THE SLEEPING CITY (1950)

This film begins with the actor Richard Conte, as himself, assuring us that Bellevue Hospital in New York City, where this was shot on location, is a fine, upstanding institution. (Apparently the mayor asked for this introduction so as not to besmirch the name of Bellevue.) The narrative begins one night with an intern named Foster who, tired and jittery, takes a much needed smoke break. Alone overlooking the skyline, he is shot in the face and dies. The cops interview interns, with a special interest in Foster's roommate Steve Anderson (Alex Nicol) who says that Foster had been jumpy lately. Detective Martin thinks it was the random work of a psycho, but Inspector Gordon decides to put members of his Confidential Squad in the hospital, with one man, Fred Rowan (Richard Conte), going undercover as an intern—he has a medical school background and they're hoping he can pass with no problem. He gains the trust of Anderson, who himself seems a bit nervous, and Ann Sebastian (Coleen Gray), a nurse who was dating Foster and had been looking for him on the night of his death. He also meets Kathy Hall, who is dating Anderson, and old Pop Ware, a friendly elevator operator who seems beloved by all the interns, perhaps because he helps them place bets on horse races. Most of these characters have secrets that Rowan slowly discovers, coming to the conclusion that there is a drug peddling ring active among the interns. After another death occurs, staged to look like a suicide, Rowan follows a hunch to track down the head of the drug ring. If this isn't strictly speaking film noir, it has the right look, with very fine location shooting at the hospital and on the streets of New York. The acting is convincing without becoming melodramatic; Conte excels as the undercover man, Nicol does a nice job as a skittish enigmatic character, and Gray is fine as a potential suspect. John Alexander, who was so much fun as the cousin who thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt in ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, plays it straight as the chief cop. This film doesn't necessarily make Bellevue look bad, but it certainly makes the life of an intern look depressing, and the semi-documentary look of the movie gives it a gritty aura. The style of director George Sherman is fairly plain, though some of the exterior city shots are nice. My beef with labeling this a noir has to do with the absence of an antihero; Conte has ambiguous feelings about some of the people he has to deal with, but he is never tempted to cover up for anyone. Still, it does have a noir visual style and is recommended. Pictured are Nicol and Conte. [Criterion Channel]