99 River Street (1953)

An ex-boxer struggles to get his life back on track in this gritty, hardboiled drama that's fast-moving, realistic and sometimes brutal. His efforts are constantly frustrated, however, by the hand that fate deals him and then things get even worse when his bitterness and self-pity make him bad-tempered and dangerously violent. This movie opens strongly with a well-filmed boxing match and closes impressively with a memorable climax. In between, its no-nonsense style, sharp dialogue and shadowy locations are perfect for this type of material and contribute enormously to its edgy atmosphere.Ernie Driscoll (John Payne) is the ex-pug who was leading on points and desperately close to winning the world heavyweight title when an eye injury brought an end to his challenge and his career. A few years later, he works as a cab driver and saves what he can to buy his own gas station but his acquisitive wife Pauline (Peggie Castle) sneers at his aspirations. She works in a flower shop and is having an affair with a thief called Victor Rawlins (Brad Dexter) who, after stealing some diamonds, takes her with him to a pet shop owned by his fence Christopher (Jay Adler). Unfortunately, Christopher doesn't believe in doing business where women are involved and so refuses to pay Victor the $50,000 he was expecting and thwarts the couple's plan to use the money to go and live in style in Paris.Ernie regularly frequents a drugstore where he has coffee with his long-time friend, Stan Hogan (Frank Faylen) who's a dispatcher at the cab company and also sees Linda James (Evelyn Keyes) who's an ambitious young actress. One day, when Linda tells him she's in trouble because she'd accidentally killed a theatre producer who was being too forceful in making advances to her, he agrees to help. Linda takes him to the theatre where he sees the body lying on the stage and Linda goes on to explain precisely what happened. Ernie offers to help her to dispose of the body, but at that point, the house lights come on and it becomes obvious that the whole incident is a hoax. Ernie becomes furious and after punching a few guys to the ground, leaves the premises.A little while later, an apologetic Linda tells Ernie that the stunt at the theatre was set up as her audition for a part in an upcoming play and that the police are looking for him because the theatre people had reported the assaults hoping that the resultant publicity would translate into higher ticket sales. Ernie's troubled by this but matters get much worse when he and Linda discover Pauline's dead body in the back of his cab and the couple have to set off on a search to find the real culprit before Ernie gets apprehended for the crime.One of the main strengths of this movie is the convincing way in which the fight sequences are executed as effective camera angles and realistic sounds add greatly to the power of these brutal encounters. John Payne is also very believable as a tough guy who, after suffering the huge disappointments involved with the way his boxing career ended, was betrayed by his wife, provoked into a series of assault charges and then framed for his wife's murder. These attributes plus the movie's excellent supporting cast and a script that's overflowing with quotable lines are just some of the reasons why "99 River Street" is an above average crime drama that's extremely enjoyable to watch.

This is a great movie with Payne. I have seen him in a couple others that were lousy but this one is great.Basically his cheating wife causes him to get framed for her murder and involved with a tough jewel thief and a fencer who has a gang of thugs.He plays a lovable but tough boxer---perfect for the role who is down and out thanks to an eye injury.I always wonder in these movies why if you are being chased by all the cops in Manhattan you don't at least remove your cab drivers cap or try to disguise yourself in some way. I suppose it makes it easier to follow things.What I have noticed watching these movies and reading between the lines is the type audience they were aimed at. Someone who had gone to high school "had an educaction" and the highest aim in life of the main characters was opening a gas station. Since the world has become dumbed down since 1953 this same target audience now gets a social science degree in college and a government job--the dumber ones go to film festivals instead of enjoying a good movie likes this.Good movie.RECOMMEND

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.

Adding my simple and direct...Payne's personal individuality sweats off the screen in this top notch noir. This is must see for anyone who loves mystery, noir or film at all. Lack of top rung stars makes all the better and at least four performances couldn't be be improved. Cinematography simple but effective, although some dubious shots at end. Flaws include melodrama at start and finish but they don't affect the core 80 minutes.Payne is brilliant even when dull or dumb. Evil wifey way sexy in the pantheon of evil chicks, but the 10 second cigarette lighting event at the end burns steals the limited sexy award in the film (still trying to research how many takes it took).The violence is pretty real for that time and only two short periods of hokum in the film, probably to keep it palatable in theaters at the time. Shockingly unknown, some of the characters from KC Confidential keep the all pieces in place, but 99 River Street is more intense and less surreal than that standard. Enjoy.