99 River Street

99 River Street
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Phil Karlson
Produced by Edward Small
Screenplay by Robert Smith
Story by George Zuckerman
Starring John Payne
Evelyn Keyes
Brad Dexter
Frank Faylen
Peggie Castle
Music by Arthur Lange
Emil Newman
Cinematography Franz Planer
Edited by Buddy Small
Production
company
Edward Small Productions
Distributed by United Artists
Release date
  • August 21, 1953 (1953-08-21) (Los Angeles, California)
  • October 2, 1953 (1953-10-02) (New York City, New York)
  • October 3, 1953 (1953-10-03) (United States)
Running time
 83 minutes
Country United States
Language English

99 River Street is a 1953 film noir directed by Phil Karlson and starring John Payne, Evelyn Keyes, Brad Dexter, Frank Faylen, and Peggie Castle. It produced by Edward Small, with cinematography by Franz Planer.[1]

Plot

Ernie Driscoll is a former boxer who, after sustaining an injury in the ring severe enough to force him to give up prize fighting, is a New York taxi driver.

His wife, Pauline, unhappy living a hard-up life, is having an affair with the much better-heeled Victor Rawlins, who happens to be a thief. An arrangement Rawlins made, to be paid for a batch of diamonds he has stolen, falls through; his fence indicates it is the presence of Pauline that has impeded the deal. In an effort to rekindle it, Rawlins kills Pauline and attempts to frame Driscoll for the murder.

With the help of a female acquaintance, Driscoll tries to track down Rawlins before the criminal leaves the country.

Cast

Production

The film was originally known as Crosstown.[2]

Reception

The New York Times film critic gave the film a negative review, writing, "...is one of those tasteless melodramas peopled with unpleasant hoods, two-timing blondes and lots of sequences of what purports to be everyday life in the underworld. In this stale rehash, John Payne is a cabbie seething with dreams of what he might have been in the boxing world ... To say that this film is offensive would be kind; to point out that it induces an irritated boredom would be accurate. The defendants in this artistic felony are Robert Smith, the scenarist, and Phil Karlson, the director. It is interesting to ponder how Mr. Karlson managed to slip some objectionable scenes past the production code. Maybe it was just artistic license."[3]

References

  1. ↑ 99 River Street on IMDb .
  2. ↑ Review 1 -- No Title. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 13 Mar 1953: B9.
  3. ↑ The New York Times, film review, "Melodrama of Murder", October 3, 1953. Accessed: July 6, 2013.


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