Street Scene (1931)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

King Vidor

Writers:

Elmer Rice (play)
Elmer Rice (adaptation)

Release Date:

5 September 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Based on the pullitzer prize winning broadway play, Street scene is a study in the daily lives of people...

Plot Keywords:

Neighbor | Neighborhood | Dog | Christopher Columbus | Jewish Family

Cast

Walter Miller	...	Mr. Bert Easter (Rose's boss)
Sylvia Sidney	...	Rose Maurrant
William Collier Jr.	...	Sam Kaplan
Estelle Taylor	...	Mrs. Anna Maurrant
Beulah Bondi	...	Emma Jones
David Landau	...	Mr. Frank Maurrant
Matt McHugh	...	Vincent Jones
Russell Hopton	...	Steve Sankey
Greta Granstedt	...	Mae Jones (as Greta Grandstedt)
Eleanor Wesselhoeft	...	Marguerite 'Greta' Fiorentino
Allan Fox	...	Dick McGann
Nora Cecil	...	Alice Simpson (welfare worker)
Margaret Robertson
Walter James	...	Marshal James Henry
Max Montor	...	Abe Kaplan

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #1321-R, 29 August 1935 for re-release)

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Samuel Goldwyn Company, The

Trivia:

Film debut of Beulah Bondi.

Movie Connections:

Version of Street Scene (1979) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Frühlingslied [Spring Song] Op.62 #6

A New York Tragedy

"Street Scene" (United Artists, 1931), produced by Samuel Goldwyn and directed by King Vidor, is a remarkable film in many ways. This screen adaptation to Elmer Rice's Pulitzer Prize winning 1929 stage play, realistically focuses on a group of people of different ethnic backgrounds who gather together on the front steps of their tenement brownstone apartment building on the west side of Manhattan during a summer heat wave in mid July. The plot, which is set during a 24 hour period, takes a look on various residents before centering its attention on the Maurrant family. Anna Maurrant (Estelle Taylor)is a housewife and mother who has become so bored with her present existance that she carries on an affair with a married man named Steve Sankey (Russell Hopton) while her stern and unsentimental husband, Frank (David Landau) heads off for work. This illicit affair is known to many in the neighborhood, especially when one of the area residents happens to be a gossip named Emma Jones (Beulah Bondi). In spite of their knowledge about Mrs. Maurrant, Frank does have his suspicions, as well as their grown daughter, Rose (Sylvia Sidney), a working girl who is loved by Sam Kaplan (William Collier Jr.), a young Jewish law student who also lives in the same building. Like Rose, Sam longs to move away from the slums and into a better neighborhood. Although Sam has strong ambitions, his weakness happens to be that he is a coward, and is reminded of it constantly by Vincent (Matt McHugh), a heavy-set bully and Mrs. Jones's "Momma's Boy." After about an hour or so of realistic dialogue ranging from a few racial slurs from Vincent Jones to Sam, and arguments due to differences of opinion, that American was discovered by Lief Erickson instead of Christopher Columbus, the street scene, as the title indicates, occurs when Frank Maurrant returns from work unexpectedly to notice the shades of his bedroom window being pulled down. Realizing what is happening, he runs upstairs to catch his wife in the act. This is the one scene in the movie where the suspense really builds up with tension.

