Portland Exposé (1957)

Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Disappointment for a huge fan!

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

I have not seen this film yet. So don't really know what it is about except what is on the site. However, Portland Oregon was a veritable "Den of Iniquity" back in the old days. "Shanghai-ing" I believe got its NAME from Portland, as unsuspecting men were lead to trap-doors and then "way-layed" only to wake up on a ship to ....guess where??? There was a lady mobster who ran the booze industry for years and even when "caught up with in the end".... SHE WALKED!!!! There was a whole literal UNDERGROUND CITY under Portland, and it has been shown on Cities of the Underworld. There were brothels, and white slavery, prostitution, and other vices,....opium dens. Portland has a small "China Town". There was underground fighting, yes.... a Fight Club! IT's ALL TRUE!!!Maybe not the movie exactly, but in real life....close enough!!!I ought to know. I live 55 miles south in Salem, Oregon. So this movie is probably close to the truth as to the type of people and things going on up in that wild town to the north! Edit: Just wanted to add that I look forward to seeing this movie soon.

This is a tough look at the difference between unions and criminally controlled protection. Portland is a peculiar setting for a film noir. It works well, though: The opening narrative begins like a travelogue and gradually shifts into comments on the city's corruption.The cast is excellent. It's not always the most beautiful looking group. The ingénue, who is pretty, wears her hair slicked back with what looks like Brylcreme. Virginia Gregg, the notable radio actress playing her mother, looks a little old for the role and tired.It's a twisted movie, though. Catch this: Frank Gorshin, of all people, plays a hit man who is also a pedophile! That's a new one on me -- though child molestation does figure in that great classic of weirdness, film noir, and beauty "The Naked Kiss" a few years later.The bit players add a lot. There's a scene, just a throwaway, in which a blonde playing a slot machine yells "Jackpot!" and goes into paroxysms of glee as the camera moves away and dumps her.And the portly older gal imported to Portland to oversee the b-girl business is fabulous. We meet her as she gets off a plane and totters along in her high heels, fur stole wrapped defiantly around her. Her description of her "girls" is priceless: It prefigures the introduction Melanie Griffith provides herself in "Body Double" decades later.Make no mistake: This is a serious movie. It was obviously done on the cheap. But it's done with great style.

Portland Expose- solid exploitation B flick -ripped from the headlines and all.We follow a very straight arrow citizen- an owner of a tavern that goes from solid straight shooter to undercover mob tough guy- in 72 minutes we are shown this thru him doing some collections and talking tough to the mob dudes.Ed Binns is decent as the lead.Look for a young Frank Gorshin in the movie's most notorious scene where he tries to rape the underage daughter of the protagonist.What makes the DVD worth the purchase is the commentary by Lindsley Parsons,Jr.- it is a little dry- but very informative about the making of B pictures and the system they had to pump out these movies.Since the movie was exposing the teamsters- they decided to work outside the union for this picture and where actually threatened by the mobsters.The voice-over tends to muddle the picture and even provide some unintentional chuckles.Worth a rental for the commentary track. C+

PORTLAND EXPOSE is another one of those films from the 1950's that purports to expose the crime, vice, sin and corruption of some major city. Think of all the films with a major city in the title followed by : "expose", "story", "syndicate", and "confidential". Perhaps someone with a lot of time on their hands should put together a list. Then again, perhaps not.In this film Edward Binns plays a honest tavern owner who is forced to go into partnership with the mob. At first he goes along, but decides to fight the mob when one of the mobsters tries to rape his daughter.PORTLAND EXPOSE a conventionally made low-budget crime thriller from the fifties. Like many films of this genre, the ads claimed it is based on a true story. The film is a bit rougher than some other films from the period. In one scene Binns' daughters boyfriend suggest they go to a hotel for a night of...well you know, because he thinks she is loose because he knows that her fathers tavern has been used by the mob as a pickup place for hookers. Then mob thug Frank Gorshin tries to rape her. Its also mentioned that Gorshins character did time for a sexual offense involving children. Pretty rough stuff for a 1957 low budget crime thriller.