Victor Mature and Richard Conte star in "Cry of the City"

Cry of the City (1948) is an American film noir directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Victor Mature and Richard Conte. Others in the cast include Fred Clark, Shelly Winters, Betty Garde, Debra Paget, and Hope Emerson.

Tough guy Martin Rome (Conte) is a criminal about to undergo surgery for leg wounds he receive in a shootout with a police officer that he killed. Police detectives Candella (Mature) and Collins (Clark) question Rome about a jewel robbery and murder. Candella and Rome were childhood friends who grew up in the same poor neighborhood. As an adult, Candella despises Rome for choosing a life of crime, disgracing his parents, and influencing his younger brother Tony (Tommy Cook) to follow in his criminal footsteps.

Rome escapes from the hospital where he tries to recover the jewels from a robbery where another man was killed. At the same time, he’s trying to run off with his girlfriend Teena Ricante (Paget).

Will Rome get the jewels, run off with Teena, and escape prosecution?

Richard Conte and Victor Mature

Robert Siodmak (1900 – 1973) had a very successful career in Hollywood and is best known for his thrillers and films noir. He signed a seven-year contract with Universal and directed The Killers (1946), the film that made Ava Gardner a star. He worked with some of the top movie stars during Hollywood’s Golden Age, including Deanna Durbin, Gene Kelly, Burt Lancaster, Dorothy McGuire, Yvonne de Carlo, Olivia de Havilland, and Barbara Stanwyck. Often compared to Hitchcock in his prime, he never got the recognition that the Master of Suspense did, but most of his films hold up remarkably well and are worth watching.

Victor Mature (1913 – 1999) was an American stage, film, and television actor who became a major movie star during the 1940s under contract to 20th Century-Fox. Before his film career took off, Mature starred in Lady in the Dark (1941) on Broadway opposite Gertrude Lawrence. Some of Mature’s notable films include I Wake Up Screaming (1941) with Betty Grable, and The Shanghai Gesture (1941) with Gene Tierney. In 1942, he starred opposite Rita Hayworth in the musical My Gal Sal. Other notable films include Samson and Delilah (1949), and The Robe (1952), the first film released in the Cinemascope widescreen process. Mature was self-deprecating when it came to his acting. He said, “I’m no actor, and I’ve got 64 pictures to prove it.”

Richard Conte (1910 – 1975) was an American actor who came to prominence in the late 1940s under contract to 20th Century-Fox. He co-starred with James Stewart in Call Northside 777 (1948) and had the lead role in Thieve’s Highway (1949) directed by Jules Dassin (Night and the City 1950), and played Gene Tierney’s husband in Otto Preminger’s Whirlpool (1949). Conte worked constantly and had major roles in Ocean’s 11 (1960) and The Godfather (1972).

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Cry of the City trivia

• Victor Mature was originally cast as the killer and Conte was cast as the cop. The roles were reversed because Mature had played a few bad guys prior to this film.
• Alfred Newman's "Street Scene "is used in the opening and closing credits. This music was used in more Fox films than any other. It was first used in the movie Street Scene (1931).
• Debra Paget made her film debut at age fourteen in Cry of the City.
• Director Robert Siodmak was borrowed from Universal to direct this film.

Victor Mature and Fred Clark

Discussion questions

1. What did you think of Victor Mature's performance as the good cop?
2. The film was shot on location in New York City. Did it add to the film's realistic look?
3. The film has a very good supporting cast; did anyone supporting player stand out to you?
4. Did anything about the film surprise you?
5. Did this film remind you of any other films you've seen?