"The Phenix City Story" is a 1955 film based on the true story of an Alabama town that was full of crime and corruption, with everyone turning a blind eye. The story focuses on John Patterson (Richard Kiley) who returns to Phenix City from the war with his wife and two children. His father Albert (John McIntyre) is an attorney but won't get involved in taking on the bad guys who run the town's bars and gambling establishments, which use marked cards and other devices so that the house always wins.
When the violence grows bad enough, the senior Patterson is talked into running for Attorney General. The question is, will he live long enough to be sworn in? The first part of this film is a series of interviews with town citizens, and I'll be honest, it's incredibly boring. The film, directed by Phil Karlson, was made very cheaply (the sound has an echo). However, it's the gritty location shots and low budget that gives "The Phenix City Story" its sleazy atmosphere.
Richard Kiley does a very good job as John Patterson while Lenka Peterson, who plays his wife, is one of the worst actresses of the last century. Some of the acting, in fact, isn't very good. McIntyre is very convincing, as are the bad guys: Edward Andrews and John Larch, most notably. Theater performers Jean Carson and her husband Biff McGuire both have roles, as does Kathryn Grant, later Mrs. Bing Crosby.
This of course isn't the whole story. John Patterson eventually becomes not only Attorney General but Governor and waged a huge anti-crime fight. He increased funding for the mentally ill as well as funding for highways and established anti-loan sharking legislation. Despite his support for JFK and Obama, he was also a rampant segregationist and refused to allow the NAACP to operate in Alabama, refused police protection for freedom rides, and was backed by the Ku Klux Klan. So I think we can assume that one part of this film was a complete fabrication.
When the violence grows bad enough, the senior Patterson is talked into running for Attorney General. The question is, will he live long enough to be sworn in? The first part of this film is a series of interviews with town citizens, and I'll be honest, it's incredibly boring. The film, directed by Phil Karlson, was made very cheaply (the sound has an echo). However, it's the gritty location shots and low budget that gives "The Phenix City Story" its sleazy atmosphere.
Richard Kiley does a very good job as John Patterson while Lenka Peterson, who plays his wife, is one of the worst actresses of the last century. Some of the acting, in fact, isn't very good. McIntyre is very convincing, as are the bad guys: Edward Andrews and John Larch, most notably. Theater performers Jean Carson and her husband Biff McGuire both have roles, as does Kathryn Grant, later Mrs. Bing Crosby.
This of course isn't the whole story. John Patterson eventually becomes not only Attorney General but Governor and waged a huge anti-crime fight. He increased funding for the mentally ill as well as funding for highways and established anti-loan sharking legislation. Despite his support for JFK and Obama, he was also a rampant segregationist and refused to allow the NAACP to operate in Alabama, refused police protection for freedom rides, and was backed by the Ku Klux Klan. So I think we can assume that one part of this film was a complete fabrication.