CITY OF FEAR rare 1959 nuclear noir July 19th
Posted: July 13th, 2007, 4:07 pm
Another brazen heads-up is in order for the rarely shown 1959 Columbia nuclear noir CITY OF FEAR...airing on TCM next Thursday, July 19. This is one I've been trying to track down for some time and am very much looking forward to taping for posterity.
CITY OF FEAR was directed by Irving Lerner who, the year before directed MURDER BY CONTRACT (also Columbia). That film is an incredibly cool noir about a professional hit man, intensely played by Vince Edwards (who also stars in CITY OF FEAR). It's been oft-reported that Martin Scorsese patterned the character of Travis Bickle (TAXI DRIVER) after Edwards' character in MURDER BY CONTRACT. Edwards of course would a short time later become forever known as TV's "Ben Casey," a fact that belies his credibility as a raving psychotic in a handful of classic noir films; he also excelled as Marie Windsor's bad boyfriend in Kubrick's THE KILLERS (1956).
CITY OF FEAR has an irresistible premise: an escaped con (Edwards) makes off with what he believes to be a stash of pure heroin which in reality is a canister full of radioactive Cobalt 60--enough of it, in the wrong hands, to blow LA clean off the map. All reports indicate that Edwards, once under the fatal effects of radioactive poisoning, devours an awful lot of scenery. Lyle Talbot and John Archer are along for the ride as a pair of cops on the deadly chase. Jerry Goldsmith provides one of his earliest scores.
So...has anyone seen CITY OF FEAR? And if so, what have ye to say?
CITY OF FEAR was directed by Irving Lerner who, the year before directed MURDER BY CONTRACT (also Columbia). That film is an incredibly cool noir about a professional hit man, intensely played by Vince Edwards (who also stars in CITY OF FEAR). It's been oft-reported that Martin Scorsese patterned the character of Travis Bickle (TAXI DRIVER) after Edwards' character in MURDER BY CONTRACT. Edwards of course would a short time later become forever known as TV's "Ben Casey," a fact that belies his credibility as a raving psychotic in a handful of classic noir films; he also excelled as Marie Windsor's bad boyfriend in Kubrick's THE KILLERS (1956).
CITY OF FEAR has an irresistible premise: an escaped con (Edwards) makes off with what he believes to be a stash of pure heroin which in reality is a canister full of radioactive Cobalt 60--enough of it, in the wrong hands, to blow LA clean off the map. All reports indicate that Edwards, once under the fatal effects of radioactive poisoning, devours an awful lot of scenery. Lyle Talbot and John Archer are along for the ride as a pair of cops on the deadly chase. Jerry Goldsmith provides one of his earliest scores.
So...has anyone seen CITY OF FEAR? And if so, what have ye to say?