Park Row (film)
| Park Row | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Samuel Fuller |
| Produced by | Samuel Fuller |
| Written by | Samuel Fuller |
| Starring |
Gene Evans Mary Welch Bela Kovacs |
| Music by | Paul Dunlap |
| Cinematography | John L. Russell |
| Edited by | Philip Cahn |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
|
Release date
|
August 12, 1952 |
|
Running time
|
83 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Park Row is a 1952 drama film starring Gene Evans as a New York City journalist who founds a new type of newspaper and Mary Welch as the established publisher who opposes him. It was written, directed, produced and financed by Samuel Fuller, himself a New York reporter prior to turning to filmmaking. It was his favorite film, though it did not do well at the box office.
The title refers to the street in Manhattan where most of New York City's newspapers were located.
In 1886, reporter Phineas Mitchell (Gene Evans) is fired from The Star newspaper for criticizing its methods and philosophy. When his friends stand up for him, they too are discharged. As the newly unemployed men are drowning their sorrows in a bar, Steve Brodie (George O'Hanlon) rushes in, claiming to have survived a jump off the Brooklyn Bridge and insisting that Mitchell write an article about it and make him famous. Mitchell tells him he no longer has a newspaper job.
Then acquaintance Charles A. Leach (Forrest Taylor) tells Mitchell that he had always dreamed of going into journalism. Leach makes a startling proposition: that they become partners and launch a new newspaper. Leach has a printing press, vacant offices and enough money to get started. Mitchell accepts, hires his friends on the spot, including aged but veteran reporter Josiah Davenport (Herbert Heyes) and eager youngster Rusty. He decides to name the newspaper The Globe. When a policeman comes looking for Brodie, Mitchell drags the hiding fugitive out from behind the bar. Now Mitchell has the front page story for the first issue.
Charity Hackett (Mary Welch), the young, ruthless publisher of The Star, at first dismisses her new rival, but soon becomes concerned. Mitchell has many revolutionary ideas. Despite The Globe's precarious finances (it is printed on cheap materials at hand, including butcher paper), it instantly becomes very popular for the subjects it fearlessly tackles. When she visits its offices, she encounters Ottmar Mergenthaler, who is busy inventing the Linotype machine to automate the slow, laborious process of setting type by hand. She tries, but fails to recruit Mergenthaler for The Star.
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