Watch The Phenix City Story For Free

The first must-see film of the year.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

I was a little shocked to say the least after I finished with this one. Wow it's hard to believe this kind of stuff went on for so long and not a soul did anything for such a long time.I grew up in the south and I never had to deal with this kinda stuff but seeing it doesn't make it any easier to swallow. This is a seriously brutal film on the sorta.."Southern Mafia". These weren't your typical New York typa guys by far. These were your regular local redneck guys who happened to be easily some of the worst thugs ever known. These guys were heartless to the umpteenth degree.Basic idea of this film is Phenix City Alabama was way more "Sin City" than Las Vegas was at this time. The term they use is "Vice" but the town is run by the city council and Sheriff's office with no regard for law and order. Murders are common place and go without justice. The town is basically a haven for gambling dens and prostitution rings and drug dealers and it's all geared towards the local military population right across the river at Ft. Benning in Columbus Georgia.Dozens of people get killed, including GI's, and nothing gets done. Enter a former state Senator who has been pushed to his limit and finally decides it's time to do something. He decides to run for Attorney General and promptly wins but before he can take office, he gets assassinated. His son then takes over and promptly gets Martial Law enacted on the city. The military comes in and totally takes down the entire system in the town. What's uncovered is an unbelievable system of corruption that boggles the mind.The film only covers the basics like, the gambling and Murders that occur..including the future Attorney General. You'll walk away from this film beyond stunned. I was speechless until I researched a little more about his online and to my surprise, this was all true. If you wanna see a film that you just can't believe...see this one. You won't believe the reality of this place. Totally shocking that this went on in a town in America. The evil in this film is just mesmerizing. Wow, what a surreal experience.

I did enjoy the movie, and found it especially interesting because it was based on a true story. My rating would be based mostly on the fact that it was not a fictional story. Many of the actors were old familiar faces that I've seen so many times over the years on television and the movies. The acting by the more established actors was reasonably good, while the performances by some of the lesser or unknown actors left something to be desired.After watching it, I thought I would see if I could find out some more facts about the whole incident. I did some research on John Malcom Patterson (son of the murdered father) and found out that he eventually became the governor of Alabama. The article on Wikipedia about him, especially about his time as governor just prior to George Wallace, sheds a different light on the man who was the hero of the story. It was a bit disappointing to read these negative things about him.

We saw this film as a part of Vol 5 of Film Noir. Thus far this is the best of the bunch. For the most part the 8 films in Vol 5 are a collection of B thrillers. While the Phenix City Story was not an A film its influence has certainly been.This is definitely a film that packs a punch. Interestingly enough it came out the same year as Kiss Me Deadly another Noir classic. And both pack a punch. This is not what you would see on television at the time for sure. Absolutely no resemblance to Father Knows Best.So while I was about 9 years old when this film came I never saw it as B films such as this often wound up at a rather seedy theater that showed them. And my parents never took us there. And of course it definitely did not play the A films of the day.Making the film all the more fascinating was that it was based on real events. The narration at the beginning had us wondering what we were getting ourselves into but as the film played out it made sense to show it. And it help give it that docudrama feel. Oh for sure some of it was probably a bit overblown but the fights, the violence and yes the assassinations all happened. That they turned John Patterson into a man sympathetic to the black man was offset by some clear racial prejudice the most vicious been the killing of the young black girl by the local thugs to dramatize what they would do if you got in their way. It was followed up by words and action of the police that today of course would be considered extremely politically incorrect. But back then that was a part of packing a real punch.This film is worthy and should be seen by not only noir fans but one that should be studied in school. Sure it is uneven and its B qualities stick out but this is a gem that packs a punch.

**SPOILERS** Shocking yet true story of the horror that befell the Alabama/Georgia border town of Phenix when it was taken over by a gang of organized hoodlums who turn it into the Sin City of the South.With crime skyrocketing and no one to turn to a group of concerned citizens get well respected Phenix lawyer Albert Patterson, John McIntire, to run for the office of State District Attorney. With the criminal element of Phenix doing everything, from intimidation to outright murder, to keep the voters form getting Patterson the nomination he still wins with the other 86 counties of the state, not including Phenix's Russell County, giving him the nod by just over 1,000 votes.Terrified in what Patterson would do when he takes office head of the Phenix Mob Rett Tanner, Edward Andrews, has a hit put out on him. Patterson is gunned down while driving to his office but his killers are spotted by Ellie Rhodes, Kathryn Grant, who soon becomes, through an informer in Patterson's office, Tanner's next person in line to be targeted for murder. What Tanner & Co. didn't expect is that the late Albert Patterson's son John, Richard Kiley, got the news from Ellie about his dad's murder before his boys could shut her up! That major miscalculation on Tanner's part will end up putting an end to both his criminal organization as well as his freedom!Powerful documentary-style crime movie with the actual persons involved in the events given some 15 minutes, at the start of the film, to tell their stories. This despite the fact that they were still in danger of being murdered by the Tanner Mob that was still at large at the time their interviews were filmed!Finishing what his brave dad started John Patterson single handedly brought the story of Phenix City to the front pages of both the state and national newspapers giving Tanner the very negative publicity that he tried so hard to avoid. With the now Alabama National Guard flooding into Phenix City the blood-thirsty and gutless, in not willing to stand up to people with guns in their hands, Tanner Mob evaporated from sight like a morning mist after the sunlight hits it! And with John Patterson now taking the place of his murdered dad as the state of Alabama's new Attorney General you can be sure that the Patterson Mob has seen its last days of pushing people around as well as murdering them. The only thing that they'll see now in the future is the gray prison walls and bars that will be their home sweet home for the rest of their rotten and miserable lives!Very probably the most graphically violent movie to come out of Hollywood up to that time "The Phenix City Story" didn't pull any punches in showing how a group of lawless and powerful criminals can turn a quite American city into living hell for everyone in it. No one was speared from these ruthless gangsters who didn't even think twice when it came to murdering even women and children if that's what it took to keep them in power! As for the Phenix City Police Departmentn they had better thing to do then enforced the law that they were sworn and paid to uphold. They were out having coffee and donut's while their city was being burned to the ground by the gangsters like Tanner who had them in their hip pocket!