDb.
  2. ↑ The Captive City at AllMovie
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Spicer" defined multiple times with different content
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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