While the City Sleeps

Although inspired by Charles Einstein's 1953 novel "The Bloody Spurs", "While the City Sleeps" is a re-reading of "M. The Vampire of Düsseldorf" in its own way, demonstrating some of its benefits that have changed so much over time.

In a way, both films are two chess games, highlighting the strategies of player and opponent, alternating points of view and observing the radical violence of society as it fights its enemies.

Thanks to unforgettable dialogue by screenwriter Casey Robinson, Lang creates an ensemble film with identifiable characters that points to the climate of condemnation and suspicion engendered by McCarthyism, but is also a story about ambition.

After the death of the tycoon and owner of the Kane newspaper emporium, his son Walter (Vincent Price), overwhelmed by the business of journalism he doesn't understand, decides to create a position as creative director to free himself from the constraints and pursue the carefree life he has always led.

The contenders are the three leaders of the organisation, Mark Loving (played by George Sanders) who runs the news agency; Griffith (played by Thomas Mitchell), the "N.Y. Sentinel" and Harry G. Rizer (James Craig), the lover of Walter's wife Dorothy (Rhonda Fleming).

The new position will be awarded to the person who gets the scoop on the city's lady-killer. The three characters each represent the worst of humanity, and Lang creates tension through expressions and gestures to get what he wants. position in a world of betrayal, lies and cheating.