Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (1957)

A brave longshoreman lingers on after being gunned down by 3 racketeers, as a determined assistant D.A. searches hard for fearful witnesses against the men.

Director:

Arnold Laven

Writers:

William J. Keating (book), Richard Carter (book),

Stars:

Richard Egan, Jan Sterling, Dan Duryea

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Egan	...	William "Bill" Keating
Jan Sterling	...	Madge Pitts
Dan Duryea	...	John Jacob Masters
Julie Adams	...	Daisy 'Dee' Pauley
Walter Matthau	...	Al Dahlke
Charles McGraw	...	Lt. Anthony Vosnick
Sam Levene	...	Howard Rysdale
Mickey Shaughnessy	...	Solly Pitts
Harry Bellaver	...	Benjy Karp
Nick Dennis	...	Midget Dock Worker
Joe Downing	...	Eddie 'Cockeye' Cook
Ned Wever	...	Captain Sid Wallace
Billy M. Greene	...	Monk Mohler
John McNamara	...	Judge Craiger
Amzie Strickland	...	Mrs. Cavanagh

Storyline

Three men gun down Solly Pitts, 'rebel' against the racket-ridden Longshoremen's Union. Before dying, Pitts tells his wife 'Cockeye' Cook was one of the killers...but won't repeat it to the police, nor will anyone else help them. It seems it's a dockyard tradition to handle private battles without help. Bill Keating, new to the D.A.'s office, is just naive enough to think he can make a case against Cook; but his efforts seem to be leading only to further violence...

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Plot Keywords:

murderer | killer | gang leader | gang | newspaper reporter | 

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Taglines:

Teeming Drama of the City's Waterfront (original poster)

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 September 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Drei Schritte vor der Hölle

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hedy Lamarr had a sizable supporting role that was deleted in post-production.

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Goofs

When Madge is walking dog, she passes same watch repair shop twice in the same direction.

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Connections

Referenced in Love & War: Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (1994)

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Soundtracks

"Slaughter on Tenth Avenue"
Music by Richard Rodgers
Arranged by Herschel Burke Gilbert

User Reviews

Realistic rackets-busting drama

Based on fact, and hewing closely to a book co-authored by the central character Keating, this movie is based on more or less the real people portrayed in On the Waterfront -- there's even a priest-- only without Brando and without the romance. Egan as Keating is a bit of a stiff. I think the real Keating was more of a rebel. Great title music, an old Rodgers & Hart tune first used in "On Your Toes" for a comic dance number. Still, not much Slaughter and not much Tenth Avenue either. (The real life incident at the beginning took place on Grove Street in Greenwich Village, but "Slaughter on Grove Street" wouldn't sound right, I guess.)