Light on action, "Street Scene" moves along very quickly with the help of numerous camera angles. Aside from its plot development of numerous characters, every one of them, down to the last extra, makes his presence count. With the storyline being limited to only the front portion of the building, viewers never get to see the inside of the apartment. There is a tracking scene in which the camera captures an eyeview look of each individual tenant doing his or her daily routines from separate windows, something that might have impressed director Alfred Hitchcock for his 1954 classic of "Rear Window." Director Vidor does break away from his limitations in also giving the avid movie viewer a eyeview of Manhattan of 1931, ranging from the elevated train, a glimpse of the Chrysler Building and other tenement buildings. The opening sequence, underscored by Max Steiner's now classic "New York City Theme," is priceless, ranging from children cooling themselves off from the summer heat as they get splashed on with water from a hose connected to a fire hydrant; an alley cat licking a block of ice; a family dog stretched out on the sidewalk to cool off; and a brief look at those now antique fans. The second act of the story, which takes place the following morning, goes a bit further with local boys picking up stacks of newspapers to be delivered; and a man waking up from a good night's sleep on the fire escape, and heading back in his apartment carrying his pillow and sheets through his open window, among others. There is also a noted scene in which Willie (Lambert Rogers), the younger member of the Maurrant family, is skating down the street and pauses to yell up the window to his mother to throw him a dime to buy an ice cream cone. She then takes the dime, wraps it around tissue paper and rubber band, then tosses it down directly to him. Those who recall such childhood memories, particularly in New York City, will definitely relate to these little detailed scenes, and those who are too young to ever have know such an existance, can see how times have changed and what life was like before air conditioning, television sets with numerous cable channels, and present day home computers did to keep all residents cooped up indoors, unaware of what's going on around them. Worse yet, not knowing who their next door neighbor is. Some things, though, will never change. Aside from there always being at least one local gossip to carry on tales in every neighborhood, a street could always be very quiet and peaceful during the day, but whenever there is a commotion, such as a two car accident, a pedestrian getting struck by a passing vehicle, or a murder following the sounds of gun shots, there is ALWAYS a guarantee that the empty streets will be filled with a crowd of curious people in a matter of minutes, highlighted by the loud sounds of police and ambulance sirens, which King Vidor expertly depicts in this photoplay.

Seen in the supporting cast are Greta Grandtedt, Max Mantor, John Qualen, George Humbert, Allan Fox, and a child actress Marcia Mae Jones, famous for her co-starring performance opposite Shirley Temple in "Heidi" (20th Century-Fox, 1937), recognizable in her small role as Mary Hildebrand, one of the neighborhood children. In fact, many of the supporting players appearing in "Street Scene" reprised their roles from the stage version, especially that of Beulah Bondi, making her screen debut. She is excellent actress here playing a nasty character who nearly walks away with the film. Sylvia Sidney, with few movie credits to her name at the time, and a native New Yorker, makes a lasting impression with her role as Rose. She gets top-billing but doesn't get to make her first appearance until 23 minutes from the start of the story. It's a pity that so few of her movies are available for viewing on TV today, particularly since she appeared in many in the 1930s, mostly at her home studio at Paramount. It's been said that Sidney replaced Nancy Carroll, another Paramount alumni and Samuel Goldwyn's original choice, for the role of Rose. Goldwyn would get to use Sidney once more in another drama depicting New York City life in the tenements, a screen adaptation to Sidney Kingsley's 1935 play, "Dead End" (1937).

"Street Scene" is an excellent movie in storytelling that never lets go of its audience. In spite of its age, it's still timely. One element that shows King Vidor's style of sending out his messages to his viewers without the use of dialogue is his use of closeups on facial expressions of several people. They don't say anything, but we have ideas of what they are thinking, particularly the Frank Maurrant character, and the Sam Kaplan character in the climatic scene when his eyes open wide when he notices Mr. Maurrant walking down the street to return home only to suddenly look up the second story window with the shades drawn, and again looking directly at Mr. Maurrant, who looks directly at the young man, with his eyes slowly moving towards his bedroom window. A lot said without the use of dialogue. These and many other scenes are what makes "Street Scene" so remarkable, even today. Instances such as this could happen anywhere, not just New York. It can also occur anytime. But a movie such as this cannot be remade today or ever without the same impact used by Vidor. It's a wonder why this movie did not get a single Academy Award nomination in 1931.

"Street Scene" is available on video cassette, distributed by numerous public domain companies that use reissue prints replacing the Samuel Goldwyn Presents opening with Associate Artists Productions Presents. Other than its occasional TV showings on some local Public Broadcasting Station channel after the midnight hours, "Street Scene", at present, is shown on Turner Classic Movies. Contrary to its host Robert Osborne in saying in his introduction to the movie about it making its TCM premiere on the evening of July 30, 2002, at 8 p.m., someone at the program department failed to mention that it did have an earlier airdate, June 6, 2002, at 7:30 a.m. Regardless, thanks to TCM for giving this movie some exposure, especially to a new generation of movie lovers, because "Street Scene" is that kind of movie, and one of the very few from the 1930s, that can still be seen and appreciated over and over again.