The Phenix City Story (1955) is so “ripped from the headlines” that it begins with 14 minutes of real newsman Clete Roberts interviewing witnesses of a political murder from the year before the movie. The next ten minutes depicts the local vice industry with startling verisimilitude. Then there is hard edged violence, with one scene that will shock any audience, even today.
What’s at stake in The Phenix City Story is a one-block stretch of honky-tonks on 14th Street with the enticements of booze, women and gambling to extract cash from GIs and locals alike. Phenix City, Alabama, is just over the border from Columbus, Georgia, and about 20 miles from the large military base at Fort Benning. Out of bounds for Georgia authorities and isolated from the Alabama mainstream, the local mob was able to stay in business by bribing Alabama officials and intimidating the locals with violence.
John McIntyre plays Pat Patterson, a respected local attorney who is welcoming home his military veteran son John (Richard Kiley) and his bride (Kathryn Grant, soon to marry Bing Crosby). The idealistic John thinks that Pat should lead an effort to clean up Phenix City, but the seasoned Pat understands the difficulty and the risks.
Despite affecting Southern gentility, crime boss Rhett Tanner (Edward Andrews) is ruthless and cruel. He has an impressive force at his command, led by his menacing and brutal chief henchman Clem (John Larch) and his moll in chief Cassie (Jean Carson). And Rhett has a Machiavellian mastery of the carrot and the stick.
John receives a chilling and repulsive warning from the mob, aimed at his children. It’s the most stomach-turning threat I’ve seen in cinema, and it makes the horse’s head in The Godfather look like a box of See’s candy.
The Phenix City Story is highlighted by the performances of Ireland and Andrews. The scenes where they are together, with Rhett probing and Pat parrying, are increasingly intense.
Larch makes Clem into one scary villain. James Edwards is excellent as Zeke, John’s African-American war buddy, who plays both a heroic and tragic role.
Director Phil Karlson directed two other top-rated noirs, Kansas City Confidential and 99 River Street, along with Tight Spot and The Brothers Rico.
The Phenix City Story is gritty, crisp and unvarnished. It’s a jarring contrast to 1950s Ozzie and Harriett American culture.
The Phenix City Story is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Flix Fling and plays occasionally on TCM.
