thejcowboy22 Along the genre of film noir despite the year, this movie is an excellent example of a period piece. Pre- Kennedy era Los Angeles with the cars and wardrobe of a bygone era our main Character Vince Edwards is on the run, Hiding holding canister of death and unbeknownst to himself leaving a trail of (rads) radiation and illness to whomever he comes in contact with. The few that he physically murders are the lucky ones; the alternative would be a slow cancerous death. Film plot will hold your interest to see how long our star crook can hang on. Jerry Goldsmith's jazzy music adds to the flavor of the film. All in all Vince Edwards s shows his range of acting skill as a heavy as a race against time is essential in returning the deadly canister and sparing a city. This movie will hold your interest.

Marc Lamphier A completely awful film, from the wooden acting of the square-jawed, no-nonsense fat boys who are in search if the escapee, to the usual Hollywood plot device of not informing the public because "there will be mad panic!" (boy, has that one been milked over the years), to radioactivity that somehow leaves a contamination footprint behind even when the container was not opened. A lot of shots of police cars driving in formation, which I guess gives the appearance of men in action. But the low budget of this film meant a lot of actual street scenes of 1950s Hollywood, the cars, the stores, the people -- it is a nice time slip back a few decades, and fun to watch if for nothing else than the background.

Spikeopath City of Fear is directed by Irving Lerner and stars Vince Edwards, Lyle Talbot, John Archer and Steven Ritch. The latter of which co-wrote the screenplay with Robert Dillon. Music is scored by Jerry Goldsmith and cinematography by Lucien Ballard."Last night a convict by the name of Vince Ryker escaped from San Quentin. After stealing what he believed to contain a pound of pure heroin.....does not contain heroin, it contains Cobalt-60 in granular form." Cheap, compact but very effective B thriller from the tail end of the first noir cycle, City of Fear thrives on sweaty paranoia played out amongst Los Angeles locations. It's a ticking time bomb structure, convict man thinks he has a gold mine in his hands but actually holds something that is killing him by the hour. This lets in the police procedural aspects as the cops and scientists try to locate convict man and his radiation container. Urgent! Not only to save the convicts life, but also the city from probable disaster!OK, the science does not add up, nor does the fact that convict man never once gets to open the container to inspect his supposed golden haul! But the claustrophobic feel is high and the sense of doom married up to the helplessness of the protagonist, brings it into the noir universe. Ballard photographing is always a plus, though he does not get to show his considerable talents much here, while Goldsmith, in one of his first musical scoring assignments, couples dramatic thrusts with jazzy reflections to great effect. Edwards (Murder by Contract) makes for a good noir loser. 7/10

HeathCliff-2 It's not a classic by any means. But it has its virtues - the black and white cinematography, the great jazzy soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith, and particularly the extensive on-location shooting in and around Los Angeles. There are lots of scenes of 1950s cars cruising the street, store fronts and interiors - more than average, because they're looking for the protagonist. Living in LA, I especially enjoyed that. As for the plot, I've seen three or four similar plotted stories the last year - someone is contagious and threatens the city, or is carrying something radioactive, etc. This one had a slightly less plausible plot line, since the police weren't particularly protective. But I soaked up the ancillary elements - the acting was passable, the camera-work and lighting were above average - and I'm a sucker for the '50s.