Port of New York (film)

Port of New York

Theatrical release poster
Directed by László Benedek
Produced by Aubrey Schenck
Screenplay by Eugene Ling
Story by Arthur A. Ross
Bert Murray
Starring Scott Brady
Richard Rober
K.T. Stevens
Yul Brynner
Narrated by Chet Huntley
Music by Sol Kaplan
Cinematography George E. Diskant
Edited by Norman Colbert
Production
company
Samba Films
Contemporary Productions
Distributed by Eagle-Lion Films
Release dates
  • November 28, 1949 (1949-11-28) (United States)
Running time
 82 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Port of New York is a 1949 film noir crime film directed by László Benedek with cinematography by George E. Diskant and shot in semidocumentary style. The film is notable for being Yul Brynner's first movie. He had not begun shaving his head yet. The film, which is very similar to T-Men (1947), was shot on location in New York City.[1]

Plot

The film tells the story of a two federal agents, one from Customs and one from Narcotics, out to stop the distribution of opium that came in on a ship in the Port of New York but was smuggled off by drug dealers. The leader of the drug dealers is the suave Vicola (Brynner).

Cast

Reception

Critical response

The film critic of The Austin Chronicle generally liked the film, writing, "Semi-documentary police procedurals became quite popular for a while in the late Forties, with lots of location shooting and official-sounding voiceovers. Port of New York follows in the style of The House on 92nd Street and Jules Dassin's The Naked City, with a fair amount of suspense and plenty of violent fisticuffs. George Diskant brought his striking camera work to bear as well; sometimes the 'dark film' is so dark it's hard to even see what's going on. Most notable, however, is Brynner's first film role; he plays Vicola with sleek menace and self-assured evil (and with a full head of hair, too, I might add). Not an outstanding film, Port of New York is well-suited to its subject matter and has been rather neglected for years."[2]

Film critic Dennis Schwartz gave the film a mixed review, writing, "An unknown Yul Brynner, with all his hair, in his first film role, plays a well-spoken, smug narcotics smuggler named Paul Vicola. It's directed by Lazslo Benedek (The Wild One/The Night Visitor/Death of a Salesman) in a voice-over documentary style ... It generates an authentic sinister atmosphere, having been filmed on location in New York. The police investigation procedural drama plays as minor film noir, that follows along the usual routine lines for such Eagle-Lion cheapie crime stories ... Not much to get excited about, but it does feature an early acting part by Yul Brynner as a ruthless gangster."[3]

References

  1. ↑ Port of New York at the Internet Movie Database.
  2. ↑ The Austin Chronicle. The Austin Chronicle, film review, February 23, 1998. Accessed: July 12, 2013.
  3. ↑ Schwartz, Dennis. Ozus' World Movie Reviews, film review, April 14, 2007. Accessed: July 12, 2013.
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