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The Captive City

The Captive City

1952
Drama, Crime
1h 31m
One of several early-1950s films to capitalize on the Kefauver Committee's investigation of organized crime, The Captive City stars John Forsythe as crusading editor Jim Austin. While Austin prepares his testimony before the Committee, the film flashes back to the events which led to this courageous act.
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The Captive City

1952
Drama, Crime
1h 31m
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Avg Percentile 44.72% from 35 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(35)
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Rated 18 Nov 2012
75
44th
As far is PSA-noirs go it's pretty good one, the bookends aren't bad and the film mostly stays away from sensationalism. It's a small town with big city problems creeping in, but the problems are down-scaled appropriately.That helps realism, but hinders dramatic thrust. The themes are laid very bare and, while they're interesting, not much is really done with them. It does what it wants to do well, but what it wants to do isn't very ambitious and only reasonably entertaining.
Rated 18 Feb 2024
70
96th
Moral noir, if you will. Somewhat slow and stripped down. I appreciated the approach. John Forsythe's first lead in a motion picture, and he carries the small town space well and believable. Effective portrait of how accepting a little unlawful activities attracts bigger unlawful elements until it rots the city to the core.
Rated 31 May 2010
72
41st
A reporter discovers his town is being taken over by a crime syndicate. Kind of disappointing compared to Robert Wise's other noir films. It is well-directed and makes good use of John Forsythe (not a great actor, but a likable joe). But the story is very been-there-done-that, with nothing too exciting to add. The mob in this movie is rather low-key, by noir standards, and so there isn't as much tension or threat of danger as it feels like there should be. Not a bad movie, just needs more juice.
Rated 19 Jan 2020
60
35th
A serviceable noir-esk that doesn't bring too much to the table. There are plenty of other films from the era that tackle all the elements better. Personally, it's pretty tame without much tension. The city's atmosphere, while talked up a lot, never feels like a real character in the story. Its moral stance and eventual win against corruption ultimately make this boring and predictable film.
Rated 26 Dec 2022
70
42nd
One of several films made to capitalize on the public interest in Estes Kefauver's investigations of organized crime, this film even has his personal endorsement. Kefauver pops up at the end to lecture us on the evils of illegal gambling. Not exactly a big surprise since this kind of feels like the sort of film that would end with a lecture from a US Senator.

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