Side Street (1950)

A struggling young father-to-be gives in to temptation and impulsively steals money from the office of a shady lawyer - with catastrophic consequences.

Director:

Anthony Mann

Writers:

Sydney Boehm (story), Sydney Boehm (screenplay)

Stars:

Farley Granger, Cathy O'Donnell, James Craig

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Farley Granger	...	Joe Norson
Cathy O'Donnell	...	Ellen Norson
James Craig	...	Georgie Garsell
Paul Kelly	...	Captain Walter Anderson
Jean Hagen	...	Harriet Sinton
Paul Harvey	...	Emil Lorrison
Edmon Ryan	...	Victor Backett
Charles McGraw	...	Stanley Simon
Edwin Max	...	Nick Drumman (as Ed Max)
Adele Jergens	...	Lucille 'Lucky' Colner
Harry Bellaver	...	Larry Giff
Whit Bissell	...	Harold Simpsen
John Gallaudet	...	Gus Heldon
Esther Somers	...	Mrs. Malby
Harry Antrim	...	Mr. Malby

Storyline

Joe Norson, a poor letter carrier with a sweet, pregnant wife, yields to momentary temptation and steals $30,000 belonging to a pair of ruthless blackmailers who won't stop at murder. After a few days of soul-searching, Joe offers to return the money, only to find that the "friend" he left it with has absconded. Now every move Joe makes plunges him deeper into trouble, as he's pursued and pursuing through the shadowy, sinister side of New York.

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Plot Keywords:

badger game | helicopter shot | police detective | homicide | strangled to death | 

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Taglines:

Where temptation lurks!

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Genres:

Crime | Film-Noir | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Turkish

Release Date:

23 March 1950 (USA)

Also Known As:

La rue de la mort

Filming Locations:

32nd Street and First Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The address given for Lorrison, 170 Central Park West, is the address of the New York Historical Society.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Capt. Walter Anderson: New York City: an architectural jungle where fabulous wealth and the deepest squalor live side by side. New York is the busiest, the loneliest, the kindest, and the cruelest of cities - a murder a day, every day of the year and each murder will wind up on my deak.

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Connections

Featured in Side Street: Where Temptation Lurks (2007)

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Soundtracks

"EASY TO LOVE"
Written by Cole Porter (1936)
Sung by Jean Hagen (dubbed)

User Reviews

Another Antony Mann-Directed Noir, Which Means Great Photography

This is a pretty good film noir that, happily, was released recently on DVD, giving us fans of this genre another movie to enjoy. It had one of the best noir directors, too: Anthony Mann, who always makes sure we get some great visuals. This is no exception, with good angles, shadows and light and a great big-city feel of New York.

Along the way, we get a not-untypical noirish tale of an basically-good guy who makes a dumb move and pays for his sins even after his conscience gets the best of him and he tries to atone. This winds up to be a story of a man chasing the real crooks, while the crooks and the police chase him! They still make films with these kind of plots and they are almost always interesting.

Farley Granger does a fine job in the lead as the dupe, "Joe Norson," who is too weak to pass up easy money and pays for it. Cathy O'Donnell is his wife and gets second billing but she really doesn't have that big a role. A bunch of other actors really share "supporting cast" status as Granger rules the roost here, lines-wise. For me, it was strange seeing James Craig as the "heavy." I mainly know him from totally opposite, All-American characters in films like "The Human Comedy" and "Our Vines Have Tender Grapes." Here, he's a viscous thug.

The city of New York might be the real second star of this film. There are many shots of it and its skyscrapers, from above and street level looking up. I love those old cars, too!