99 River Street
99 River Street | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Phil Karlson |
Screenplay by | Robert Smith |
Story by | George Zuckerman |
Produced by | Edward Small |
Starring | John Payne Evelyn Keyes Brad Dexter Frank Faylen Peggie Castle |
Cinematography | Franz Planer |
Edited by | Buddy Small |
Music by | Arthur Lange Emil Newman |
Production company | Edward Small Productions |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release dates |
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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
- John Payne as Ernie Driscoll
- Evelyn Keyes as Linda James
- Brad Dexter as Victor Rawlins
- Frank Faylen as Stan Hogan
- Peggie Castle as Pauline Driscoll
- Jay Adler as Christopher
- Jack Lambert as Mickey
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
- ^ 99 River Street at IMDb.
- ^ Review 1 -- No Title. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 13 Mar 1953: B9.
- ^ The New York Times, film review, "Melodrama of Murder", October 3, 1953. Accessed: July 6, 2013.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- 99 River Street at IMDb
- 99 River Street at AllMovie
- 99 River Street at the TCM Movie Database
- 99 River Street informational site and DVD review at DVD Beaver (includes images)
- 99 River Street film trailer on YouTube