Whispering City (Otsep, 1947)

Whispering City (Fyodor Otsep, 1947) is the English language version of La forteresse produced simultaneously by the same crew. Ostep is a Russian expat. The main actors in Whispering City are American, but the rest are French-Canadian. Many reviews claim that the French version is much better, but I have not yet seen it.

It is a peculiar movie. It appears to me to be feeding off of conventions of Hollywood genre cinema, but gets them mixed up. The majority of the film, including the premise, is very much rooted in the Film Noir tradition. It tries its best to use as much Noir iconography as possible (decanted liquor, cigarettes, hats, guns, etc..).

Some important aspects of the Film Noir are missing. There is no 'femme fatale'. Instead, the witty, fast-talking, news reporter main female character, Mary Roberts (Mary Anderson) seems to be pulled straight from a screwball comedy (à la His Girl Friday [Howard Hawks, 1940]). There is some use of light/shadow, but very little. There is no real sense of claustrophobic spaces. The concept of the 'mean streets of the urban city' is underplayed by the picturesque location of Québec City.

There are some scenes that work extremely well, and make for a compelling story. There are other though, that seem so contrived, and make such an attempt to be 'Hollywood' that they are merely laughable. It is an entertaining film, that may leave a viewer that is conscious of Hollywood conventions, and that this film was made in Canada chuckling.