The Phenix City Story

The Phenix City Story
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPhil Karlson
Screenplay byDaniel Mainwaring
Crane Wilbur
Produced bySamuel Bischoff
David Diamond
StarringJohn McIntire
Richard Kiley
Kathryn Grant
Edward Andrews
Meg Myles
James Edwards
CinematographyHarry Neumann
Edited byGeorge White
Music byHarry Sukman
Production
company
Distributed byAllied Artists Pictures
Release dates
  • July 19, 1955 (1955-07-19) (Phenix City, Columbus, Chicago)
  • August 14, 1955 (1955-08-14) (US)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$350,000
Box office$2.2 million (US)

The Phenix City Story is a 1955 American crime film noir directed by Phil Karlson for Allied Artists, written by Daniel Mainwaring and Crane Wilbur and starring John McIntire, Richard Kiley, and Kathryn Grant. It dramatizes the 1954 assassination of attorney and politician Albert Patterson in Phenix City, Alabama, and the subsequent declaration of martial law.

The film had a triple premiere held on July 19, 1955 in Phenix City, Alabama, Columbus, Georgia, and Chicago, Illinois. It was a critical and commercial success, and has come to be regarded as one of the classics of the film noir genre. In 2019, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".