jim riecken (youroldpaljim)
Yet another fifties semi-documentary style crime thriller "ripped from the pages of todays headlines" purporting to expose the sin, crime, vice and corruption of some major city. This time the setting is south of the border in sunny Mexico, where a crusading newspaper editor battles the local syndicate who have turned the border city of Tijuana into a cesspool of drug dealing, gambling, and prostitution.Despite the slightly different setting, THE TIJUANA STORY is mostly a routine low budget semi-documentary style crime drama. The film is not as exciting as many of the other films of this genre. At times the films pace slows down. Of interest is seeing Mexican actor Rudolfo Acosta in a change of pace from his usual villain roles, playing the crusading newspaper editor. James Darren is given top billing in the films ads, but his role is actually rather small. Here he plays an American teenager who goes to Tijuana for a few cheap thrills and ends up getting accidentally killed when fleeing police who try to bust him on drug charges. Also in the cast is Robert Blake with a phony Mexican accent.
