While the City Sleeps is a 1928 American silent crime drama film about a tough New York City police detective, played by Lon Chaney, out to catch a murdering gangster. The film was directed by Jack Conway, written by Andrew Percival Younger, and co-starred Anita Page, Carroll Nye, Wheeler Oakman, and Mae Busch.
The sets were designed by Cedric Gibbons. Sam and Jack Feinberg (Chaney's set musicians) also played uncredited roles in the film; they can be seen playing in the band at Skeeter's nightclub, and also in the street scene where Mae Busch's body is found dead in her car. The movie was filmed on location in Los Angeles, and Lt. Roy Harlacher of the LAPD served as Chaney's technical advisor.
The film was originally to be called either Chinatown or Easy Money. The film was in production from April 12, 1928 to May 18, 1928, and cost $259,000 to produce. The worldwide box office gross was $1,035,000. A still exists showing Chaney in the role of Detective Dan Coghlan.
Plot
The film focuses on the 'Plain Clothes Men', a group of detectives dressed up as average citizens to catch criminals without being noticed. They are especially hated by the underworld due to their constant meeting, during which suspects are analyzed and interrogated extensively. Among the staff is Dan Coghlan (Lon Chaney), a police officer with flat feet and a tough disposition, who is unsatisfied with the lack of adventure. As he is about to quit his job, he is noticed about a croaked jeweler. When arriving there, he finds "Mile-Away" Skeeter Carlson (Wheeler Oakman), a crook who never gets busted for the crimes he commits due to a lack of evidence. (He always claims he was "a mile away" from the crime scene.)
Dan decides to follow him, and after talking to Skeeter's low-life girlfriend Bessie (Mae Busch) without gaining any information, he prevents Skeeter from seducing young Myrtle Sullivan (Anita Page), an innocent flapper who finds excitement in hanging out with crooks. Dan has assigned himself as Myrtle's care-taker, and he disapproves of her boyfriend Marty (Carroll Nye), a dapper gangster without a job. When Skeeter is out of town for two days, Dan grasps this opportunity to manipulate Bessie. After convincing her that Skeeter is planning to dump her for Myrtle, Bessie rats on Skeeter and admits that he murdered the jeweler.
Without wasting any time, Dan sets out to bust Skeeter and his gang, only to find out that one of them is Marty. Shortly after, Bessie's dead body is found in her car, and Dan is convinced that Skeeter is responsible for her death, considering that she was going to testify against him. The case against Skeeter is dismissed by the court, and he immediately reveals his plan to murder Marty. Dan overhears this conversation, and hurries to protect Marty only to catch him in the midst of a fur warehouse robbery. Even though he could turn him in, Dan orders the police to leave Marty alone and helps the young man to go straight, provided that Marty leave town.
Before leaving town, Marty wants to meet Myrtle one last time and sends her a letter, but Skeeter reads it before she can receive it. He tries to force himself on her, but he is interrupted by a police raid. Before they open the door, Skeeter fires a shot right through it - which kills a cop - and then gets away. Upon finding out that Myrtle will testify against him, Skeeter sets out to kill her. Meanwhile, Dan tells Myrtle against his better judgment that he loves her and then proposes marriage to her. Even though she is actually in love with Marty, Myrtle accepts, really just out of gratitude for all that Dan has done for her.
Afterwards, Dan leaves to find Skeeter, and catches him and his men preparing for a get-away. It results in a climactic shootout, during which several policemen and gangsters are killed. Skeeter's men give up after being attacked by tear gas bombs, but Skeeter finds a way to escape onto the rooftop. Dan follows him there, and after yet another shootout, Skeeter is killed. Meanwhile, Marty returns to town in a rage after finding out about Dan and Myrtle's engagement. Marty proposes to Myrtle, but she decides to stay loyal to Dan. Dan realizes that she really loves Marty, and arranges for them to get hitched. Dan tells Marty "You go marry that girl, but if you ever make her unhappy, I'll break your neck!"