GetPapa Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Alex da Silva Yul Brynner (Paul) heads up a drug gang in New York that includes heavies William Challee (Leo) and Neville Brand (Ike). Scott Brady (Mickey) and Richard Rober (Jim) are on his case. Richard Rober should have been cast above Scott Brady, and trust a woman, Lynne Carter (Lili) to mess everything up at the end, eh! The film starts in that documentary style with a voice-over. It goes on a bit too much and the film gets bogged down and a bit slow with the arrival of entertainer Arthur Blake (Dolly). I lost track of what was going on for a while and then found myself watching people in the dark running about and fighting each other - whoa....what's going on? Who's who? I'm afraid that was the result of my mind wandering because the film got a bit boring.Anyway, Yul Brynner is the standout in the cast but it all seems to be quite a predictable story with a climax that could have been better. It seems as if some tension is building towards the end of the film, and then it's all over in a sudden. It's not a bad film, but neither is it particularly good.

mark.waltz Tension is everywhere in this low-budget film noir that rivals "High Noon" in a clock-watching suspense. Unlike that western with psychological overtones, "Port of New York" is set in present day New York and deals with the Narcotic Squad's attempt to break an opium ring that is run by Yul Brynnur. Two years before he took Broadway by storm in "The King and I", Brynnur made his film debut in this low-budget classic. It wasn't until the film version of "The King and I" that he officially became a movie star, but this is a rare chance to see him when he was an unknown. That cat-eyed future soap diva, K.T. Stevens (best known as the veiled mama from hell, Vanessa Prentiss, on "The Young and the Restless") gets a Lizabeth Scott look, having done several years of featured roles, in the part of Brynnur's moll who pays dearly for her fear of being involved in criminal activities. (For other interesting roles Ms. Stevens played on screen, catch "The Great Man's Lady" and "Harriett Craig", where she shared scenes with legends Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Crawford.) With Scott Brady on Brynnur's trail, backed by newsreel like narration not leaving out any detail, it is obvious how crime once again won't pay. Great location footage of New York (particularly a shot of the elevated train station at Canal Street above the Manhattan Bridge, no longer at that spot) makes this of historical importance, as well as the fact it was one of few films to tackle the subject of drug trafficking. The "B" studios at this time (Eagle Lion, Lippert, Screen Guild, PRC and Monogram) gave us some of the more interesting film noirs to study, and this one is among the goodies. Brynnur leaves no stone unturned in his performance of a ruthless killer. This gives a new meaning to Mrs. Anna's question, "Shall We Dance?".

ZenVortex This effective noirish crime drama was Yul Brynner's film debut in which he demonstrates star quality as a debonair, brutal crime boss engaged in drug trafficking. Brynner was born in Vladivostok and his oriental features and full head of wavy hair (!) are perfectly suited to this role. In particular, his facial expressions and body language when he gets busted are superbly acted and well worth watching. Scott Brady and Richard Rober deliver generally good performances as federal agents whose goal is to track down a shipment of narcotics. Although they are portrayed as heroes, neither has star quality and their acting is occasionally hammy. The rest of the cast plays a convincing ensemble of feds, thugs, dealers, and dames.The direction and cinematography are excellent with some beautifully composed classic noir scenes where Brady and Rober explore a dark warehouse. The plot is predictable without major twists or sharp dialog, although the stentorian narrator gives the movie an interesting fascist undertone as war-on-drugs propaganda. The print (Classic Film Noir, Volume 2) is quite good although the sound track is scratchy. Despite its flaws, this is a well-crafted fast-paced minor film noir worth adding to your collection.

vitaleralphlouis This fine crime drama shows the work Federal agents in Customs, Narcotics and the Coast Guard did to fight the drug trade in 1949's New York City. This is known as Yul Brynner's first movie, but the real star is Scott Brady.With 59 years having past, I found this movie an unintended heartbreak. Young people might not believe this but in 1949 the narcotics trade was limited to small areas of New York, Chicago and Los Angeles --- not all 50 states, not every town in America. The Federal agents portrayed in this movie might have just cried if they could have seen 14 years into the future when narcotics swept across the USA like a hurricane and infected our lives, our streets, our schools.All this was done with the Federal government opening the door wide. When LBJ appointed crime-friendly Ramsey Clark as Attorney-General and appointed crime-friendly judges to the Supreme Court, this and other corrosive steps were applauded by Newsweek, Time, CBS and others. New York City lost 20% of its population and literally went bankrupt in the late '70's --- primarily because of unchecked crime. The 1966 movie "Death Wish" portrays this era well. This was your parents and grandparents era. It could not have happened without them. When you have time, search for their stash and tell them off.