starring Gene Evans, Mary Welch
written, directed, and produced by Samuel Fuller
83 minutes
Phineas Mitchell (Gene Evans), an experienced newspaper man, gets the opportunity, in the late 1800s, to turn an old print shop into a newspaper. Mitchell runs with it and does everything he can to not only print newsworthy stories in The Globe but also hire people who help to innovate the technology of newspaper publications.
The Globe has a rival, a newspaper that has been around for quite some time, The Star. Charity Hackett (Mary Welch), the publisher of the Star, doesn't care for the competition. She does what she can to put the Globe out of business.
Gene Evans also starred in The Steel Helmet (1951) which was also written, directed, and produced by Samuel Fuller. I saw the The Steel Helmet in Feb 2005 at the Freer.
Mary Welch only has seven credits according to IMDb. Park Row is the only movie in which she appeared. All of her other credits were from TV shows. She died when she was still in her 30s. She was married to David White at the time she died. White is best known to me for playing Larry Tate, Darren Stevens' boss on Bewitched.
There are serious inconsistencies in the way Charity Hackett is portrayed. Maybe I can buy that she didn't mean for her people to use violence but her turn at the end of the movie from bitter rival to sympathetic ally was a bit much for me. I also did not understand the romantic moment between Hackett and Mitchell. I thought it must be a dream.
Samuel Fuller clearly had ideas he was trying to get across but the story in this movie feels rushed and does not do it for me.
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