Movie Review: 99 River Street (1953)
Synopsis: After his dreams of becoming a champion are crushed by an eye injury that cost him his license, New York professional boxer Ernie Driscoll now drives a cab while trying to save enough to buy a gas station. Already in a foul mood after discovering his wife, Pauline, having an affair with career criminal Victor Rawlins, Ernie winds up with a warrant for his arrest when his actress friend, Linda James, tricks him into believing she needed his help as part of an elaborate Broadway audition, and he assaults the play's producers. To makes matters even worse, Ernie finds Pauline's strangled body in the back of his cab, and he realizes he is being framed for her murder.
Who's in it? The movie stars John Payne, Evelyn Keyes, Brad Dexter, Peggie Castle and Frank Faylen.
Review: I've had 99 River Street in my movie library for a few weeks and finally decided to watch it this morning because I was in a bit of a hurry and figured it would be fastest to just pick the first film that appeared alphabetically. While I wasn't sure what to expect, it turned out to be a great choice.
I think the thing I liked best about this movie was how hopeless Ernie's (Payne) situation seemed. A lot of times, movies like this have a husband, wife, etc. who is accused of murder on the weakest of motives and evidence. In this case, Ernie had just caught his wife with another man and had plenty of people who could testify to an agitated and violent state of mind. Not to mention, Pauline's (Castle) body was in the backseat of his cab.
If it weren't for the unwavering loyalty of Linda (Keyes) and some key friends, there is no doubt he would have been arrested and convicted. Had the film not shown Pauline being murdered, I may have even had doubts about Ernie's innocence myself considering he didn't seem too broken up over Pauline's death.
Also helping his film is Rawlins (Dexter). As I've said when discussing other movies, films like this are only as good as the bad guy and you couldn't ask for a better villain. Rawlins was cool and calculating but also had a bit of a crazy side to him as well that created a bit of a wildcard because he had his own set of enemies who could either help or hurt Ernie's case depending on what they did to the one man who could clear his name.
The movie's finale was also entertaining, with Ernie outgunned and wounded while trying to catch Rawlins before he fled to Europe on a boat. It added a great deal of suspense because it was unclear just how Ernie would prevail in a way that would also give the police someone else to arrest for his wife's murder.
Final Opinion: It was a last-second choice but wound up being a great film. I'm glad I took the time to watch it.
My Grade: A
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Here are some reviews of other movies from 1953:
Movie Review: War of the Worlds (1953)
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