The Sleeping City (1950)

The Sleeping City is a 1950 American film noir crime film in semidocumentary style that was set in and filmed at New York’s Bellevue Hospital. Directed by George Sherman, it stars Richard Conte and Coleen Gray.

The film is notable for its photography, and was one of the few motion pictures of the era to be shot entirely on location.

Director – George Sherman

Writer – Jo Eisinger (story)

Cast –
Richard Conte as Fred Rowan
Coleen Gray as Ann Sebastian
Richard Taber as Pop Ware
John Alexander as Insp. Gordon
Peggy Dow as Kathy Hall
Alex Nicol as Dr. Steve Anderson

Watch “The Sleeping City” (1950)

Plot

An intern is shot mysteriously on an East River pier adjoining Bellevue Hospital. The chief investigating detective views this as a difficult case, so with the cooperation of the commissioner of hospitals, he assigns detective Fred Rowan, who had been a medical corpsman, to go undercover as intern Fred Gilbert.

Rowan becomes involved with the attractive nurse Ann Sebastian and also becomes friendly with Pop Ware, a popular elevator operator. Ware, who works part-time taking bets, seems initially to be a benign, but it becomes apparent that he has been loaning money to the interns, including the slain intern and Rowan’s roommate Steve Anderson, who is depressed and commits suicide.

Rowan deliberately loses money betting with Ware, and Ware says that Rowan can pay off his bet by stealing narcotics. Rowan plays along, encouraged by Ann, but eventually stops providing drugs to Ware. When Ware tries to kill Rowan, he is killed in a shootout on the hospital roof.

Investigators find that Ann had worked as a courier for Ware. Rowan, turning aside Ann’s pleas, places her under arrest.