TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

robertguttman John Payne was better known for playing nice guys rather than Film- Noir characters, but he certainly comes through in this one. He plays a washed-up boxer turned cab driver whose wife no longer cares for him and has taken up with a gangster. When the gangster commits a robbery her presence complicates matters, so he kills her and frames her husband for her murder. Aided by a actress-acquaintance he struggles to catch up with the real murderer before the police catch up with him, simultaneously competing against a fence whom the gangster robbed, and who now wants the gangster dead. This is classic Film-Noir, abetted by such familiar Film-Noir standbys as Evelyn Keyes, Brad Dexter, Jay Adler, Frank Faylen and Jack Lambert. Each of these characters seems perfectly at home in a night-world in which virtually everybody is up to no good. Movies like this were never taken very seriously at the time. They were known simply as "Crime Melodramas" and most of them, including this one, were produced as low-budget B-Pictures. It was only later that French film critics hung the label "Film-Noir" on the genre and made them respectable. See "99 River Street" and find out for yourself if the French knew what they were talking about.

GManfred Like Powell before him, John Payne got a second wind in gritty noir films like "99 River Street". Apparently, their boyish charm, and maybe their voices, began to fail them and renewed their careers as hard-boiled tough guy heroes. The only difference is that, unlike Powell, Payne's characters are usually losers (The Crooked Way, Kansas City Confidential).Here, Payne is a prize fighter who loses his last bout and also his unfaithful wife (Peggy Castle), and matters go downhill from there. He becomes enmeshed in robbery and murder, as misfortune piles upon misfortune in a classic noir scenario. Brad Dexter has a good role as the villain and the picture was directed by Phil Karlson, who directed Payne's previous film (KC Confidential), and keeps the picture moving at a good clip.The only drawback I felt was Evelyn Keyes, who plays Payne's newfound girlfriend. She tended to overact and seemed too fragile in the midst of a good deal of action, more than normally found in a film of this type. This is one of the better films of the genre, not far behind "Out Of The Past", my personal favorite.

moviemaster The only reason I watched this clunker was it was on Turner Movies and has touted so highly by the guest that night. Yes, the settings are truly good film noir. And the plot had its high moments ... and low ones. The twist in the theatre was imaginative, if not believable. But the idea that this actress (where did they find her??? Was she really sleeping with the producer of THIS movie)would give up her so sought after part to follow the boxer around like puppy dog was ludicrous. As was her "acting." it's no wonder this movie is "unknown." Better it had stayed that way! The lead actor is quite good and the supporting cast is also, for the most part. I wasn't in NYC in the 50's, but I'll bet this is the way it was as for atmosphere.

edwagreen Excellent film noir with John Payne starring as an ex-prizefighter up to his neck in trouble. Evelyn Keyes steals the picture with some fine acting, particularly when she is using Payne to rehearse for a part in a Broadway show.The film doesn't really make it look like women are exactly too nice here. Keyes, though redeeming herself, played Payne for a sap in that acting scene, and his movie-wife, Peggy Castle, acts like Virginia Mayo did in "The Best Years of Our Lives," when her marriage was over. Castle is two-timing Payne and gets punished for it by her lover, heavy Brad Dexter.This is a very enjoyable mystery capped off with a great cast.