Force of Evil is a 1948 American film noir starring John Garfield and Beatrice Pearson and directed by Abraham Polonsky. It was adapted by Polonsky and Ira Wolfert from Wolfert's novel Tucker's People. Polonsky had been a screenwriter for the boxing film Body and Soul (1947), in which Garfield had also played the male lead.
Phenix City is a city in Lee and Russell counties in the U.S. state of Alabama, and the county seat of Russell County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 38,817.
John Malcolm Patterson was an American politician. He served one term as Attorney General of Alabama from 1955 to 1959, and, at age 37, served one term as the 44th Governor of Alabama from 1959 to 1963.
Kansas City Confidential is a 1952 American film noir and crime film directed by Phil Karlson starring John Payne and Coleen Gray. The film was released in the United Kingdom as The Secret Four. Karlson and Payne teamed a year later for 99 River Street, another film noir, followed by Hell's Island, a film noir in color.
The Big Clock is a 1948 American thriller directed by John Farrow and adapted by novelist-screenwriter Jonathan Latimer from the 1946 novel of the same title by Kenneth Fearing.
A semidocumentary is a form of book, film, or television program presenting a fictional story that incorporates many factual details or actual events, or which is presented in a manner similar to a documentary.
John Herrick McIntire was an American character actor who appeared in 65 theatrical films and many television series. McIntire is well known for having replaced Ward Bond, upon Bond's sudden death in November 1960, as the star of NBC's Wagon Train. He played Christopher Hale, the leader of the wagon train from early 1961 to the series' end in 1965. He also replaced Charles Bickford, upon Bickford's death in 1967, as ranch owner Clay Grainger on NBC's The Virginian for four seasons.
Albert Love Patterson was an American politician and attorney in Phenix City, Alabama. He was assassinated outside his law office shortly after he had won the Democratic nomination for Alabama Attorney General on a platform of reforming the rife corruption and vice in Phenix City.
Phil Karlson was an American film director. Later noted as a film noir specialist, Karlson directed 99 River Street, Kansas City Confidential and Hell's Island, all with actor John Payne, in the early 1950s.
Scandal Sheet is a 1952 American film noir directed by Phil Karlson. The film is based on the 1944 novel The Dark Page by Samuel Fuller, who himself was a newspaper reporter before his career in film. The drama features Broderick Crawford, Donna Reed and John Derek.
A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies is a 1995 British documentary film of 225 minutes in length, presented by Martin Scorsese and produced by the British Film Institute.
The Sleeping City is a 1950 American film noir crime film in semidocumentary style that was set in and filmed at New York's Bellevue Hospital. Directed by George Sherman, it stars Richard Conte and Coleen Gray.
Clarence Greene was an American screenwriter and film producer who is noted for the "offbeat creativity and originality of his screenplays and for films noir and television episodes produced in the 1950s.
Jigsaw is a 1949 American film noir crime drama directed by Fletcher Markle starring Franchot Tone, Jean Wallace and Marc Lawrence. The feature was produced by the Danziger Brothers, Edward J. Danziger and Harry Lee Danziger from a screenplay by Vincent McConnor and Fletcher Markle, which was based on a story by John Roeburt.
Canon City is a 1948 American film noir crime film written and directed by Crane Wilbur. The drama features Scott Brady, Jeff Corey, and Whit Bissell, along with prison warden Roy Best playing himself. The film takes its name from Canon City, Colorado.
The Naked Street is a 1955 American crime film noir directed by Maxwell Shane. The drama features Farley Granger, Anthony Quinn and Anne Bancroft in a story about an enforcer who tries to control his sister's life by falsely clearing her boyfriend of murder.
Hugh A. Bentley (1909–1984) is known for launching a cleanup drive to get rid of crime and corruption in Phenix City, Alabama, in the early 1950s. He was beaten, and survived an assassination attempt with a dynamite bomb.
Under the Gun is a 1951 American crime film noir film directed by Ted Tetzlaff and starring Richard Conte, Audrey Totter and John McIntire. It was produced and released by Universal Pictures. The film's sets were designed by the art director Edward L. Ilou.
The Story of Molly X is a 1949 American film noir crime film directed by Crane Wilbur and starring June Havoc, John Russell and Dorothy Hart. The screenplay concerns a woman who tries to reform after being sent to prison, but faces obstacles.
On July 22, 1954, a limited state of martial law was declared in Russell County, Alabama, by Governor Gordon Persons. The county, particularly Phenix City, had become lawless, and Persons lost faith in the local law enforcement, which had been implicated in illegal gambling syndicates, political corruption, and the murder of Albert Patterson, the Democratic Party's nominee for Attorney General of Alabama. Under the martial law proclamation, the city police department and the county sheriff's office were stood down, and their duties were assumed by the Alabama National Guard.
