robertguttman John Payne was better known for playing nice guys rather than Film- Noir characters, but he certainly comes through in this one. He plays a washed-up boxer turned cab driver whose wife no longer cares for him and has taken up with a gangster. When the gangster commits a robbery her presence complicates matters, so he kills her and frames her husband for her murder. Aided by a actress-acquaintance he struggles to catch up with the real murderer before the police catch up with him, simultaneously competing against a fence whom the gangster robbed, and who now wants the gangster dead. This is classic Film-Noir, abetted by such familiar Film-Noir standbys as Evelyn Keyes, Brad Dexter, Jay Adler, Frank Faylen and Jack Lambert. Each of these characters seems perfectly at home in a night-world in which virtually everybody is up to no good. Movies like this were never taken very seriously at the time. They were known simply as "Crime Melodramas" and most of them, including this one, were produced as low-budget B-Pictures. It was only later that French film critics hung the label "Film-Noir" on the genre and made them respectable. See "99 River Street" and find out for yourself if the French knew what they were talking about.

mark.waltz Neither a trampy wife or a press hungry Broadway producer can fool with beaten prize fighter John Payne. He's struggling to make ends meet to keep the social climbing wife happy, driving a cab and trying to save money in order to buy a gas station. But it isn't bad enough that his wife nags him to try and make something better of himself, it's watching the fight that destroyed his career on T.V. as well. Nothing can please this bleached blonde harpy (Peggie Castle) who, as it turns out, has been stepping out on him with a jewel thief (Brad Dexter) who wants to sell off his goods so they can get out of the country. Once Payne spots the two together, he is angry enough to kill, and she is terrified. But when things go awry with the fence who refuses to buy the goods, someone is about to get knocked off, and it is Payne who must clear himself of that murder.Not only does Payne have his lascivious wife and her ruthless lover to deal with (not to mention the fence), a struggling actress (Evelyn Keyes) utilizes him in a scheme which gets him more into trouble. But in spite of what she did, Keyes is an o.k. broad, and she finds herself tossed in to helping him clear his name. The race is set and the film noir is off and running. Payne is as brooding an anti-hero as you can find, definitely beaten up by life, and definitely the victim of not only one dame, but two. That makes for film noir at its finest, and in this one, the waterfront streets of New York are utilized in helping the storyline move into a dark and lonely place you can only hope the hero will be able to get himself out of.Well written and acted, excellently photographed, and gripping, this is a sleeper of the mid noir years that is in many ways just as tense as some of the first great films of that genre. Everything is in place to get you hooked, and the twists and turns are as difficult to find your way out of as a quick exit out of Alphabet City. Keyes gets to shine as the promising actress who utilizes her talents to aide Payne, especially in trying to get close to the film's villain. When she puts on her easy broad facade, it's like watching a different character than the nice lady who approached Payne just hours before to pay off her car fare. Finding a rare gem like this is like finding a brand new friend, and in this case, you may find yourself wanting to add it to your film noir collection.

GManfred Like Powell before him, John Payne got a second wind in gritty noir films like "99 River Street". Apparently, their boyish charm, and maybe their voices, began to fail them and renewed their careers as hard-boiled tough guy heroes. The only difference is that, unlike Powell, Payne's characters are usually losers (The Crooked Way, Kansas City Confidential).Here, Payne is a prize fighter who loses his last bout and also his unfaithful wife (Peggy Castle), and matters go downhill from there. He becomes enmeshed in robbery and murder, as misfortune piles upon misfortune in a classic noir scenario. Brad Dexter has a good role as the villain and the picture was directed by Phil Karlson, who directed Payne's previous film (KC Confidential), and keeps the picture moving at a good clip.The only drawback I felt was Evelyn Keyes, who plays Payne's newfound girlfriend. She tended to overact and seemed too fragile in the midst of a good deal of action, more than normally found in a film of this type. This is one of the better films of the genre, not far behind "Out Of The Past", my personal favorite.

sol ***SPOILERS*** Ex-professional prize fighter Earnie Driscoll, John Payne, has been working the nigh shift driving a cab for the last three years to earn enough money to open up a gas station and,in his mind, be on easy street for the rest of his life. It's Earnie's nagging wife Pauline, Peggy Castle, who's been busting his chops in what a failure he is in once being the #1 contender for the worlds heavyweight crown to now hacking for a living after the state boxing board revoked his license! That was after the beating he took in his title match with heavyweight champ Sailor Braxton, Hal Baylor, that almost left Earnie blind in one eye.It's when Pauline got involved with diamond thief Victor Rawlins, Brad Dexter, that the roof fell in on Earnie's head. Not only looking to check out with Victor Pauline also gets unknowingly involved in a criminal act that he committed in murdering his diamond smuggling contact the Dutchman and taking his $50,000.00 worth of uncut diamonds that soon turned deadly for her. That's only after Earnie caught Pauline in the act of smooching with Victor as he came to pick her up from work at the flower shop! Mad as hell for being make a sucker of by Pauline Earnie got involved,in a friendly not romantic way, with aspiring actress Linda James, Evelyn Keyes, who in return got him involved in a murder that she committed! That's when the producer of the play Linda wanted a part in got a little too fresh with her and in a white hot rage she did him in! Or was it all an just an act to get the part on Linda's part!Made a fool of, by Pauline and Linda, twice in one night was just too much for the proud but poor Earnie Driscoll to take but what happened next was anything but harmless! Pauline,in order to keep her mouth shut for good, got murdered by her now ex-lover Victor who then made Earnie to look like the fall guy, by sticking Pauline's body in the back seat of his cab, by framing him in her murder! Not only that but Mr. Christopher, Jay Adler, who was to fence the $50,000.00 in diamonds for Victor who later robbed him of it felt that it was Earnie as well as Victor who double crossed him in the deal by being Victor's partner!On the run from the cops and Mr. Christopher's henchmen Earnie together with Linda, who's now in love with him, has only hours to prove his innocence before Victor, his only alibi to is wife Pauline's murder, checks out of the country on a freighter for France where he, and the $50,000.00 he robbed Mr. Christopher of, will never be seen or heard from again!***SPOIERS*** Hard hitting film noir thriller with Earnie Driscoll taking it on the chin as well as chest, with a .38 slug, as he tracks down Victor Rawlins to the docks of Jersey City before he makes his getaway out of the country. Earnie got a lot of help from Linda who realized what a fink she was in her tricking him into thinking she was a murderess just to earn her a part in a Broadway play. In the end Earnie and Linda not only tied the knot but opened up a gas station that ended up doing record breaking business with the hundreds of New York City cabbies, who worked out of the same taxi garage that Earnie did, exclusively filling up their gas-tanks there!