Cheap Port of New York (B&W) (Video) (László Benedek) Price

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Customer Reviews of Port of New York (B&W)

Yul Brynner's impressive debut in "T-Men" ripoff!
Okay, it's not a TOTAL ripoff of Anthony Mann's classic "T-Men", but the similarities between the two will amaze you! Instead of a deadly counterfeiting ring, it's a deadly drug ring this time. The problem with this is that it didn't have Anthony Mann to make it a truly effective low-budget noir. It's one of those semi-documentary noirs of the late 1940's and is actually (well, according to the film) based on an actual case. <
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>Yul Brynner, in his impressive film debut, plays Paul Vicola, the ruthless leader of a murderous drug ring that continues to elude the authorities. When their latest murdered victim is found in the New York harbor, two government investigators, Mickey Waters (played by Scott Brady) and Jim Flannery (played by Richard Rober) soon discover that the crime is linked with a $1,000,000 shipment of narcotics that has just arrived at the harbor. <
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>When the girlfriend of Paul Vicola, Toni Cardell (played by K.T. Stevens) feels threatened by what she knows about him, she decides to meet with the investigators. This risky move later costs her dearly when Paul finds out! As reluctant witnesses keep turning up dead and their own lives are at risk more and more, the two investigators must hurry and catch the leader of the drug ring before he and his henchmen can escape. <
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>While there are some slow points, and the ending is totally predictable, I found this low-budget film noir surprisingly entertaining, especially Yul Brynner's wonderfully sinister performance. The worst member of the cast was K.T. Stevens, who overacts BIGTIME right up to her character's murder. While not in the same league as "T-Men", this is surely worth owning if you're a film noir fanatic like me. My biggest complaint and primary reason for giving this movie a 3-star rating rather than 4-stars is the awful quality of the Alpha dvd. I've seen silent movies with a FAR better picture quality than this film from 1949! It's really a shame because the movie would be much more enjoyable (especially the night scenes) if it was properly restored. Overall, I recommend it to hardcore noir buffs, but don't expect a good picture or sound quality.

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A beginning Yul Brynner
This action film is the demonstration of the methods used by federal authorities to curb the traffic of opium in the old days. It is interesting just as that : showing the methods to investigate a case and to solve it. The traffickers are of course immoral and do not hesitate to kill anyone in their way. It is also interesting to see a young Yul Brynner. He has a potential, so far unexploited. He will be a good actor later, even if he is over the average in this unambitious film.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU