Portland Exposé

This is a tough look at the difference between unions and criminally controlled protection. Portland is a peculiar setting for a film noir. It works well, though: The opening narrative begins like a travelogue and gradually shifts into comments on the city's corruption.

The cast is excellent. It's not always the most beautiful looking group. The ingénue, who is pretty, wears her hair slicked back with what looks like Brylcreme. Virginia Gregg, the notable radio actress playing her mother, looks a little old for the role and tired.

It's a twisted movie, though. Catch this: Frank Gorshin, of all people, plays a hit man who is also a pedophile! That's a new one on me -- though child molestation does figure in that great classic of weirdness, film noir, and beauty "The Naked Kiss" a few years later.

The bit players add a lot. There's a scene, just a throwaway, in which a blonde playing a slot machine yells "Jackpot!" and goes into paroxysms of glee as the camera moves away and dumps her.

And the portly older gal imported to Portland to oversee the b-girl business is fabulous. We meet her as she gets off a plane and totters along in her high heels, fur stole wrapped defiantly around her. Her description of her "girls" is priceless: It prefigures the introduction Melanie Griffith provides herself in "Body Double" decades later.

Make no mistake: This is a serious movie. It was obviously done on the cheap. But it's done with great style.

No it's Not...New York, L. A., Chicago, Miami, Las Vegas, Kansas City, or even Phoenix...it's Portland.

Another City Cracked-Open Exposing Vice, Corruption, and Organized Crime Beneath the "All-American" Facade...

"People here go to a lot of nice Churches"...

says a Voice-Over Open Warning that these Folks are being Preyed-Upon by Gangsters, Organized or Other-Wise and Your Government is "On-the-Case" and "Looking Out For You".

Almost a Forced "Survival" for Hollywood, that by 1950 the "Movie-Machine" better get with the "Program"...

and Back-Out of the "Back-Alleys" and Offer Affirming "Procedurals" with a "Propagandized" Core of Government, Law Enforcement, and Politicians that were "Fighting the Good Fight"...

and that Depressing, Dark-Side of Life where Film-Noir was "Born and Raised" for a Decade was No Longer Fit for the Living-Rooms of the Nuclear-Family of Eisenhower-Era "Pre-Cognizance".

Among the Direction and Trend that "Pure" Film-Noir Morphed Into was a Sub-Genre that became Known as "Police Procedurals"...

and a Sub-Genre of that was the Run of "City-Expose" that had an Almost Yearly Entry During the 1950's. Most of the Movies were at Least Watchable Crime-Action Melodramas and some were Excellent and a Few were "Great"...

Considered one of the Best was "Kansas City Confidential" (1952), there were others almost as good, Like "The Phoenix City Story (1955), and as a Whole, None were Bad or Awful.

This is One of the Better Ones.

Although its Low-Budget Rears its Miserly Head Once in a While, the Movie more than Makes Up for that Shortcoming with some Really Gritty, Sleazy, and Hard-Boiled Stuff.

Frank Gorshin Makes a Mark as a Convicted Pedophile that Immediately Tries to Rape a High School Girl (Carolyn Craig)...and its Not Shy with the Visuals.

She is the daughter of Edward Binns, who the Low-Life Mobsters Lean On to Play-Ball, allowing Pin-Ball and Slots, in His Roadside Restaurant and Bar, with Hints of Gambling and Prostitution Down the Road.

Nothing Here is Restrained and Pushes the Code Quite Often with its Girls, Torture (a bottle of "acid" is luridly lingered upon), Violence (one Goon is cut in half, as another one grins, by a steaming locomotive), and of course Corruption.

Of Everyone and Everything, Including (this is the 50's)...Unions).

Our Hero Wears a Wire. It's as Big as a Shoe-Box.

This is a No Holds-Barred Entry in the Sub-Genre of the Sub-Genre.

For Fans of Film-Noir, Crime, Gangsters, and Low-Brow Pulp-Fiction, it's a Must See.

For Others.... Worth a Watch.

Based on a "True Story" the opening scene features a panoramic view of Portland as the narration extols the beauty, culture and incredible atmosphere of the city as a wonderful place to raise a family. Sounds like Paradise but...it seems the town has been overran by murderous rival crime syndicates vying for control of the lucrative pinball vending business.

Filmed in a semi-documentary style, Portland Expose reveals the sordid, corrupt side of the City of Roses. The movie follows the plight of local barkeeper George Madison (Edward Binns) as he becomes entangled with the criminal underworld after he agrees to have a pinball machine placed in his tavern. Soon the syndicate forces him to place even more machines and his formerly quiet pub becomes a hangout for the 'wrong crowd'. Regretting his decision Madison decides to fight back after his daughter (Carolyn Craig) is attacked in the parking lot by a syndicate thug (Frank Gorshin). With the cooperation of local officials Madison decides to go undercover to gather evidence to expose the rackets.

The movie draws inspiration from the detective exploitation magazines of the era that promised behind the scenes sordid details. The stories were usually presented in a lascivious manner to maximize sensationalism as they followed the crime investigation through the eyes of the investigators. Tame by today's standards, the film pushed the boundaries into the acceptable content of the time. Though it's a fairly typical 1950's matinee programmer, Portland Exposé weaves a pretty fair noirish tale. Gritty and not highly stylized, it features ensemble cast composed of prolific career character actors (Binns, Virginia Gregg, Russ Conway, Lawrence Dobkin, Frank Gorshin, Rusty Lane, Joe Flynn) who manage to make the movie better than might be expected. All in all a watchable B crime flick.

This film begins with a rather unnecessary and stuffy prologue. Fortunately, despite this weak introduction, the film turns out to be a very, very tough film indeed--with thugs who are child molesters or threaten to throw acid in people's faces. This is NOT your typical 1950s Film Noir movie, but a hard as nails look at organized crime in a rather unexpected locale--Portland, Oregon.

You'll probably notice Virginia Gregg in the female lead. She was seen in 1001 "Dragnet" episodes. Edward Binns, a fine character actor whose name you probably won't recognize plays Gregg's husband--a man who is being forced by the local mob to play ball. Frank Gorshin, in a small but memorable role, plays the rapist who is so vile even the gang is disgusted by him.

As for the plot, it's a very familiar one--having been seen in such earlier films as LOAN SHARK and APPOINTMENT WITH DANGER. An honest guy is sick of the mob, so he agrees to join them in order to get evidence to prosecute them. In this case, Binns pretends to be a rather worldly and not too honest man who is interested in moving up in the organization. However, despite being familiar, the film is handled well and is more than just another time-passer.

PORTLAND EXPOSE is another one of those films from the 1950's that purports to expose the crime, vice, sin and corruption of some major city. Think of all the films with a major city in the title followed by : "expose", "story", "syndicate", and "confidential". Perhaps someone with a lot of time on their hands should put together a list. Then again, perhaps not.

In this film Edward Binns plays a honest tavern owner who is forced to go into partnership with the mob. At first he goes along, but decides to fight the mob when one of the mobsters tries to rape his daughter.

PORTLAND EXPOSE a conventionally made low-budget crime thriller from the fifties. Like many films of this genre, the ads claimed it is based on a true story. The film is a bit rougher than some other films from the period. In one scene Binns' daughters boyfriend suggest they go to a hotel for a night of...well you know, because he thinks she is loose because he knows that her fathers tavern has been used by the mob as a pickup place for hookers. Then mob thug Frank Gorshin tries to rape her. Its also mentioned that Gorshins character did time for a sexual offense involving children. Pretty rough stuff for a 1957 low budget crime thriller.