DVD Review
Portland Expose, 1957
…he, let’s call him Dave just in case he is not out of the witness protection program yet or maybe he doesn’t want his name used in public after what happened, did what he had to do, did what he had to do especially when they tried to come after his family, tried to molest his virginal daughter, did what any stand- up guy would do if he had any guts when the deal went down, went down when the wise guys came calling. Yah, Dave the stand-up guy, captain of the Eugene High School football team , Class of 1936, did his time in the Pacific islands and atolls, came back married his high school sweetheart , Betty, from over in Corvallis, Class of 1937 (met at a dance the night of the big cross state high school football rivalry between the two towns but that is another story) , left the dust of the sticks behind and moved to big chance Portland , and had a couple of kids, Tommy and Janie, that Janie a looker even at just eighteen and plenty of cause for getting protective about when guys came around, especially when they wanted to try any funny stuff, as they would.
That Portland by the way is out in Oregon, the trees everywhere place, the big time mountain place, the rain place, the big rose place, a place strictly for squares, squares cubes, a place where you would not think the wise guys, you know, the pimp daddies, the numbers guys, liquor guys, hopheads, B-girls (quaint, right), gambling, every vice, every profitable vice known to humankind would bother to fuss with. But there you would be wrong since the wise guys figured out long ago with Vegas that throw that stuff, the whores, the booze, the slots, the bright lights and glitter, even cheap glitter, and you have a magnet, any place, any place you can get to by car or other easy conveyance. So Portland got zeroed in on. And Dave, besides being a stand-up guy in almost every respect, just happened to have a nice little resort, nothing fancy, just outside of town, all cozy like, just waiting for wise guy partners to come along. And they did, and they moved in fast, and kept moving in, kept adding their amusements.
Dave, once the wise guys showed him a little reason, showed him a little billy club and hot acid to the face reason if he didn’t fall down for the action, showed him that they were not afraid to ruin his family, and especially that cute little Janie if need be, went along, went along for a while, just a while. And things, if not good and respectable like before, at least had the dough come rolling in. Still Dave had qualms, qualms because he was essentially a guy wanted to run his own non-wise guy show, qualms because he was still a stand –up guy, so when one of the wise guys’ hired help tried to molest Janie he had his “straw that broke the camel’s back” reason. So he turned stoolie, stoolie for the feds looking into racketeering, especially racketeering in unions and other locales a big deal back in the 1950s.
And Dave, well, Dave like in a lot of things that an A-One stand-up guy can do once he puts his mind to it, was able to get very high up in the mob organization, right up to Mr. Big, and carrying a wire grab all sorts of information about this and that as he walked around the operation. Of course the tough guys didn’t get where they were in high society by being chumped to righteous citizens so Dave, and Janie too, have to endure a few scares (Dave facing that damn hot acid a gain, jesus) before some rough justice comes out of his efforts. And then, after the wise guys got their just dessert, Dave and family and Portland, when back to prized obscurity.
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