Portland Exposé

"Portland Exposé" follows a tavern owner in Portland, Oregon in the mid-20th-century who finds himself a linchpin to a crime syndicate's gambling racket after installing their pinball machines in his business. His attempts to overthrow them endanger the life of himself and his family.

This low-budget film noir is one of the more slick, gritty, and iron-fisted out there, but it's unfortunately been largely forgotten. It's a B-movie through and through, and while it does suffer some pacing issues and a lack of development, it is at times surprisingly shocking. It depicts rape attempts (including a preemptory one from a teenage girl's boyfriend), and other types of violence that are a bit shocking given the time it was made. It also depicts prostitution in a manner that is frank, reminiscent of how the subject is treated in pre-Code films like "The Story of Temple Drake."

Based on a series of crimes committed by real-life kingpin Jim Elkins, the screenplay never really fleshes out the inner workings of the syndicate or how exactly all of this ties together in the context of the labor unions, and that is probably its biggest trouble. At a quick-paced 72 minutes, there is not sufficient time to elucidate all of this. Where the film makes up for it is in its photography and acting, particularly that of Edward Binns as the tavern proprietor, Virginia Gregg as his concerned wife, and genre favorite Carolyn Craig (probably best known for her role in the original "House on Haunted Hill") as their tormented teenage daughter. All of the acting is surprisingly believable, and the scenarios pack a further punch because of it. The film possesses a borderline-documentary style that recalls 1955's "Kiss Me Deadly," though this film is far less surreal.

All in all, "Portland Exposé" is a solid film noir/thriller that largely succeeds on the basis of its performances and overall tone. It's a dark and gritty film noir, and has a certain kind of bitterness about it that makes it memorable even though it has narrative shortcomings. 7/10.

Edward Binns stars in this B movie about a tavern owner in Portland who is offered a jukebox, a pinball machine, and a slot machine to install.

However, a tough syndicate takes over the area and begins controlling the business, turning it into a hard-core gambling establishment that includes B girls.

At first, family man George Madison goes along after his family is threatened. However, one night, a thug that likes jail bait (Frank Gorshin) nearly rapes his daughter (Carolyn Craig). Madison sends his family away and agrees to go undercover, wearing a wire.

Nothing special, the underdog against a crime syndicate. However, it does show a wholesome American '50s family up against the sleazeballs. It's also fairly gritty.

The story is based on Portland crime boss Big Jim Elkins.

Jeanne Carmen, purportedly a close confidant of Marilyn Monroe, does a terrific job as the B girl who exposes Madison as undercover. Carmen claimed knowledge of Monroe and the Kennedys.

After the death of Monroe, Jimmy Rosselli, who worked for Sam Giancana, told get to leave Hollywood as her life was in danger. She lived incognito for over a decade. However, her stories have been questioned and denied by those who knew Monroe.

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.

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.