The Captive City (MGM LE Collection)

In the large handful of pictures where a reformer is pitted against organized crime in a small town, Robert Wise's 1952 film The Captive City remains one of the best. It contains most everything essential to the dynamic. There's a man (John Forsythe) firmly situated in an Anytown, USA (called Kennington here) who initially is skeptical as to whether the seedy underbelly warned of by a nervous private detective he's been contacted by could really be the problem it's made out to be. Our protagonist, Austin, is a newspaper editor with a comely wife (Joan Camden, perfect as the supportive spouse) who will look into things, as he does with this detective named Nelson, but generally trusts the small town he's a part of and therefore can be easily assuaged. When Nelson later pleads with Austin and, the same night, turns up dead as the supposed victim of a hit and run, things change. Austin's suspicions are aroused. As a newspaper man, even one representing around 30,000 residents, he's naturally curious. But the more questions that are asked the more trouble is found, and Austin soon enough finds himself ostracized from the community for disrupting its natural flow in regards to what are deemed to be innocent little numbers games.

There are a couple of other notable noirs that tackle similar terrain, namely The Sellout and The Phenix City Story, but this one has a legitimate crusader whose mind and demeanor we see gradually change during the course of the picture. The Captive City actually begins with Mr. and Mrs. Austin rushing in to a small police station, exasperated and fearing death. The officer on duty shows no real sense of urgency before eventually putting in place the police escort Austin has begged for and letting the man use a tape recorder. The film is thus framed by him, allowing Austin to recount his entire story in the hour and a half that follows before his police escort (finally) arrives. It's hardly the sharpest use of this device, and the latter return feels particularly silly as Austin yammers on with his back to the door. Still, it sets up nicely the gradual transition Austin undergoes while also assuring the viewer that the characters will remain safe for the duration.

Such a forceful play for viewers' emotions as what The Captive City does, even including a postscript of sorts from the then-junior United States Senator from Tennessee Estes Kefauver, straddles a pretty fine line between entertainment and propaganda. On the one hand there's little to argue against when the villains are racketeers and mobsters threatening small towns but, expand just a little, and the target perhaps turns into all outsiders and anyone whose opinions deviate from the local mainstream. That's where the trouble potentially starts. Just taken at face value, The Captive City's staunch imploring of local communities to fight corruption is undeniably commendable. This is the central conflict in the film, where Austin discovers that the illegal little gambling joints in the town have been overtaken by outside organized crime. Even if numbers games start out local they can attract the attention of bigger fish who will also introduce violence and even murder to the town.


Two of these victims emerge in the film. The second is discovered by her shrieking landlady and a more resigned Austin. Wise (and, perhaps, the censors) avoids showing the body. Much more striking is the treatment of the first murder victim, Nelson, who's run down in an alley. Just as the camera closes in on the man about to be smashed by a car, the film cuts to the opening of a trumpet during a performance. The blaring of the horn substitutes for his scream in a brilliant transition. Another shot of note, earlier in the picture, has Forsythe enter the frame to answer the phone right in front of the camera while inside the printing room. It's a minor instance but The Captive City doesn't otherwise have very many interesting visual cues, using an inordinate amount of close-ups and two-shots. It's not built with the slick and shadows usually seen in a city in film noir and the angles rarely call attention to themselves.

Wise here again is establishing himself as a versatile pro rather than a more stylistically prominent auteur. That said, his previously released film The Day the Earth Stood Still is not a half-bad point of comparison in some regards. It too shows a typical locale being revealed as rather rotten beneath the surface. Here it's a consequence of Austin trying to stamp out the encroaching organized crime (with the word "Mafia" actually uttered at one point in the film) and the locals being resistant to having their small time gambling taken away despite increasingly serious ramifications. The chief of police tells Austin late in the picture that upon taking office he asked around to find out what sort of law enforcement the people of the town wanted, only to be assured that they were interested in something strict but not too strict. Thus, carry out the law only when it's convenient to them. That kind of philosophy calls into question who's really the most dangerous to the town's continued success - those from the outside or the ones on the inside.

The Disc

The Captive City becomes one of the more notable selections included in MGM's Limited Edition Collection, a fancy way of describing its made-on-demand service. These titles can be purchased at a number of R1 online retail sites. The DVD-R is single-layered and comes housed in a standard keepcase with viciously cool cover art and less nifty graphics on the reverse side.

The film is in its proper 1.33:1 aspect ratio despite the back of the case listing "wide screen." An odd quirk has the disc image actually in widescreen, at 1.78:1, but with thick black borders framing the movie at the sides for a pillarbox effect. It's a decent enough transfer, soft at times but agreeable on the whole and progressive. Some scenes also look perhaps a little too bright. That strong, defined monochrome with deep blacks and complementary greys just isn't here. Damage is nonexistent aside from the usual hint of white speckles. The amount of grain is fine and pretty much as expected. There might be some noticeable noise but it's of minimal concern.

A smooth, clean audio track is free from any significant hiss or crackle. The English mono handles dialogue well. Forsythe's narration has a more distant sound to it but this would pretty clearly seem to be inherent to the film. No subtitles are available.

There are also no extra features.

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