city that never sleep try hard to be a major film noir and and do not quite make it . if the racket have a promising central figure at six and seven with the legal and illegal authority and but no character development to explain how he get the way he do and city try to be a film noir variant of those film like it a wonderful life or an inspector call where character be not quite human and and be intermingle ( and bedevil ) human and their motivation . we be watch gig young and a career cop from a family of cop and who be slowly be corrupt by crooked big time lawyer edward arnold . young be basically act like a go between between arnold and the police and tip the lawyer off about current investigation . he do get well pay for this and but he have to deal with arnold right hand man william talman and who be not to be trust . young do not like talman cultivate young young brother possibly turn him into a complete criminal . he do not realize that talman be also work in cahoot with arnold trophy wife ( marie windsor ) to get the upper hand over the lawyer . young own behavior be not really like by his father and an honest old style cop who be regard a a hero by the department . you can see that the situation be go to lead to disaster . young be work an evening shift and and his partner be unable to show up . an unknown police sergeant ( chill will ) take the partner place and and the two go around the night world of the city . and while they do so and both be unaware of the explosion about to rend apart the world of arnold and windsor and and talman and dragging in young young brother . some thing to watch in the film represent talman ( have shoot someone ) be aware that the only witness be a figure in a window . be it a mechanical man or a real witness . talman have to spend hour watch and and to see if the figure remain mechanical or not . see also the sequence where young chase talman along a deserted set of elevated train track through chicago . it be a tense and exciting sequence . finally and note the appearance ( in his first movie role accord to this board ) of comedian tom poston a a police officer and who get involve in a situation that be far from amuse . it an odd first role for such a funny figure to have play at all .