Domínio do Terror

Based on a "True Story" the opening scene features a panoramic view of Portland as the narration extols the beauty, culture and incredible atmosphere of the city as a wonderful place to raise a family. Sounds like Paradise but...it seems the town has been overran by murderous rival crime syndicates vying for control of the lucrative pinball vending business.

Filmed in a semi-documentary style, Portland Expose reveals the sordid, corrupt side of the City of Roses. The movie follows the plight of local barkeeper George Madison (Edward Binns) as he becomes entangled with the criminal underworld after he agrees to have a pinball machine placed in his tavern. Soon the syndicate forces him to place even more machines and his formerly quiet pub becomes a hangout for the 'wrong crowd'. Regretting his decision Madison decides to fight back after his daughter (Carolyn Craig) is attacked in the parking lot by a syndicate thug (Frank Gorshin). With the cooperation of local officials Madison decides to go undercover to gather evidence to expose the rackets.

The movie draws inspiration from the detective exploitation magazines of the era that promised behind the scenes sordid details. The stories were usually presented in a lascivious manner to maximize sensationalism as they followed the crime investigation through the eyes of the investigators. Tame by today's standards, the film pushed the boundaries into the acceptable content of the time. Though it's a fairly typical 1950's matinee programmer, Portland Exposé weaves a pretty fair noirish tale. Gritty and not highly stylized, it features ensemble cast composed of prolific career character actors (Binns, Virginia Gregg, Russ Conway, Lawrence Dobkin, Frank Gorshin, Rusty Lane, Joe Flynn) who manage to make the movie better than might be expected. All in all a watchable B crime flick.

A tavern owner helps authorities get the goods on gangs trying to take over a labor union.

This Lindsley Parsons production is one of the many "confidential" or "expose" films of the time. Usually the tabloid title would include the name of a city whose supposed racketeers the movie would then expose. This movie appears inspired by the acid blinding of New York City labor reporter Victor Riesel in 1956 for his investigations into labor racketeering in that city.

The low-budget Parsons outfit may have produced this programmer, but they managed two key assets, despite the lowly origins. First, they got heavyweight actor Ed Binns for the lead, along with familiar face Virginia Gregg and that fine little actress Carolyn Craig. What Binns lacks in marquee value, he makes up for in sheer talent, having been one of the Twelve Angry Men (1957) in that powerhouse film of the same year.

Second, the movie did extensive location filming in Portland, lending the visuals both interest and a realistic air. The woodsy tavern, in particular, looks genuine instead of the usual Hollywood fakery. Then too, the screenplay manages some suspense, especially when Madison (Binns) goes undercover. But the highlight may be hoodlum Joe's (Gorshin) attempted rape of sweet little Ruth (Craig). It's pretty explicit for the time.

If there's a downside, in my book, it's the absence of real menace from any of the bad guys (contrast with the subtle menace of kingpin Edward Andrews' in Phenix City Story {1955}). All in all, however, the movie manages a number of interesting features without being anything special.

(In passing—Catch sexpot Jeanne Carmen (Iris) who was Marilyn Monroe's "bosom buddy" in more obvious ways than one. Also, such a shame that Carolyn Craig died so young and under rather mysterious circumstances, as well.)

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.

Portland Express (1957)

Overall, this is often a stilted affair, and it begins and ends with a canned voice-over about Portland, the Oregon city at the center of this unlikely crime scenario. And for people looking for noir, this is not noir at all, though it does have a kind of throwback to some gangster thugs, and there is a good twenty minutes of night stuff that has a noir look.

Portland Express is more about American innocence, and the surprise anachronism of these mobsters in fedoras pressuring a cute roadhouse into using their pinball machines. Which leads to bigger pressures.

The lead man is a small time movie and later t.v. character, Edward Binns, a solid but unexciting actor, sort of perfect for this solid but unexciting town (back then--now I hear it's solid and exciting). And his daughter is a complete unknown who acts her heart out, and really feels like a teenager on the cusp of womanhood in a realistic way. This matters because she becomes central to the plot, including in a harrowing and almost abusive rape scene (it pushes the violence very hard for a movie of this simplicity). But it's a turning point for Binns, the father, and for the plot, as this likable, ordinary family man goes undercover to get the bad guys.

Naturally, we root for him, and see the dismantling of the syndicate. It gets increasingly dark and desperate over time, and a bit unlikely, but you'll still want to watch to the end, when the cavalry arrives--a group of ordinary men in plaid shirts who rush in to save the day. It's not as hilarious as it sounds. There is a quality of really beautiful, ordinary middle-America here that resonates, and that helps show this is really a 1950s movie. It's widescreen black and white, and a genuine slice of its period.

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.