nomoons11 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.

MartinHafer Before the actual film begins, there is a 13-minute newsreel-style preface hosted by Clete Roberts in which he interviews the actual participants. Interestingly, this was done while the criminal cases discussed in the film were actually still being prosecuted.This film is a film noir-like film that dramatizes the actual story about the town of Phenix, Alabama--a city run by gamblers and organized crime. It seems that in the 1940s and 50s, all kinds of vice was ignored by cops and city officials who were paid to look the other way. As a result, the soldiers in nearby Fort Benning were routinely cheated and had little, if any recourse. Eventually when local citizens tried to stand up for law and order, the mob resorted to threats and even murder to hold on to their power.Unlike the typical film of the day, the scenes are quite brutal and violent. The only sour note is the scene of the child being tossed onto the lawn--it's obviously a dummy. There is also a lot of brutal and frank language--some of which might offend you, though it does lend the film an authentic sound. And, despite having mostly smaller caliber actors, they generally did very well. An odd note was having Richard Kiley of all people playing a tough action hero--he just wasn't the sort of guy you'd expect to see acting with his fists. Overall, this is an excellent low-budget film--well worth seeing.The only question I have about all this is how much is true and how much was changed for the film? According to IMDb the Attorney General was not quite the saint you see in the film, but what about the other facts? I'd sure like to know more.

kenjha This documentary style crime drama is based on the true events in Phenix City, Alabama in the early 1950s. In fact there is a talky prologue that consists of a series of interviews that goes on much too long and adds nothing to the film. The film itself is quite interesting, marked by gritty cinematography and a rapid pace. Given the vintage of the film, the violence is shockingly brutal, particularly when targeted at women and children. The main shortcoming is the uneven acting. McIntire is fine, but most of the cast is pretty bad. Kiley is the main culprit here, chewing the scenery as a gung-ho military vet intent on cleaning up his home town.

bkoganbing I'm surprised that more people are not aware of this story which climaxed with no less than the murder of the Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Alabama at the time when said nomination was tantamount to election. That the election of Albert Patterson scared the local criminal syndicate into that kind of move is almost unprecedented. The only other example I can think of something like this occurring was in the early years of the last century when Special Prosecutor Francis J. Heney was shot and wounded while he was investigated the corrupt city machine in San Francisco.After a brief documentary introduction by CBS news reporter Clete Roberts of actual Phenix City residents, the story begins with the Pattersons, father John McIntire and son Richard Kiley getting reluctantly involved in the fight to clean up their town which is notorious for being a wide open cesspool of vice and corruption. It's pointed out that Phenix City is across from Columbus, Georgia and thirty minutes from Fort Benning. A certain amount of vice and corruption will inevitably settle there in towns that cater to the military and the pleasures the service people will seek off duty.But Phenix City has gotten way out of hand and it's become a state embarrassment to the people of Alabama. Which is why John McIntire wins that primary leading the way to the unheard of events that followed. Let's just say that what happens here was contemplated, but never done in Chicago during the days of Al Capone.The cast also includes Kathryn Grant as a young woman working as an informer in one of the clubs, Lenka Patterson as Kiley's loyal, but concerned wife, Edward Andrews and John Larch as brains and muscle behind the syndicate. It also includes James Edwards and Helen Martin whose child is killed when Edwards helps Kiley. With I might add the appropriate feeling one might have for a small black girl in Alabama of the Fifties.After the action of this film John Patterson took his dad's place as Attorney General and did put an end to the corruption of Phenix City. In 1958 he ran for Governor and won, but contrary to what you might think ran on a strict segregationist platform. His main primary opponent taking the more moderate racial position was George C. Wallace. That never happened again, Wallace saw to that.And Patterson is still alive and in 2008 was a supporter of Barack Obama for president. Truth can really be stranger than fiction.The Phenix City Story is a hard hitting, pulling no punches documentary style of a family's fight against corruption. Try to see it when next broadcast.