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99 River Street
99 River Street
	theatrical release poster
Directed by	Phil Karlson
Screenplay by	Robert Smith
Story by	George Zuckerman
Based on	"Crosstown" (short story, in Cosmopolitan, October 1945) by George Zuckerman
Produced by	Edward Small
Starring	John Payne; Evelyn Keyes
Cinematography	Franz Planer
Edited by	Buddy Small
Music by	Arthur Lange; Emil Newman
Production; company	World Films (Edward Small Productions)
Distributed by	United Artists
Release dates	August 21, 1953 (LA); October 2, 1953 (NYC); October 3, 1953 (U.S.);
Running time	82-83 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

99 River Street is a 1953 film noir directed by Phil Karlson and starring John Payne and Evelyn Keyes. It also features Brad Dexter, Frank Faylen and Peggie Castle. The screenplay is by Robert Smith based on a short story by George Zuckerman. The film was produced by Edward Small, with cinematography by Franz Planer.^[2]

Plot

Ernie Driscoll is a New York taxi driver and former boxer who retired from the ring after sustaining a severe injury. His unhappy wife Pauline is having an affair with well-heeled jewel thief Victor Rawlins. An arrangement that Rawlins made for a batch of stolen diamonds is scuttled, and his fence indicates that Pauline's presence impeded the deal. Trying to save the deal, Rawlins kills Pauline and attempts to frame Driscoll for the murder. With the help of a female acquaintance, Driscoll tries to find Rawlins before he can escape the country.

Cast

John Payne as Ernie Driscoll
Evelyn Keyes as Linda James
Brad Dexter as Victor Rawlins
Frank Faylen as Stan Hogan
Peggie Castle as Pauline Driscoll
Jay Adler as Christopher
Jack Lambert as Mickey
Glenn Langan as Lloyd Morgan
Eddy Waller as Pop Durkee
John Day as Bud
Ian Wolfe as Waldo Daggett
Peter Leeds as Nat Finley
William Tannen as director
Gene Reynolds as Chuck
Paul Bryar as Bartender

Production

The rights to George Zuckerman's short story "Crosstown" were originally purchased by producer Albert Zugsmith, who sold them to Edward Small. In keeping with the source story, the film was originally known as Crosstown,^[3] but the title was changed two months before the film's release.^[4]

Linda Darnell was Small's first choice to play the female lead, a role that was awarded to Evelyn Keyes.^[1]

Reception

Critic Oscar Godbout of The New York Times called 99 River Street "one of those tasteless melodramas peopled with unpleasant hoods, two-timing blondes and lots of sequences of what purports to be everyday life in the underworld" and wrote: "To say that this film is offensive would be kind; to point out that it induces an irritated boredom would be accurate. The defendants in this artistic felony are Robert Smith, the scenarist, and Phil Karlson, the director. It is interesting to ponder how Mr. Karlson managed to slip some objectionable scenes past the production code. Maybe it was just artistic license."^[5]

In its review of the film, the Los Angeles Times wrote: "It's as plotty as a comic-strip serial ... And so action-thick that sometimes the actors seem to stumble over the plot. Also the tale follows the modern pattern of having the hero suffer and suffer while the heroine follows along to pick up the pieces and do the rescuing."^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b 99 River Street at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
^ 99 River Street at IMDb.
^ Staff (March 13, 1953) review Los Angeles Times
^ Muller, Eddie (April 7, 2019) Intro to the Turner Classic Movies presentation
^ Godbout, Oscar (1953-10-03). "Melodrama of Murder". The New York Times. p. 14.
^ "'99 River Street' Thick in Melodramatic Plot". Los Angeles Times. 1953-09-19. p. 9.