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VICTOR MCLAGLEN WITH ANTHONY CARUSO IN 'CITY OF SHADOWS'

Title: CITY OF SHADOWS Year: 1955 Rating: ***1/2

Basically a reworking of the James Cagney early-1930's action/crime G-MEN in which he's funded by a mentoring, father-like, business-minded gangster to become a lawyer in the big guy's pocket... 

In the Cagney flick, he chooses to work for the FBI instead... and here youngster-turned-twenty-something Jack Baer gets in a relationship with full-lipped b-movie beauty Kathleen Crowley, both seeing the shady errors in endearing mobster Victor McLaglen's ways, far too soon...

Anthony Caruso and Victor McLaglen in CITY OF SHADOWS

With greedy henchman Anthony Caruso backed by muscular goon Richard Reeves, the misleadingly titled CITY OF SHADOWS... never really involving a particular city while mostly taking place in the bright shadowless daylight... could have been a walloping 1950's classic-gangster-throwback...

And while the villains mostly spout their planning-stages dialogue behind closed doors, and the couple never have to deal with flirtatious secretary June Vincent's abandoned potential, the 70-minute programmer-length potboiler (feeling rushed and edited-down from the usual 90-minute runtime) is still an effective little ride. 

Kathleen Crowley in CITY OF SHADOWS

Kay E. Kuter with Jimmy Grohman and Victor McLaglen in CITY OF SHADOWS
Anthony Caruso and Victor McLaglen in CITY OF SHADOWS
Nicolas Coster in CITY OF SHADOWS
Kathleen Crowley in CITY OF SHADOWS with Nicholas Coster
Kathleen Crowley in CITY OF SHADOWS
Kathleen Crowley in CITY OF SHADOWS with Richard Reeves
Kathleen Crowley in CITY OF SHADOWS with Jack Baer
Jack Baer and Victor McLaglen in CITY OF SHADOWS
From CITY OF SHADOWS
June Vincent and Jack Baer in CITY OF SHADOWS
June Vincent and Jack Baer in CITY OF SHADOWS
Kathleen Crowley in CITY OF SHADOWS
Richard Travis and Nicolas Coster in CITY OF SHADOWS
Anthony Caruso and Victor McLaglen in CITY OF SHADOWS with June Vincent
Anthony Caruso and Richard Reeves in CITY OF SHADOWS
June Vincent, Jack Baer and Kathleen Crowley in CITY OF SHADOWS
Jack Baer and Kathleen Crowley in CITY OF SHADOWS
Anthony Caruso in CITY OF SHADOWS
Anthony Caruso and Kay E. Kuter in CITY OF SHADOWS
Anthony Caruso in CITY OF SHADOWS
Jack Baer, Kathleen Crowley and Victor McLaglen in CITY OF SHADOWS
Victor McLaglen in CITY OF SHADOWS

 

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