Very best movie i ever watch

Great Film overall

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

PORT OF NEW YORK is a low budget crime thriller of 1949 in which a couple of narcotics agents go up against a criminal organisation smuggling drugs in through the New York docks. As a film it's very much par for the course and a product of its era, mostly a police procedural with a few scenes of interest here and there. There's a large cast but the characters tend to be underwritten so it's difficult to care about whether the heroes live or die; this is the kind of genre that would reach its peak some 20 to 30 years later in the films made by Roy Scheider and his contemporaries. Chiefly of interest is the casting of a youthful Yul Brynner - with hair! - as the bad guy, supported by a debuting Neville Brand as a snarling henchman.

The film starts out as if it were a documentary, the voice over narration describing New York City's reputation as a major maritime port, along with the burgeoning problem of a growing drug trade. It heats up from there with a million dollar drug deal in the works, masterminded by drug kingpin Paul Vicola (Yul Brynner when he had hair). The story consistently references the 'Florentine Case', named after the cruise liner from which the drug bundle was hijacked, and it made me wonder if the story was based on a true crime case; that was never made clear.Yul Brynner was particularly malevolent in his role, foreshadowed by the way he relates to girl friend Toni Cardell (K.T. Stevens) - "Please darling, you must not become a nuisance". Unfortunately, he perceived her in just that way, she didn't make it to the end of the story. Nor for that matter did Scott Brady, who was actually top billed here for his performance as customs agent Mickey Waters. You'd be hard pressed to find the lead actor of any film make his exit as quickly as Brady in this one, thanks again to Vicola's henchmen. That leaves narcotics officer Jim Flannery (Richard Rober) to make the save for the good guys, with a few twists and turns thrown against him along the way. William Challee and Neville Brand have just the right look for their roles as the top henchies, their craggy features make them almost a caricature.This one's actually a fairly gripping crime drama, made especially atmospheric and moody with all the great shots of the city coastline and East River traffic. Surprisingly, I found myself recognizing a lot of it from one of those leisure cruises around Manhattan made not long ago, even though this movie is pushing near sixty years old. I think some of those boats in the film might have made it till today.Best of all, the film turned out to be a real bargain as part of a sixteen movie DVD package from Platinum Disc, simply titled 'Mobster Movies'. Though every film in the package is all but unknown, each, like "Port of New York", is turning out to be a minor gem from the 1940's and '50's.

***SPOILERS*** Keeping the ports and borders safe for the exploding epidemic of the post-WWII flow of illegal and dangerous drugs US Custom agents together with the FBI and the NYPD get wind of a big drug shipment that's been brought into New York Harbor on the luxury cruise liner Florntine.Checking the ships cargo manifest the custom agents Micky Waters and Jim Flannery, Scott Brady & Richard Rober, come across a box of dangerous drugs slated to be used at a local hospital that's missing and has been replaced with 100 pounds of worthless and harmless sand. Later the person responsible for the switch is found floating in the East River murdered by his contacts in order to keep his mouth shut.The leader of this gang of drug traffickers is the Suave cultured and music loving Paul Vicola, Yul Brynner. Vicola likes to keep things close to his very expensive vest and feels that his woman Toni Cardell, K.T Stevens, is a bit unhinged over what's been going on and has her followed by his hoods to see what she's up to. Toni, as Paul suspected, is about to give him and his gang up to the police and then, with what is expected to be a $25,000.00 reward, leave New York for the West Coast.Getting Toni alone in her apartment Paul finds that she's about to turn him and is boys in and strangles her to death, this as custom Agent Waters is sitting in the lobby of Toni's apartment building providing her with government protection. Waters and his partner Flannery later, on a tip from the late Toni Cardell, check out the lockers at Penn. Station and find the missing drug shipment, cut and ready to be sold on the streets, and set up a sting to find out who the locker belongs to.It turns out that the locker's contents are taken out and delivered, by special messenger, to entertainer Dolly Carney, Arthur Blake, who's fronting for Vicola's mob as a delivery boy. Putting Carney under arrest he breaks down and implicates Vicola's middle-man in this operation Leo Strosser, William Challee, who's involved in a ship maintenance business on the New York piers, a perfect place and cover to get drugs into the country.Risking their lives both Waters and Flannery go under cover to get the goods on both Strasser and his boss Vicola but at, what later turned out to be, the cost of Micky Waters life. Carney who's let out of police custody ends up being kidnapped by Vicola's goons and after telling them what they wanted to know, about this Wyley (Frank Fenton) coming from Canada to buy the stolen drugs, is thrown out a hotel window and made to look like it was suicide.The authorities take Wyley into custody with Agent Flannery going undercover impersonating him to get to the head of the drug gang Paul Vicola that leads to the movies exciting shoot-out at the Port of New York between Vicola and his hoodlum with the US Coast Guard and Custom agent Flannery.Yul Brynner with a head of hair steals the movies acting honors with his portrayal of gangster Paul Vicola who's as deadly and murderous when he's in business as a big time drug trafficker as he's sophisticated and debonair as a lover of the world of musics classical symphonies and piano concerto's

I thought this short film was good for a 1940ish B- movie film. It's about an opium smuggling in New York in the 1940's. The sinister opium dealer Paul Vicola played by Yul Brynner was excellent. Brynner's character in the film was the only interesting character but there is also Scott Brady 's character as the agent who try to catch Brynner's character. Vicola is so evil but suave, since Brynner had played evil roles throughout his movie career this is even the evilest role he had ever played. Also, Brynner's character Paul kills his girlfriend Toni. My favorite lines in the film : First scene when Toni tries to escape from PaulToni: I went to station to my get my ticketPaul: (looking through Toni's purse) And you lost your ticket on the way home...Toni, where you planning on going?Toni: Near the west coast, then travel whenever place I can get. Paul:(angrily) You are most ungrateful, Toni(pulling down the blinds and moves closer) most ungrateful.Second scene when Paul kills ToniPaul: You are a frightened woman, you're nervous and a lie. Toni: What do you mean, Paul? Paul: You are bad risk, Toni. A very risk! (grabs his handkerchief to smother Toni) (smother Toni until there's no life in her) Paul: Die you, bitch! What really amazed me in this film was Yul Brynner with his natural hair! If you want see Brynner before his shaved dome then this is the movie for you.