Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Claudio Carvalho In the 1940s and 1950s in Alabama, the notorious Phenix City is a town ruled by the organized crime and prostitution and gambling are the main economical activities. The police department is corrupt and the criminal Rhett Tanner (Edward Andrews) is the big boss. When the famous lawyer Albert "Pat" L. Patterson (John McIntire) welcomes his son John Patterson (Richard Kiley) that has just returned from Germany with his wife and children, he intends to keep his calm life in a neutral position and work with his son. However, there are serious and violent incidents and Albert Patterson accepts to run the elections to become the Attorney General of Alabama to clean Phenix City. He wins the election but is shot when he is leaving his office and dies. Now John seeks revenge but using the law instead of violence."The Phenix City Story" is a different and violent film-noir based on the true story of the assassination of Albert "Pat" L. Patterson. The film has great performances and the violence is impressive for a 1955 Hollywood film. The beginning with the documentary style is boring, but after the initial credits, the film becomes great. In the end, this story proves that one person can make the difference in a story of a country. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Cidade do Vício" ("City of the Vicious")

sol- Based on actual events, this gritty drama looks at how the citizens of a crime-ridden Alabama city eventually become compelled to take a stance against the mobsters who run their town through intimidation and bribery. The film is ambitiously structured with thirteen minutes of pre-credits documentary footage in which actual citizens of the town are interviewed - a technique that gives a sense of authenticity to all the reenactment segments to follow. For all its ambition though, 'The Phenix City Story' is never quite as engaging as it sounds. The violence is shockingly brutal, however, the dialogue is wooden (lots of rambling about doing the right thing), Harry Sukman's music score is loud and overbearing, and the quality of the acting is uneven at best. John McIntire is very decent as a local attorney who finally decides to stand up for what is right and Edward Andrews is appropriately menacing as a local mob figure, however, the rest of the performances vary from bland to overwrought. The overall film is inescapably melodramatic, which never quite sits right given the project's push for realism; then again, this approach at least ensures that the film's themes and issues are always at the forefront, and the movie offers a potent reminder of the power of perseverance in the face of crime and corruption. Interestingly, this is one of Martin Scorsese's favourite films.

nomoons11 I was a little shocked to say the least after I finished with this one. Wow it's hard to believe this kind of stuff went on for so long and not a soul did anything for such a long time.I grew up in the south and I never had to deal with this kinda stuff but seeing it doesn't make it any easier to swallow. This is a seriously brutal film on the sorta.."Southern Mafia". These weren't your typical New York typa guys by far. These were your regular local redneck guys who happened to be easily some of the worst thugs ever known. These guys were heartless to the umpteenth degree.Basic idea of this film is Phenix City Alabama was way more "Sin City" than Las Vegas was at this time. The term they use is "Vice" but the town is run by the city council and Sheriff's office with no regard for law and order. Murders are common place and go without justice. The town is basically a haven for gambling dens and prostitution rings and drug dealers and it's all geared towards the local military population right across the river at Ft. Benning in Columbus Georgia.Dozens of people get killed, including GI's, and nothing gets done. Enter a former state Senator who has been pushed to his limit and finally decides it's time to do something. He decides to run for Attorney General and promptly wins but before he can take office, he gets assassinated. His son then takes over and promptly gets Martial Law enacted on the city. The military comes in and totally takes down the entire system in the town. What's uncovered is an unbelievable system of corruption that boggles the mind.The film only covers the basics like, the gambling and Murders that occur..including the future Attorney General. You'll walk away from this film beyond stunned. I was speechless until I researched a little more about his online and to my surprise, this was all true. If you wanna see a film that you just can't believe...see this one. You won't believe the reality of this place. Totally shocking that this went on in a town in America. The evil in this film is just mesmerizing. Wow, what a surreal experience.

bkoganbing I'm surprised that more people are not aware of this story which climaxed with no less than the murder of the Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Alabama at the time when said nomination was tantamount to election. That the election of Albert Patterson scared the local criminal syndicate into that kind of move is almost unprecedented. The only other example I can think of something like this occurring was in the early years of the last century when Special Prosecutor Francis J. Heney was shot and wounded while he was investigated the corrupt city machine in San Francisco.After a brief documentary introduction by CBS news reporter Clete Roberts of actual Phenix City residents, the story begins with the Pattersons, father John McIntire and son Richard Kiley getting reluctantly involved in the fight to clean up their town which is notorious for being a wide open cesspool of vice and corruption. It's pointed out that Phenix City is across from Columbus, Georgia and thirty minutes from Fort Benning. A certain amount of vice and corruption will inevitably settle there in towns that cater to the military and the pleasures the service people will seek off duty.But Phenix City has gotten way out of hand and it's become a state embarrassment to the people of Alabama. Which is why John McIntire wins that primary leading the way to the unheard of events that followed. Let's just say that what happens here was contemplated, but never done in Chicago during the days of Al Capone.The cast also includes Kathryn Grant as a young woman working as an informer in one of the clubs, Lenka Patterson as Kiley's loyal, but concerned wife, Edward Andrews and John Larch as brains and muscle behind the syndicate. It also includes James Edwards and Helen Martin whose child is killed when Edwards helps Kiley. With I might add the appropriate feeling one might have for a small black girl in Alabama of the Fifties.After the action of this film John Patterson took his dad's place as Attorney General and did put an end to the corruption of Phenix City. In 1958 he ran for Governor and won, but contrary to what you might think ran on a strict segregationist platform. His main primary opponent taking the more moderate racial position was George C. Wallace. That never happened again, Wallace saw to that.And Patterson is still alive and in 2008 was a supporter of Barack Obama for president. Truth can really be stranger than fiction.The Phenix City Story is a hard hitting, pulling no punches documentary style of a family's fight against corruption. Try to see it when next broadcast.