The Captive City (1952) on Netflix
Newspaper editor Jim Austin asks why a private detective died in Kennington. He turns up bookmaking, a police department that tolerated it and a gangster new in town.
- Watch on NetflixThis title is not on Netflix right now. Please check back later for updates.
- Watch on Prime
- Watch on NordVPN
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.6/101,500 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes70%
Trailer
Plot summary
Jim Austin edits and co-owns a newspaper in Kennington, where he lives with his wife Marge. Private detective Clyde Nelson dies, and Austin questions the police account of it. Nelson had been looking into a divorce case for Mrs. Sirak and had found local officers complicit in illegal gambling; Mrs. Sirak's ex-husband Murray is a bookmaker. Goaded by the chief of police, Austin begins his own investigation and learns that the gangster Dominick Fabretti has moved into town. Sirak offers Austin a bribe to drop it, and Austin and Marge are harassed. The city fathers, the police and other respectable residents treat the betting as inevitable, and Austin's partner pulls the paper's support.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Captive City (1952)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Director Robert Wise screened The Captive City for Senator Estes Kefauver, who endorsed the film and provided a written statement in the prologue; Kefauver also appears in the epilogue cautioning audiences about the evils of organized crime.
- The Captive City's screenplay was inspired by the Kefauver Committee hearings of 1950-1951, whose televised broadcast drew great public interest and educated a broad audience about municipal corruption and organized crime.
