Were this film intact, there might be a good chance I could rate it 8 out of 10, but in its current form, it's hard to fully evaluate the story and characters. Several supporting characters (the ones played by Mae Busch and Polly Moran in particular) seem to have whole scenes missing, and the key scenes often have large chunks gone. For example, one character is killed by the bad guy, but we have no clue how she died-- she just ends up dead in a car on the way to court. Is that a plot hole or the inevitable result of a lost bit of footage?
It's a shame because WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS appears to be a fun gangster romp with Chaney giving a lived-in performance as an Irish-American gumshoe. While the obligatory unrequited love subplot is a bit icky (Anita Page was a minor when they filmed it and the age difference is very, very obvious), the rest of the story is good fun, full of shoot-outs and deception. As a big Chaney fan, I would love to see the whole thing or at least a restoration which tells the viewer what information is missing.
It's a shame because WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS appears to be a fun gangster romp with Chaney giving a lived-in performance as an Irish-American gumshoe. While the obligatory unrequited love subplot is a bit icky (Anita Page was a minor when they filmed it and the age difference is very, very obvious), the rest of the story is good fun, full of shoot-outs and deception. As a big Chaney fan, I would love to see the whole thing or at least a restoration which tells the viewer what information is missing.