Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (1957) DVD-R

Starring Richard Egan, Jan Sterling, Dan Duryea, Julie Adams, Walter Matthau
Directed by Arnold Laven

Print: black/white
Runtime: 103 min.
Genre: drama
Print Quality: B

Though Slaughter on Tenth Avenue's background music relies heavily on the Richard
Rodgers composition of the same name, the film itself bears no relation to the ten-minute
ballet for which Rodgers wrote the piece. Instead, this Albert Zugsmith-produced crime
meller attempts to expose waterfront union racketeering. In trying to solves a murder on
the docks, deputy DA Richard Egan runs up against the stevedores' code of silence. It also
dawns on Egan that his own boss (Sam Levene) shows little interest in pursuing justice in
this instance. The DA is finally able to mount a case, but at the crucial courtroom moment
he may have to pull out due to lack of evidence—a lack engineered by crooked boss Walter
Matthau, who has several local politicians in his pocket. A last-minute dockside battle
enables Egan to bring the racketeers to justice. Slaughter on Tenth Avenue was based on
New York district attorney William J. Keating's memoirs The Man Who Rocked the Boat.