99 River Street delivers a one-two punch of brute force and stylistic invention: classic Phil Karlson. Building on typical noir elements—a down-on-his-luck protagonist, an untrustworthy blonde wife, and a grisly gallery of underworld mugs—Karlson here ventures beyond standard crime-gone-wrong themes to explore the overlaps between reality and spectacle. From the brilliant opening sequence, in which a prizefighter turned cab driver (John Payne) watches himself lose on a TV program called “Great Fights of Yesterday,” Karlson exploits shifting points of view to disorient both audience and characters. The working title was “Crosstown,” evoking both the characters’ mutual betrayals and the cabbie’s nocturnal travels across the map of New York, finally leading him down a dead-end street in Jersey City.

Phil Karlson’s Gunman’s Walk screens tonight at 8:15 in our Widescreen series.

—Juliet Clark

• Written by Robert Smith, from a story by George Zuckerman. Photographed by Franz Planer. With John Payne, Evelyn Keyes, Brad Dexter, Frank Faylen. (83 mins, B&W, 35mm, From MGM)