The Street with No Name (1948)

Director:

William Keighley

Writer:

Harry Kleiner (original screen play)
(more)

Release Date:

14 July 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

Tagline:

Counter Attack!

Plot:

A covert FBI agent infiltrates a ruthless gangster mob, but his life is at risk from a mysterious informant who funnels inside information to the hoodlums.

Plot Keywords:

FBI | Undercover | Gangster | Gymnasium | FBI Agent

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Mark Stevens	...	Gene Cordell / George Manly
Richard Widmark	...	Alec Stiles
Lloyd Nolan	...	Inspector George A. Briggs
Barbara Lawrence	...	Judy Stiles
Ed Begley	...	Chief Bernard Harmatz
Donald Buka	...	Shivvy
Joseph Pevney	...	Matty
John McIntire	...	Cy Gordon
Walter Greaza	...	Police Lt. Paul Staller
Howard Smith	...	Commissioner Ralph Demory
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Larry Anzalone	...	Sparring Partner (uncredited)
George Barrows	...	Bouncer at Gym (uncredited)
Joan Blair	...	Valentine Laval (uncredited)
Lane Chandler	...	Policeman at Arcade (uncredited)
Edmund Cobb	...	Desk Sergeant (uncredited)
Vincent Donahue	...	Cholly (uncredited)
Sam Edwards	...	Whitey (uncredited)
Bruce Gordon	...	Detective in Raid (uncredited)
Fred Graham	...	Bank Clerk (uncredited)
Joe Gray	...	Boxer (uncredited)
Kit Guard	...	Man at Penny Arcade (uncredited)
Joe Haworth	...	Police Sgt. Sam Bryant (uncredited)
Jack Herrick	...	Punchy - Gym Pug (uncredited)
Don Jessee	...	Scar-Faced Tough (uncredited)
Robert Karnes	...	David Jennings (uncredited)
Johnny Kern	...	Fighter (uncredited)
Mike Killian	...	Police Sergeant (uncredited)
Don Kohler	...	FBI Agent Dave Atkins (uncredited)
Lyle Latell	...	Officer (uncredited)
George Leonard	...	Ticket Taker (uncredited)
Jack Lomas	...	Man at Gym (uncredited)
Marion Marshall	...	Singer (uncredited)
Billy Mauch	...	Mutt (uncredited)
Roger McGee	...	Joe (uncredited)
Kitty McHugh	...	Waitress (uncredited)
Joe McTurk	...	Fight Manager (uncredited)
Robert Patten	...	Robert Danker (uncredited)
Phillip Pine	...	Monk (uncredited)
Wallace Scott	...	Ring Manager (uncredited)
Sammy Shack	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Dan Sheridan	...	Police Desk Sergeant (uncredited)
Mickey Simpson	...	Policeman at Arcade (uncredited)
Randy Stuart	...	Helen Jennings (uncredited)
Brick Sullivan	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Charles Tannen	...	Cab Driver (uncredited)
Al Thompson	...	Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
Philip Van Zandt	...	Bail Bondsman (uncredited)
Kid Wagner	...	Punch - Old Pug (uncredited)
Billy Wayne	...	Fight Trainer (uncredited)
Robert Williams	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
Buddy Wright	...	Kid Giveno (uncredited)

Directed by
William Keighley

Writing credits
Harry Kleiner		(original screen play)
Samuel G. Engel		contract writer (uncredited)

Produced by
Samuel G. Engel	....	producer

Cinematography by
Joseph MacDonald		(director of photography) (as Joe MacDonald)

Film Editing by
William Reynolds

Art Direction by
Chester Gore
Lyle R. Wheeler		(as Lyle Wheeler)

Set Decoration by
Thomas Little

Costume Design by
Kay Nelson

Makeup Department
Ben Nye	....	makeup artist
Thomas Tuttle	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Gene Bryant	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Henry Weinberger	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Don B. Greenwood	....	property master (uncredited)

Sound Department
W.D. Flick	....	sound
Roger Heman Sr.	....	sound (as Roger Heman)

Special Effects by
Fred Sersen	....	special photographic effects

Stunts
Jack N. Young	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Frank Cory	....	grip (uncredited)
Til Gabani	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Frank Serjack	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Anthony Ugrin	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Charles Le Maire	....	wardrobe director
Sam Benson	....	wardrobe supervisor (uncredited)

Music Department
Lionel Newman	....	musical director

Other crew
Kathleen Fagan	....	script supervisor (uncredited)
Fred Fisher	....	stand-in: Mark Stevens (uncredited)
John Indrisano	....	boxing advisor (uncredited)
Jack Perry	....	boxing advisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1948) (USA) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox (1949) (France) (theatrical)
• Netherlands Fox Film Corporation (1949) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Centfox (1950) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1954) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• CBS/Fox Home Video (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Deluxe Digital Studios  DVD transfer

Also Known As:

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 (1962) | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (re-rating) (2005) | Australia:G | USA:Approved (certificate #12956) | West Germany:16 (nf) | Argentina:13 | Netherlands:18 (original rating) (1949) (one cut)

Filming Locations:

Municipal Ferry, San Pedro, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Walter Greaza who portrayed Police Lieutenant Stander, would later gain popularity as the star of the NBC TV crime series "Treasury Men Action" (1950-55).

Goofs:

Continuity: The wall behind Ed Begly during the Danker interrogation changes from brightly lit to sharply defined shadows of prison bars and back to brightly lit again.

Quotes:

Alec Stiles:What's the use of having a war if you don't learn from it?

Movie Connections:

References Manila Calling (1942)

Soundtrack:

Bye Bye Blackbird

Few-frills agent-in-peril noir benefits from Widmark, Stevens

J. Edgar Hoover, it now seems, was a mediocre crimefighter but a master orchestrator of his own publicity (and only secondarily that of the FBI). The Street With No Name stands as one of the better films dedicated to kissing his assiduously cultivated legend. Most directors assigned these tasks in the noir cycle wrote off such idolatry as a cost of doing business, clearing it away quickly so as to get on with their moviemaking; William Keighley follows this sensible agenda.

FBI agent Mark Stevens goes undercover to infiltrate the mob in that cesspool of crime, Center City, USA. In the boxing ring, he attracts the attention, slightly open to inference, of boss Richard Widmark, a dapper ("I like my boys to look sharp") cutthroat with a morbid fear of drafts and sneezes. With the aid of confederate John McIntyre, Stevens reports the gang's plans back to the FBI. Alas, a high-placed informant in the police department reports the FBI's plans back to Widmark.

So the movie boils down to the agent-in-peril story. Keighley tells it cleanly and briskly, eschewing the complexities (both visual and moral) of Anthony Mann's T-Men, released just a few months earlier. It's strongest in the feel for Center City's raffish tenderloin, with its fleabag hotels, pool halls and walk-up gyms. Stevens, McIntyre and Lloyd Nolan (as Stevens' superior) give workmanlike jobs with the rather staid roles scriptwriter Harry Kleiner supplies. His few-frills approach reins in Widmark, too, who's always better when he's unfettered and shooting over the top.

The Street With No Name suffers a bit from staying so resolutely all-guy; thus Barbara Lawrence suffers, too, in an underwritten and inconsequential part as Widmark's abused moll. A little more cool yin might have balanced out all that hot, hard yang.

NOTE: In 1955, Samuel Fuller remade -- and rethought -- this movie, using the same screenwriter and cinematographer (Joe MacDonald, now working in color) as House of Bamboo, set in postwar Tokyo.