Watched: 12/14/2025
Format: TCM on HBOmax
Viewing: First
Director: Phil Karlson
The Phenix City Story (1955) was not at all what I was expecting from brief descriptions I'd read over the years when making a choice for what to watch.
First - Phenix City is a real city in Alabama on the Georgia state line. Second - this is a true crime movie that was made in the wake of the assassination of a recently elected new Attorney General from the State of Alabama who was voted in on his promise to clean up the vice and corruption in Phenix City.
Phenix City sits across the Chattahoochee River from the larger Columbus, Georgia and near a very large Army Base, Ft. Benning. Apparently, for decades and decades, that was enough to make the small town (about 24,000 people) into a place where one could gamble and pick up hookers while the locals looked the other way. While Phenix City also had more churches per capita than anywhere else in Alabama, somehow the city basically turned a blind eye to the economic engine that is allowing your town to be Pottersville.
The movie is wildly frank about this for a Hayes Code-era movie. They murder children, on screen. There's other acts of terrible violence. It mentions and shows prostitution, gambling, etc... and even discusses and shows prostitution offered in return for votes for the corrupt politicians. I'm kind of shocked this movie isn't a much bigger deal just as a counterpoint to what people think is both the squeaky clean media of the Eisenhower era and a counterpoint to the dumbulbs who think things were all Mayberry in ye olden thymes.
On HBO, Eddie Muller intros the movie and explains that, surprisingly, the movie was filmed on location in Phenix City and with locals on film - which gives the movie a very immediate vibe. Even more important, the showing includes a documentary which interviews locals describing what happened, and the people threatened by organized crime - bravely stating how they'll be defying the criminals who've threatened their lives.
The movie is also not a rah-rah, black and white look at the lives of Phenix City residents. Before deciding to run for Attorney General, attorney Albert "Pat" Patterson (John McIntire), is basically of the opinion that he's already tried to fight the corruption - and it's up to someone else to do it now. He's even friends with some of the crooks - after all, he's a lifelong resident and so are they. He's a Defense Attorney and he's represented some of them. It's some much appreciated nuance. Just like the good girl who's working as a dealer in a casino, who's basic decency and eyes for a non-corrupt young man makes her suspicious.
It can drag here and there, but when it explodes, it's with shocking violence. The murder of the young girl and subsequent death of the young boy - and the frank discussion around race in Alabama in a movie in 1955 is wild to behold. And I feel like I've seen a decent number of movies from the era.
Is it good? Yeah, I think so. It has a lot of work to do in a very short run time, and I think it does it well. It rightfully points to voting and democracy as a path out of this sort of corruption, and the need for good men to do something if they desire change.
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