Cry Tough (1959) User Reviews

Sequel to Amboy Dukes

[baese · 5/10 · 13 February 2013]

I haven't seen this Flick ! I keep asking TCM to show it. It is interesting in that the main character ,John Saxon, was a member of the Amboy Dukes, a Brooklyn street gang in an eponymous bestselling book of the post war J/D era. The Amboy Dukes was filmed as "City Across the River" - it was Tony Curtis's first film appearance. It was a passable, somewhat tepid version of the famous novel. This one, "Cry Tough" is a common book on the collector's vintage PB market, but this film has never been on VHS, LD, much less DVD. A reviewer above states he saw it on TCM. I've requested it from their library, to no avail. A rarely seen film. Lets get it out on DVD, it can't be worse than a lot of the junk available ! It may be a "Film Noir" in style, "City Across the River" is classified thus.

'There 'aint nuthin shakin' but the bacon, and that's already taken!' Amen, sister Sarita!!!!

[Weirdling_Wolf · 7/10 · 23 July 2022]

Director Paul Stanley's sweltering, excitingly mounted, street tough 50s crime drama 'Cry Tough' finds huskily handsome juvenile jailbird Miguel's (John Saxon) earnest attempts to go straight erotically thwarted by his doomed attraction to feisty femme fatal Sarita (Linda Cristal). 'Cry Tough' is a jazzy, hip little, jive-talking crime flick wherein the sordidly oppressive mid-summer heat of the barrio is doubled by the volatile sparks generated by the sultry sin-siren Cristal and her broody, twin-fisted stud Saxon! The film's terse climax is genuinely exciting, and 'Cry Tough' has a big enough heart for you to care about the misbegotten fates of these tormented, hard luck lovers! 'There 'aint nuthin shakin' but the bacon, and that's already taken!' Amen, sister Sarita!!!!

New York Barrios theme ahead of its time...though not necessarily any better for being first

[moonspinner55 · 4/10 · 20 May 2009]

John Saxon plays tough Puerto Rican kid from the Barrio District of New York who gets out of jail with the hope of going straight, only to fall right back in with the criminal element. He marries Cuban firebrand Linda Cristal to legally keep her in the country, but has a rocky reunion with his father, who loves his son despite his shame. Predictable, tolerable melodrama combining familial elements with standard underworld crime scenario. These hoods seem a might tame compared to the mobsters we would see on the screen just a few years later. Saxon, of Italian descent in real-life, is exceptionally handsome, though he can't get a grip on the proper voice to use--and his character is schizophrenically written anyway: cool and unruffled one minute, judo-chopping the enemy the next. Saxon always seems to be loitering (thoughtfully) in alleyways and hallways, yet the sets are too clean and unconvincing, as is the violence. A few of the relationships are bracing, particularly that between Saxon and hard-working father Joseph Calleia (who is excellent). Based on Irving Shulman's novel, the production may have benefited from the new permissiveness of the early 1960s, though there are good scenes, amusingly 'arty' camera set-ups, and solid supporting work, particularly from Calleia and Cristal. ** from ****

Two guys with switchblades

[don999 · 4/10 · 23 May 2009]

Two characters that beat Saxon up at the beginning are worth watching it just by themselves. I saw it on TCM so I am not going to complain. Its kind of low-budget; at the end when Saxon is running from the cops he jumps from building to building and you can see them shake. It is pretty depressing movie and the depiction of the whole family living in a small apartment is realistic. For example it is so crowded that when Saxon gets out of prison and returns home he has to share his father's bed. I wouldn't go out of my way to see it but it has value if only as a museum piece. I have to commend TCM for showing stuff like this because it is about the only channel on cable that shows stuff that isn't the latest junk. This movie came out around the time of West Side Story when a lot of movies about gangs in New York running around with switchblades terrorizing people. They seem almost quaint compared with what is happening today. Apparently everyone was worried about Puerto Ricans. But when I was a little kid the stuff gave me nightmares. I never saw the movies but I remember the exploitation ads they would run or the previews. After this one they had one called The Young Savages with Burt Lancaster dealing with same subject matter.

The only Paul Stanley's production for the movie industry

[searchanddestroy-1 · 8 September 2008]

As far as I know, that's the only feature that Paul Stanley made for a theâtre release. And a pretty good one.

The story of a puertorican hood who tries to get out of his gang and his criminal life and who, of course, can't make it. I know, we have already seen this topic, this scheme a thousand times before. There is the inevitable love story between the thug - played by John Saxon - and the girl who wants him to quit the mob; and his father with whom there is tension for the same reasons. You can also guess the tragic results.

The interesting point of view of this feature is that it insists on the social aspect of life conditions for the New York City puertorican community. Promiscuity, unemployment, precariousness and so on...

In short, an interesting film.

A remarkable first movie!

[JohnHowardReid · 8/10 · 17 February 2018]

This remarkable film is the first movie directed by a man named Paul Stanley. A prolific TV director, Paul Stanley made only a handful of movies, of which, as said, this is the first!

Here, Stanley directs with a virtuosity, an imagination and a skill tat has seldom been equaled for a first feature. Admittedly, he is helped by a hard-hitting script and solid performances -- especially by the surprisingly talented Linda Cristal.

The shadowy low-key photography of the racial ghetto, brilliantly realized by Lathrop and Glassberg, plus Almeida's stunningly effective music score, are other stand-out features of this grim but gripping production.

In all, this movie is must viewing for the connoisseur.

City Heat

[richardchatten · 8/10 · 21 July 2022]

John Saxon is almost less convincing as a young Puerto Rican punk than Richard Beymer in 'West Side Story', but this precursor without songs manages to be nastier, sweatier and is far less glamorous in black & white; while Linda Crystal's nude scene would shock those who only knew her from the 'High Chapparal'.