The Phenix City Story (1955)

The greatest movie ever made..!

Thanks for the memories!

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

"The Phenix City Story" is a 1955 film based on the true story of an Alabama town that was full of crime and corruption, with everyone turning a blind eye. The story focuses on John Patterson (Richard Kiley) who returns to Phenix City from the war with his wife and two children. His father Albert (John McIntyre) is an attorney but won't get involved in taking on the bad guys who run the town's bars and gambling establishments, which use marked cards and other devices so that the house always wins.When the violence grows bad enough, the senior Patterson is talked into running for Attorney General. The question is, will he live long enough to be sworn in? The first part of this film is a series of interviews with town citizens, and I'll be honest, it's incredibly boring. The film, directed by Phil Karlson, was made very cheaply (the sound has an echo). However, it's the gritty location shots and low budget that gives "The Phenix City Story" its sleazy atmosphere.Richard Kiley does a very good job as John Patterson while Lenka Peterson, who plays his wife, is one of the worst actresses of the last century. Some of the acting, in fact, isn't very good. McIntyre is very convincing, as are the bad guys: Edward Andrews and John Larch, most notably. Theater performers Jean Carson and her husband Biff McGuire both have roles, as does Kathryn Grant, later Mrs. Bing Crosby.This of course isn't the whole story. John Patterson eventually becomes not only Attorney General but Governor and waged a huge anti-crime fight. He increased funding for the mentally ill as well as funding for highways and established anti-loan sharking legislation. Despite his support for JFK and Obama, he was also a rampant segregationist and refused to allow the NAACP to operate in Alabama, refused police protection for freedom rides, and was backed by the Ku Klux Klan. So I think we can assume that one part of this film was a complete fabrication.

I did enjoy the movie, and found it especially interesting because it was based on a true story. My rating would be based mostly on the fact that it was not a fictional story. Many of the actors were old familiar faces that I've seen so many times over the years on television and the movies. The acting by the more established actors was reasonably good, while the performances by some of the lesser or unknown actors left something to be desired.After watching it, I thought I would see if I could find out some more facts about the whole incident. I did some research on John Malcom Patterson (son of the murdered father) and found out that he eventually became the governor of Alabama. The article on Wikipedia about him, especially about his time as governor just prior to George Wallace, sheds a different light on the man who was the hero of the story. It was a bit disappointing to read these negative things about him.

Sometimes rush jobs really work out, like Phenix City Story. Consider that the movie was scripted, shot, and processed in less than a year after the triggering event of Patterson's murder. Credit the producers or someone for coming up with a first-rate cast, a marvelous director, and a big enough budget for location filming in the actual Phenix City. The result is the best of the "city expose" movies so popular at the time.There's a rawness to the violence here that's more convincing than usual, in part because of director Karlson's "feel" for the material and also because it appears to grow organically out of the seedy surroundings of honky-tonks and carousing soldiers on leave from Fort Benning. Credit too the fine, underrated Edward Andrews for blending oily charm with ruthless violence, just the qualities needed to run an operation of that sort. Kiley too delivers in spades, his rage unusually intense and realistic. The only questionable note is Katherine Grant's Ellie, seemingly too sweet and naïve for a dealer in a crooked set-up.Getting Karlson was a real coup. He was just hitting his stride as a top crime drama director during this period. His staging of the little girl's murder is a real grabber, along with the parking lot beating. In fact, the movie has an unusually pervasive atmosphere of unrestrained evil. Credit should also go to screenwriter Dan Mainwaring for a good tight script and some timely notes on the downside of vigilantism. Apparently, the lengthy prologue was added to ease censorship concerns, and, aside from historical value, can easily be skipped.Anyway, the film's a must-see for B-movie fans, a happy coming together of a number of underrated Hollywood talents.

This movie isn't as slick looking as a normal average Hollywood production. It obviously had a low budget to spend and did not had the most talented and best known actors involved. But this all works to the movie its own advantage really. It gives the movie a certain raw edge and also realism. This movie doesn't progress as a normal Hollywood movie, with the usual melodramatic undertones. It's a movie that doesn't waste any time and is a real straight-forward one.It's a quite daring movie because it isn't afraid to show things as they really are. The town in this movie is a real rotten one, with corruption and crime everywhere. It's all also really based on true events, which happened just very shortly before the movie began shooting. It was a fast made movie, which made it also a relevant one at its time. In a way you could say that this is a movie as well as a documentary and news-reel. Also since at the start of the movie some of the real people involved are getting interviewed about the events.The movie doesn't try to make anything look better than they really were. This means that the movie also have some surprises in it, that can have a real shocking effect as well. It all adds to the movie its realism and raw feeling and atmosphere that hangs over it. It helps to make the movie a real effective one.Its story also definitely makes this movie an intriguing one. The story seems simple, since it doesn't waste any time on side-plots but it's simple a solid and involving one. It's about fighting for justice and stand up against the well established organized crime. It's a powerful story that works out well in the movie. It's a movie that is incredibly effective, especially when you consider its production values and the limited time it got done in all.A great movie, with a great approach.9/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/