The Pusher

Another reviewer complained that this wonderful, moody and atmospheric film about heroin addiction was too "dreary.." I have to laugh at some of the comments I read here. New York City, circa 1958; a heroin kingpin sets up shop, and sets himself up in a posh penthouse apartment on Riverside Drive. His customers are mostly kids, many of them Puerto Rican immigrants looking to find their place in a new city, and they get hooked on the smack that Mario supplies them. Things start to get out of control when a Police Lieutenant's daughter gets hooked, while working at a shady nightclub in Midtown. The pusher himself, played by Felice Orlandi, is suitably sleazy and heartless, as he feeds off of the young people in the area, making himself rich while destroying their lives in the process. This film is remarkably realistic in it's depiction of both the business aspect and the addiction aspect of the drug culture. Beautifully filmed in shadowy, stark black and white, with New York City on display in all it's old time glory. Of course it's "dreary," and seedy, and downbeat. This title is very rare and i imagine a copy must be a real collectors item. It reminded me of the New York beat/jazz scene described in Kerouac's "On the Road," so much so, that I half expected William Burroughs to appear in one of those seedy Times Square bars shown in this film. This is a wonderful, lost movie that should be easier to find. Similar to "Hatful of Rain," another early 60's NYC heroin movie, although this one is better. "The Pusher" would make a great double feature with "Who Killed Teddy Bear," which is another 1960's study of the seedy underbelly of New York's times Square scene. A lost gem...

I had never heard of this movie before, and I'm glad I checked it out. As a native New Yorker, I love seeing the location shots from the early 60's around East Harlem, Central Park and other places. Some changes since then, but some things are the same.

The same can be said for the theme of the movie, the sad reality of drug addiction. Some things never change, though opioids are now the fashion, rather than main lining heroine. Either way, it's just as pathetic.

Both Steve Lansing and Douglas Rogers do good acting jobs as police officers who go after the pusher that's supplying young people, including Laura (Kathy Carlyle), the daughter of one and fiancée of the other.

Ms. Carlyle gives a powerful performance as she goes through the stages of withdrawal, you really feel her suffering, as she's desperate for another fix of what she started taking as "headache medicine", or so she was told.

Felice Orlando is another good actor, as the evil but charming pusher, and Sara Ammon is also very good as Maria, the nightclub dancer/junkie who falls under his spell and helps cause her kid brother's death.

There are some exciting scenes involving Lansing and Rogers, who go after Orlando, risking their lives more than once.

As so often happens, there are familiar faces from TV: John Astin (in his first film role, pre "Addams Family') and David Ford, who fans of "Dark Shadows" will recognize as Sam Evans.

Worth watching.

It's a tough look at the grimy side of New York, as the detectives of the 87th Precinct try to crack down on the drug trade.

It's based on Evan Hunter's '87th Precinct' series of novels. with the screenplay written by Harold Robbins. It's got a score by the great Raymond Scott, that varies from jazz to movie bombast -- I don't think it quite works, but you may reasonably disagree. Robert Lansing plays the same character he would in the 1961-1962 TV series, and if you look hard, you may recognize John Astin as one of the detectives in the background.

It's certainly worthy of approval of the tough realism of New York's street and worthy of your at

Gene Milford did not build a household name, even in the realm of B productions like THE PUSHER . I have not seen anything else done by him, but THE PUSHER deserves above average rating.

One curiosity is that 1958 is the year that appears in the opening credits, but IMDB makes it 1960. Was in production for two years? It looks so shoestring that I doubt it, to be honest.

Albeit offering a generally realistic view of New York between those years, the film opens by introducing you to Lt Byrne, his wife, his daughter Laura, and the latter's boyfriend, Steve, also a copper. All, law abiding, all likable... but you discover very rapidly that Laura begins to stray, taking drugs on the quiet. She knows what she is doing, the dangers involved, the impact on her father and boyfriend, and she is convinced she can kick the habit but she just keeps diving deeper into it, getting her stuff from "Ganzo", another name for the pusher, who is very credibly played by prim and proper looking Felice Orlandi.

Of course, moral and family issues rise to the surface, and Lt Byrhe becomes extremely interested in the case when he gets what is happening with Laura and helps her with cold turkey treatment.

It makes you think that by 1958/1960 drug trafficking still seemed a minor and relatively containable problem, and yet since then even the finest police force in the world, US Police, has not managed to reduce it significantly, let alone stop it. And with new drugs being engineered full time, like crack, ecstasy, fentanyl, and all the rest of it, the common citizen has become more and more a target for the panoply of pushers, sellers, and others keeping that infamous trade ticking.

Sadly, by the time this well-meaning, honest film wrapped up, I could only think that mankind heeds no warning, however clear, and in the long run it is condemning itself to extinction for the sake of enriching drug lords.

Strong B noir photography by Arthur Ornitz, credible screenplay by Evan Hunter. 7/10.

For some reason, "The Pusher" sat on the shelf for two years until it was finally released to theaters. I have no idea why, as usually this means the film is terrible...but there's nothing terrible about this movie. It's excellent...and holds up well all these years later.

The story is about a particularly vicious drug dealer. Not only does he sell heroin, but he doesn't like to leave any loose ends...which means he's more than happy to kill anyone...even his own clients or a cop! The problem is that the detective investigating doesn't realize that his own fiancee is one of the killer's clients. To make it worse, her father is a police lieutenant! Can the cops manage to notice that their lead to the killer's identity is right there in front of them?!

While the film is very realistic in depicting drug abuse, it's not a film noir movie. It focuses more on realism as opposed to sensationalism. Well worth seeing and never dull.

By the way, this film is John Astin's movie debut. He is only briefly seen near the beginning of the picture and barely says anything. I guess they had no idea he'd one day be a star.