“Ask mother,” says the message scrawled in lipstick at a murder scene, written by an unidentified serial killer who preys on women. It’s a sensational story — if it bleeds, it leads — and a news conglomerate offers a big promotion to any high-level company exec who solves the case. So begins the wheeling, dealing and backstabbing of the competing media hotshots as they vie to unmask the so-called Lipstick Killer. Fritz Lang (The Big Heat), whose early career expressionist works would strongly influence the film-noir genre, directs this stylistically understated noir that features an abundance of starpower rare for the genre: Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders, Thomas Mitchell, Vincent Price, Ida Lupino and other notables.

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[youtube https://youtu.be/-SIE4ZmeBEA?si=9SEz6AmuawzYlwjq&t=236]

Video Quality

Warner Archive brought While The City Sleeps to Blu-Ray with 1080p transfer back in 2018 sourced from a 2K scan of the Fine Grain Master Positive. This is not one of the premium outings for this particular label, but it holds up as a very strong representation of the film. The feature was shot on the short-lived format known as Superscope, and the resulting picture is a bit softer than we typically see from this team. Print damage has been completely eliminated for a clear and consistent viewing experience. The presentation showcases a pleasing amount of depth to it including in the shadows where there is no evidence of any black crush. This black-and-white feature retains its natural film grain throughout which provides a significant amount of detail to the image even with the softer look. While this could potentially be fine-tuned with a 4K scan, Warner Archive has done a swell job.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray release comes with a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that stands firm given the age and condition of the source. Dialogue comes through clearly even in the bustling moments. None of the sound effects or the score ever overshadows exchanges on this release. This is not the most complicated soundscape, but it holds up without too many issues. There does not appear to be any major damage or age-related wear and tear to the track. This is a solid audio presentation from the label. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles available on the disc for those who need it.

Special Features

Theatrical Trailer: The two-and-a-half-minute trailer is provided here.

Final Thoughts

While The City Sleeps is a lesser Fritz Lang film, but it is far from a disappointment in totality. When you are working from such an impressive legacy, you are bound to have some merely “fine” endeavors, and this fits that bill nicely. The skewering of media tactics is the most successful aspect of this story, especially since the execution of the serial killer thread can be tonally inconsistent. The ensemble does a good job even if there are very few standouts among them. Warner Archive has released a Blu-Ray featuring a good A/V presentation but almost nothing in the way of special features. If you a Fritz Lang film, it is worth adding to the collection. Recommended

While The City Sleeps can be purchased directly through MovieZyng or various other online retailers.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Warner Archive has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.