Port of New York

Starring:Port of New York
Studio: Vidtape
Product Type: DVD

Customer Reviews:

Yul Brynner's impressive debut in "T-Men" ripoff!.......2005-03-30

Okay, it's not a TOTAL ripoff of Anthony Mann's classic "T-Men", but the similarities between the two will amaze you! Instead of a deadly counterfeiting ring, it's a deadly drug ring this time. The problem with this is that it didn't have Anthony Mann to make it a truly effective low-budget noir. It's one of those semi-documentary noirs of the late 1940's and is actually (well, according to the film) based on an actual case.

Yul Brynner, in his impressive film debut, plays Paul Vicola, the ruthless leader of a murderous drug ring that continues to elude the authorities. When their latest murdered victim is found in the New York harbor, two government investigators, Mickey Waters (played by Scott Brady) and Jim Flannery (played by Richard Rober) soon discover that the crime is linked with a $1,000,000 shipment of narcotics that has just arrived at the harbor.

When the girlfriend of Paul Vicola, Toni Cardell (played by K.T. Stevens) feels threatened by what she knows about him, she decides to meet with the investigators. This risky move later costs her dearly when Paul finds out! As reluctant witnesses keep turning up dead and their own lives are at risk more and more, the two investigators must hurry and catch the leader of the drug ring before he and his henchmen can escape.

While there are some slow points, and the ending is totally predictable, I found this low-budget film noir surprisingly entertaining, especially Yul Brynner's wonderfully sinister performance. The worst member of the cast was K.T. Stevens, who overacts BIGTIME right up to her character's murder. While not in the same league as "T-Men", this is surely worth owning if you're a film noir fanatic like me. My biggest complaint and primary reason for giving this movie a 3-star rating rather than 4-stars is the awful quality of the Alpha dvd. I've seen silent movies with a FAR better picture quality than this film from 1949! It's really a shame because the movie would be much more enjoyable (especially the night scenes) if it was properly restored. Overall, I recommend it to hardcore noir buffs, but don't expect a good picture or sound quality.

A beginning Yul Brynner.......2002-05-08

This action film is the demonstration of the methods used by federal authorities to curb the traffic of opium in the old days. It is interesting just as that : showing the methods to investigate a case and to solve it. The traffickers are of course immoral and do not hesitate to kill anyone in their way. It is also interesting to see a young Yul Brynner. He has a potential, so far unexploited. He will be a good actor later, even if he is over the average in this unambitious film.

Product Description

Two narcotic agents go after a gang of murderous drug dealers.

Customer Reviews:

It's about a shipment of sand.......2004-12-25

PORT OF NEW YORK is one of those low budget, Poverty Row productions that boasts a vibrant, quasi-documentary feel. Whether because of technical innovations (smaller, lighter cameras) or greater expertise (maybe the great World War II documentaries convinced film photographers to leave the studios now and then), the late forties saw a great number of films shot on gritty, big city streets. Films opened up and breathed, and the better stories acquired an urgent reality.
PONY is not one of the better stories. Eagle-Lion was one of the poorest of the poor studios, and greatest would be a little too much to expect. Moving from expensive studio sets to real, and free, locations must have been welcome indeed.
Most of these movies used a "from the files of (government agency)" approach. Here it's the Customs Department, vigilant guardians of our shores. Add a voice over narration, some stock shots of real custom agents cutting into real false heels (rascally smugglers!), and a pair of heroes almost as exciting as Dragnet's Joe Friday and you got yourself the makings of a movie. Add a case pulled from the files of, an interesting Bad Guy and you're booked.
The case, in this case, is that of the Florentine, a luxury liner that, we learn, is transporting a load of Bad Drugs to the ports of New York. The drugs, a hundred pounds or so of raw opium, is smuggled into New York and our customs agents at work are soon on the job. The top agent is PONY star Scott Brady, a decent enough actor who is asked to do nothing more than set a square jaw and do nothing to embarrass the Customs Department. Our bad guy, Yul Brynner, is fourth on the cast list and another story completely. Not only is he interesting and possessed of a second dimension, he dresses better than our hero, drapes beautiful women on his arm now and again, and generally revels in his sociopathology.
Yul Brynner's drug kingpin isn't a great screen villain, but he's good enough, especially for a low-rent production like this. Besides, given the naturalistic tone of PORT OF NEW YORK, a more stylized bad guy would have been out of place. In any event, like almost all screen villains of the time, Brynner's character has a high good time of it until the Code catches up with him.
** A BIG CAVEAT EMPTOR **
I'm reviewing the Pro-Active Entertainment copy of this film. For the last thirty minutes or so the sound track is seriously out of synch with the image track. By fully one second. Smoke shoots out of the barrel of a gun, lips move, and you can count one-Mississippi before you hear the fired shot or the spoken word. Very bad and extremely distracting. I was wrapped up in the movie enough to plow through it, but I wouldn't have purchased it in the first place if I'd known.

