AllMovie

Virtually every major city in the 1950s harbored some sort of political corruption or other, providing plenty of material for the "exposé" school of filmmaking. Portland Expose is a fact-based account of skullduggery in the Oregon metropolis. Inspired by revelations made during the Senate's McClellan Committee hearings, the story concentrates on an honest tavern owner named George Madison (Edward Binns) who is involuntarily sucked into the city's rotten-to-the-core political machine. When Madison refuses to allow his establishment to serve as the gathering place for hoods and delinquents, the powers-that-be threaten to harm his family. Only after his daughter is attacked by a syndicate flunkey does Madison decide to fight back. At great personal risk, he manages to tape-record damning evidence against Portland's "untouchable" criminal kingpin (Russ Conway). The supporting cast includes such radio and TV "regulars" as Virginia Gregg, Larry Dobkin, Frank Gorshin and Joe Flynn.