Like "T-Men" (1947) and "Trapped" (1949), this documentary-style film noir focuses on the dangerous work carried out by the men of the U.S. Treasury Department and in this case, they're targeting a well-organised drug-smuggling gang whose methods are particularly violent. The action is fast-moving and presented very realistically (thanks to extensive use of location shooting) and the atmosphere is consistently tense. Probably its most striking characteristic, however, is the way in which it, so convincingly, conveys just how consistently life-threatening the routine activities of the criminals and the Treasury agents are on a daily basis.
A few miles outside of New York harbour, at 3.30am one morning, an attractive young woman called Toni Cardell (K.T.Stevens) is out on a deck of the "S S Florentine" and watches as the ship's purser, who's on a lower deck, throws a life-raft into the sea and dives in after it. He's soon picked up by a passing motor boat into which he throws a bag and the men in the boat immediately stab him to death and throw his body overboard before making a quick exit.
Later that morning, after all the passengers have left the ship, a customs officer discovers that a very-high value shipment of raw narcotics which was destined for medical use, has gone missing and as the purser knew the combination for the vault in which the narcotics were kept and had also disappeared along with his papers, he naturally becomes the focus of the investigation that follows.
Toni's been involved in drug-smuggling or some time and is the girlfriend of Paul Vicola (Yul Brynner) who's the head of the gang. She gets cold feet about being so closely involved with a murder situation and becomes desperate to leave. Her debonair boyfriend isn't prepared to entertain the idea and also refuses to give her any money to quit, so she contacts the Treasury Department to offer information for a pay-off. Before she's able to tell them all she knows, Vicola catches up with her and having found out what she's done, strangles her to death.
Using some information that they'd obtained from Toni and working on hunches, Narcotics Agent Jim Flannery (Richard Rober) and Customs Agent Mickey Waters (Scott Brady) stake-out a locker on Penn Station and wait for someone to collect the parcel of narcotics that they know it contains. When they follow the messenger who collects the parcel, he leads them to a nightclub where he delivers the drugs to an entertainer called Dolly Carney (Arthur Blake). When they arrest Carney and take him in for questioning, he soon provides them with the leads they need to hunt down Vicola and bring an end to his gang's activities.
As Vicola, Yul Brynner (in his first screen role) is superficially very genteel but also incredibly ruthless. His character is obsessed with eliminating risks and is quite chilling when he makes some remarks (e.g. "you're a bad risk Toni.....a very bad risk"). The scene in which he murders Toni at her dressing table is brilliantly set up with both the murderer and the victim seen in the multiple reflections that the mirror creates. This is just one of many examples that this film contains of the talent of cinematographer George E Diskant whose shadowy compositions contribute so much to the powerful and often threatening atmosphere of the piece. Despite its low budget, B-movie status, "Port of New York" is enjoyable to watch and packs a lot of story into its 82 minutes.
A few miles outside of New York harbour, at 3.30am one morning, an attractive young woman called Toni Cardell (K.T.Stevens) is out on a deck of the "S S Florentine" and watches as the ship's purser, who's on a lower deck, throws a life-raft into the sea and dives in after it. He's soon picked up by a passing motor boat into which he throws a bag and the men in the boat immediately stab him to death and throw his body overboard before making a quick exit.
Later that morning, after all the passengers have left the ship, a customs officer discovers that a very-high value shipment of raw narcotics which was destined for medical use, has gone missing and as the purser knew the combination for the vault in which the narcotics were kept and had also disappeared along with his papers, he naturally becomes the focus of the investigation that follows.
Toni's been involved in drug-smuggling or some time and is the girlfriend of Paul Vicola (Yul Brynner) who's the head of the gang. She gets cold feet about being so closely involved with a murder situation and becomes desperate to leave. Her debonair boyfriend isn't prepared to entertain the idea and also refuses to give her any money to quit, so she contacts the Treasury Department to offer information for a pay-off. Before she's able to tell them all she knows, Vicola catches up with her and having found out what she's done, strangles her to death.
Using some information that they'd obtained from Toni and working on hunches, Narcotics Agent Jim Flannery (Richard Rober) and Customs Agent Mickey Waters (Scott Brady) stake-out a locker on Penn Station and wait for someone to collect the parcel of narcotics that they know it contains. When they follow the messenger who collects the parcel, he leads them to a nightclub where he delivers the drugs to an entertainer called Dolly Carney (Arthur Blake). When they arrest Carney and take him in for questioning, he soon provides them with the leads they need to hunt down Vicola and bring an end to his gang's activities.
As Vicola, Yul Brynner (in his first screen role) is superficially very genteel but also incredibly ruthless. His character is obsessed with eliminating risks and is quite chilling when he makes some remarks (e.g. "you're a bad risk Toni.....a very bad risk"). The scene in which he murders Toni at her dressing table is brilliantly set up with both the murderer and the victim seen in the multiple reflections that the mirror creates. This is just one of many examples that this film contains of the talent of cinematographer George E Diskant whose shadowy compositions contribute so much to the powerful and often threatening atmosphere of the piece. Despite its low budget, B-movie status, "Port of New York" is enjoyable to watch and packs a lot of story into its 82 minutes.