While the City Sleeps (1956 film)

While the City Sleeps
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFritz Lang
Screenplay byCasey Robinson
Based onThe Bloody Spur
1953 novel
by Charles Einstein
Produced byBert E. Friedlob
StarringDana Andrews
Rhonda Fleming
George Sanders
Howard Duff
Thomas Mitchell
CinematographyErnest Laszlo
Edited byGene Fowler Jr.
Music byHerschel Burke Gilbert
Production
company
Bert E. Friedlob Productions
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • May 16, 1956 (1956-05-16) (United States)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

While the City Sleeps is a 1956 American film noir directed by Fritz Lang and starring Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders, Howard Duff, Thomas Mitchell, Vincent Price, John Drew Barrymore and Ida Lupino. Written by Casey Robinson, the newspaper drama was based on The Bloody Spur by Charles Einstein, which was inspired by the case of Chicago serial killer William Heirens (a.k.a. the "Lipstick Killer"). (The film even alludes to the crimes of Heirens in the script's dialogue, suggesting that the film's antagonist, also known as the "Lipstick Killer", is a copycat killer.)[1] Five decades after the film's release, critic Dennis Schwartz wrote, "Fritz Lang ('M') directs his most under-appreciated great film, more a social commentary than a straight crime drama."[2]

  1. ^ While the City Sleeps at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
  2. ^ Schwartz, Dennis (March 2, 2005). "While the City Sleeps".