Portland Exposé

Bit late for a vintage noir, by definition, and whilst not deeply caste in dark shadows throughout, makes up for this a little on the sleaze front. Competently made and presented as 'based on a true story' this is quite interesting for its detail on organised crime and its involvement at very modest levels with the help of 'rotten apple' police and corrupt union official plus assistance 'all the way to the top'. There are in fact some surprisingly sleazy moments, including a well shot and fairly vigorous attempted rape. There is also a super body disposal scene involving a train at night with the flashing lights of the carriages lighting up the killer's obvious delight. The central character is, however, just a little too much of a 'goodie two shoes' for my liking and the film does slow to a crawl at times when we have to consider the family implications. Worth a watch.

Portland Express (1957)

Overall, this is often a stilted affair, and it begins and ends with a canned voice-over about Portland, the Oregon city at the center of this unlikely crime scenario. And for people looking for noir, this is not noir at all, though it does have a kind of throwback to some gangster thugs, and there is a good twenty minutes of night stuff that has a noir look.

Portland Express is more about American innocence, and the surprise anachronism of these mobsters in fedoras pressuring a cute roadhouse into using their pinball machines. Which leads to bigger pressures.

The lead man is a small time movie and later t.v. character, Edward Binns, a solid but unexciting actor, sort of perfect for this solid but unexciting town (back then--now I hear it's solid and exciting). And his daughter is a complete unknown who acts her heart out, and really feels like a teenager on the cusp of womanhood in a realistic way. This matters because she becomes central to the plot, including in a harrowing and almost abusive rape scene (it pushes the violence very hard for a movie of this simplicity). But it's a turning point for Binns, the father, and for the plot, as this likable, ordinary family man goes undercover to get the bad guys.

Naturally, we root for him, and see the dismantling of the syndicate. It gets increasingly dark and desperate over time, and a bit unlikely, but you'll still want to watch to the end, when the cavalry arrives--a group of ordinary men in plaid shirts who rush in to save the day. It's not as hilarious as it sounds. There is a quality of really beautiful, ordinary middle-America here that resonates, and that helps show this is really a 1950s movie. It's widescreen black and white, and a genuine slice of its period.

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.

A tavern owner helps authorities get the goods on gangs trying to take over a labor union.

This Lindsley Parsons production is one of the many "confidential" or "expose" films of the time. Usually the tabloid title would include the name of a city whose supposed racketeers the movie would then expose. This movie appears inspired by the acid blinding of New York City labor reporter Victor Riesel in 1956 for his investigations into labor racketeering in that city.

The low-budget Parsons outfit may have produced this programmer, but they managed two key assets, despite the lowly origins. First, they got heavyweight actor Ed Binns for the lead, along with familiar face Virginia Gregg and that fine little actress Carolyn Craig. What Binns lacks in marquee value, he makes up for in sheer talent, having been one of the Twelve Angry Men (1957) in that powerhouse film of the same year.

Second, the movie did extensive location filming in Portland, lending the visuals both interest and a realistic air. The woodsy tavern, in particular, looks genuine instead of the usual Hollywood fakery. Then too, the screenplay manages some suspense, especially when Madison (Binns) goes undercover. But the highlight may be hoodlum Joe's (Gorshin) attempted rape of sweet little Ruth (Craig). It's pretty explicit for the time.

If there's a downside, in my book, it's the absence of real menace from any of the bad guys (contrast with the subtle menace of kingpin Edward Andrews' in Phenix City Story {1955}). All in all, however, the movie manages a number of interesting features without being anything special.

(In passing—Catch sexpot Jeanne Carmen (Iris) who was Marilyn Monroe's "bosom buddy" in more obvious ways than one. Also, such a shame that Carolyn Craig died so young and under rather mysterious circumstances, as well.)

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.