Tue 5 Dec 2017
99 RIVER STREET. United Artists, 1953. John Payne, Evelyn Keyes, Brad Dexter, Frank Faylen, Peggie Castle, Jay Adler. Director: Phil Karlson.
Not a perfect noir film, but to me, it comes awfully close. John Payne plays a brooding ex-boxes who came within seconds of being the world champion, but because of a bad right eye, his life now revolves around driving a cab for a living and being driven to frustration by a wife (a luscious Peggie Castle) who wants more than a cab driver can give her.
No one dos better at brooding than John Payne, and with fists that are essentially lethal weapons, he at times is a powder keg of ager wothin seconds of going off. Not only does he find his wife is cheating on him, but another woman (the very beautiful Evelyn Keyes), her heart set on Broadway, asks for Payne’s help after she kills her producer at a late night “audition.” (There may be more to it than that.)
And so far I have not mentioned that Payne’s cheating wife is cheating with a guy (Brad Dexter) who has $50,000 worth of stolen diamonds, but whose fence (Jay Adler) won’t take them because in the course of the robbery, someone ended up dead.
As you may have concluded on your own, there is more to the story than can fit with comfort in 83 minutes of running time. That is the movie’s only flaw. Beautifully photographed, and well acted — no one does better as an everyday kind of guy at brooding than John Payne. But even better in another way is Evelyn Keyes, whose attempt at vamping the villain in a shorefront dive will have every red-blooded guy’s heart pounding like there’s no tomorrow.
December 5th, 2017 at 3:25 pm
One of my favorite film noir. My notes indicate that I’ve seen it more than once, the last time in 2013 and I gave it 10 out of 10. My comments say “Castle is beautiful and Evelyn Keyes does a crazy, sexy dance. Brad Dexter is great.”
December 5th, 2017 at 3:58 pm
Great little noir, that virtually defines the virtues of the form, with the entire cast and everyone involved putting so much more into it than needed.
Payne had transitioned nicely at this point from pretty boy to tough guy through some tough noir film and Westerns, and here the new world weary look and a willingness to drop the Hollywood glamour pays off in a strong characterization.
I’m not sure most people think of Payne as that big of a noir star, but this, KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL, and SLIGHTLY SCARLET (Cain’s LOVES LOVELY COUNTERFEIT) all feature notable noir performances from him.
December 6th, 2017 at 9:24 am
Great Review and comments. Kudos to director Phil Karlson on this one, who also directed KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL and THE PHENIX CITY STORY, one of the better corrupt city films.
December 6th, 2017 at 3:53 pm
Great film, although it might have been even better if Castle and Keyes had swapped roles.
December 6th, 2017 at 11:01 pm
You may have a point there, Jim. Peggy Castle is very easy on the eyes. But I’m a big fan of Evelyn Keyes, and I don’t think anybody could outvamp her in the saloon scene toward the end of this movie. My goodness, she does it right! Once seen, never forgotten.