The Phenix City Story

Phenix City, Alabama is a corrupt city of sin bringing lowlifes and soldiers from the neighboring base. Journalist Clete Roberts presents the murder of Albert Patterson presumably by mobster Rhett Tanner who has control of the corrupted government and police. Patterson is the Democrat nominee for Alabama Attorney General tasked with cleaning up the city. The heart of the movie is the amiable respected lawyer Albert Patterson being recruited to run for the post as violence mounts against the good people of the city.

This is a ripped-from-the-headlines story. It starts with a documentary style prologue like a real news report. Although it has documentary style and real life story, many parts of this is fictional. Nevertheless, there is real tension. It starts a little muddled but the tension does rise as the unrelenting violence mount. It has brutality that is beyond cinematic. Even women and children are beaten. The callousness of the corrupt police is just as brutal. It probably needs to give the father son relationship more screen time. It needs to develop the story better. Overall, there are some memorable scenes and it is an unique film.

Thought-provoking story of corruption in 1950s Alabama. Realistic characters and an air of menace make this a compulsory watch. The longer version - with the 12 min introduction - is the one to see.

Good performances and some harrowing scenes make this the best film of 1955. 7/10

"The Phenix City Story" is a brutal, hard-hitting docudrama about what was once dubbed the "wickedest town in America." The film documents the events that led up to the murder by the Phenix City crime syndicate of Albert Patterson, an Alabama attorney who made a bid for the state attorney general's office as a way to clean up the vice and corruption plaguing his hometown. His son, John Patterson, picked up his father's mantle after his death and won the post, making clean up of Phenix City a primary item on his agenda.

Director Phil Karlson created a film that has the ability to shock even today. The grimness is so relentless that the film is actually difficult to watch. We see the crime syndicate beat and kill in order to get what they want -- the beatings and killings include women and children, and one scene in particular, revolving around the death of a little black girl, is especially disturbing. It's not exactly an enjoyable film, because there's very little payoff at the end to reward the viewer for sitting through the infuriating events leading up to it, but it's a well made film, full of an intense and angry energy.

A 15-minute prologue includes a series of interviews with the actual inhabitants of Phenix City, some of who are then portrayed by actors in the fictional portion of the film. It lends the film a quality of urgency that carries over into the narrative, so that we feel like we're watching a documentary the entire time, a feeling that's helped by Karlson's choice to film on actual locations.

I'm glad I saw this movie, but it's one of those films that fills you with a sense of righteous indignation and then makes you feel helpless because you can't do anything about it.

Grade: A

Whether your a fan of Noir or not, The Phenix City Story remains superior filmaking on all levels regardless of it's budget and lack of special effects. While some may laugh at substituting a doll briefly for a dead child; it's follow up scene continues to have as much shocking impact today as it did upon it's release. To say this is textbook noir filmaking is too small as by all standards The Phenix City Story is the barometer by which crime, realism, fistfights and expose cinema is measured up to.

Before the actual film begins, there is a 13-minute newsreel-style preface hosted by Clete Roberts in which he interviews the actual participants. Interestingly, this was done while the criminal cases discussed in the film were actually still being prosecuted.

This film is a film noir-like film that dramatizes the actual story about the town of Phenix, Alabama--a city run by gamblers and organized crime. It seems that in the 1940s and 50s, all kinds of vice was ignored by cops and city officials who were paid to look the other way. As a result, the soldiers in nearby Fort Benning were routinely cheated and had little, if any recourse. Eventually when local citizens tried to stand up for law and order, the mob resorted to threats and even murder to hold on to their power.

Unlike the typical film of the day, the scenes are quite brutal and violent. The only sour note is the scene of the child being tossed onto the lawn--it's obviously a dummy. There is also a lot of brutal and frank language--some of which might offend you, though it does lend the film an authentic sound. And, despite having mostly smaller caliber actors, they generally did very well. An odd note was having Richard Kiley of all people playing a tough action hero--he just wasn't the sort of guy you'd expect to see acting with his fists. Overall, this is an excellent low-budget film--well worth seeing.

The only question I have about all this is how much is true and how much was changed for the film? According to IMDb the Attorney General was not quite the saint you see in the film, but what about the other facts? I'd sure like to know more.