Review of Portland Exposé (1957) by Bruce B — 12 Aug 2010

A local noir! I saw this on the library shelf and had to give it a shot. You don't really get to see a lot of Portland, but there were a couple of familiar sights. It's about a tavern owner being squeezed by the local mob, who also traffic in gambling, prostitution, and taking over the local unions.

Your standard "infiltrating the organization" noir, a la Loan Shark and the like. There's not a whole lot of finesse to this cheapie flick, the performances are pretty flat and the dialogue is nothing special, but it's got an intriguing layer of sleaze over it, including Frank "The Riddler" Gorshin as a creepy, leering pedo.

There's a couple of other interesting touches (the acid, throwing Gorshin under a train) but mostly it's rather formulaic and forgettable.