The Phenix City Story (1955)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- "The Phenix City Story" begins when John Patterson (Richard Kiley) returns to his Alabama hometown after a stint in the Army. He plans to start practicing law with his father, Albert (John McIntire), but John's wife (Lenka Peterson) is reluctant to live in Phenix City because of the large number of casinos and brothels in the town that are controlled by a local crime syndicate. However, after the syndicate is involved with beatings, theft, and even murder, John and Albert decide to stay in Phenix City and help a group of concerned citizens clean up the town by having Albert run for Alabama attorney general.
- Actors:
- John McIntire, Richard Kiley, Kathryn Grant, Edward Andrews, Lenka Peterson, Biff McGuire, Truman Smith, Jean Carson, Kathy Marlowe, John Larch, Allen Nourse, James Edwards, Helen Martin, Otto Hulett, George Mitchell, Ma Beachie, James E. Seymour, Clete Roberts, Ed Strickland, Hugh Bentley
- Directors:
- Phil Karlson
- Writers:
- Crane Wilbur, Daniel Mainwaring
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama, Thrillers
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Reviews (1) of The Phenix City Story
Includes spoilers. - The Phenix City Story review by Steve
This violent true story may be the nearest Hollywood got to the style and daring of Italian neorealism. It was shot with a documentary crew while the real world events were still taking place. There is no incidental music, just ambient sound. It was filmed on location at the actual places where the events happened.
The film begins with interviews with local people who attest to the authenticity of the film. Director Phil Karlson even got actors to wear the clothes of the people they portrayed! The cast was resolutely unstarry. Kathryn Grant would become well known but this was her debut.
The incidents in the film are hard to believe. A city in Alabama was controlled by a criminal gang who used violence and murder during elections to control the public, and ran the police to ignore vice and to suppress reform. There was no law and order. The film was made while the court case trying the killers was still in progress.
This is an inspiring story of bravery and determination. It's a rare example of a film about organised crime being defeated through democratic processes, rather than a single heroic vigilante. It is a classic work of cinema vérité made at almost no cost.