Port Of New York / Romance Of A Horsethief

Average customer rating:

Great movies, Bad production quality.

Port Of New York / Romance Of A Horsethief
Starring: Scott Brady , Yul Brynner , and Lainie Kazan
Director: Eli Wallach
Manufacturer: Miracle Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

2 Movies for the price of 1

Customer Reviews:

Great movies, Bad production quality........2006-05-25

I was excited to find this 2-in-1 DVD release as I'm a huge Yul Brynner fan and both of these movies are hard to catch. Port of New York is an excellent film-noir which needs to be seen if only to catch a young, skinny Brynner make his movie debut as a very sinister drug boss. I had to give this 2 stars for the poor DVD quality of the Miracle Pictures release. The audio quality is out of synch by a few seconds in the last 20 minutes of Port of New York, enough to really mess with the story. In Romance of a Horsethief, it is rather muffled and unclear throughout, enough to distract and make following the story a bit difficult. Very disappointing!

Cruise Experience New England and Canada

Average customer rating:

Cruise Experience New England and Canada

Manufacturer: TravelVideoStore.com
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

Video Memories Of The Region's Most Popular Destinations. Relive the splendor and excitement of your cruise through New England & Canada with this beautifully produced interactive DVD. You'll see highlights of the region's most popular destinations presented in an interactive format, allowing you to watch individual videos in any order you like. This is the perfect keepsake from your unforgettable cruise vacation-a video memory you'll enjoy sharing with friends and family alike. Watch Video Memories Of: Bar Harbor Bonaventure Island Boston Charlottetown Cornerbrook Gaspe Halifax Martha's Vineyard Montreal New Port New York Portland Quebec Saguenay River Saint John St. John's Sydney Special Bonus: Colonial America

Average customer rating:

Port of New York

Manufacturer: Synergy Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

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A drug smuggler runs his operation through a New York yacht club, spreading his criminal operation through the use of ocean liners and their staff, to distribute the narcotics. A pair of undercover agents is assigned to track down the source of the narcotics and bring down the drug ring. To get to the criminals, the agents must go under cover to infiltrate the gang, which places them in greater peril the closer they get to the ringleader.

Average customer rating:

port of new york

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

Agents Mickey Waters and John Flannery re-team to investigate the theft of medicinal narcotics from the S.S. Florentine. The vicious gang responsible is headed by the ruthless, but debonair Paul Vicola, who doesn't hesitate to murder anyone who stands in his way. Vicola's girlfriend is garroted when she becomes unreliable, and when go-between nightclub comic Dolly Carney poses a risk, he is thrown from his apartment window. After Waters is shot and killed trying to break into the gang's Brooklyn-based yacht club front, Flannery decides to go undercover and pose as a San Francicco drug dealer. The gang is smoked out and after a furious gun battle, Vicola is apprehended and his gang broken.