New Orleans Uncensored

A tale of the New Orleans underworld, told in semidocumentary fashion and casting local citizens in several roles. A Navy vet purchases a government surplus vessel and becomes involved in the capture of racketeers trying to take over the New Orleans waterfront.

Hot on the heels of Warner Bros.' NEW YORK CONFIDENTIAL came Columbia's NEW ORLEANS UNCENSORED. Lensed in semi-documentary fashion by future horror maven William Castle, the film stars Arthur Franz as New Orleans dockworker Dan Corbett. Attempting to remain honest, Corbett runs afoul of crime kingpin Zero Saxon (Michael Ansara), who controls the dockworkers union and runs a smuggling operation on the side. When his best friend is killed by Saxon's goons, Corbett agrees to cooperate with the authorities in bringing the racketeer to justice. As a means of "balancing" the picture, several real-life New Orleans civic leaders and union heads--all with purportedly clean records--appear as themselves.