City Across the River *** (1949, Stephen McNally, Thelma Ritter, Luis Van Rooten) – Classic Movie Review 10,589

Director Maxwell Shane’s 1949 black and white film noir thriller City Across the River tells of postwar life in the slums of Brooklyn, where the young hoodlums of a local gang called The Amboy Dukes commit street crimes. The screenplay by Maxwell Shane, Irving Shulman and Dennis Cooper is based on Irving Shulman’s novel The Amboy Dukes.

Stephen McNally plays Stan Albert, the macho head of the urban community centre, trying to prevent the young hoodlums from becoming full-time crooks, as Amboy Dukes street gang member Frank Cusack (Peter Fernandez) beats a man to death and goes on the run, hunted by Brooklyn police and the community centre counsellor.

It also stars Luis Van Rooten, Thelma Ritter, Mickey Knox, Richard Jaeckel and Jeff Corey. But Maury Gertsman’s noir-styled cinematography on location Brooklyn is the film’s main star.

Tony Curtis and Richard Jaeckel in the middle.

City Across the River is a decent crime melodrama, with an obvious murder hunt story, stock characters, goodish acting from an interesting cast and an impressive visual style thanks to the documentary-style location filming then in vogue.

It is Tony Curtis’s second film role and first credited appearance, as Mitch (billed as Anthony Curtis). Curtis’s debut is in Criss Cross, which stars Burt Lancaster, Curtis’s later co-star in Trapeze and Sweet Smell of Success.

Also in the cast are Sharon McManus, Sue Englund, Richard Benedict, Barbara Whiting, Peter Fernandez, Al Ramsen, Al Eben and Joshua Shelley.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,589

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