Stakeout on Dope Street (1958) User Reviews

Kershner directs Corman feature

[boblipton · 7/10 · 13 November 2007]

This is a surprisingly strong AIP feature, a first for Irvin Kershner as writer and director. Although stylistically it seems, at first sight, little more than an expanded DRAGNET episode in which you get to see the criminals' viewpoints, this largely no-name cast gives a bunch of decent performances with some well-written characters.

The feature is about a group of rather clueless teenagers -- who appear to use all their off-screen time body building -- who discover a cannister of heroin. Neither hard core criminals nor saints, they want all the things that society says they should want, and are not choosy about how they go about getting it.

The writing and direction are stronger than the acting, but the overall effect is quite striking. Definitely worth your time.

Roger Corman production

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 19 June 2021]

Two cops arrest a criminal with a suitcase full of drugs. Bullets start flying. The criminal throws out the suitcase and is killed. The criminals can't find the bag in the dark and run away. Later, three teens happen upon the bag but it all looks like ladies makeup to them. They throw out the drugs thinking it is worthless pimple powder. After pawning the bag, they read about the shootout in the newspaper. They go retrieve the powder from the garbage dump.

This starts with an interesting premise but this Roger Corman production has its limitations. The acting is limited. The production is limited. It's a B-crime movie. I do start losing interest after the kids find the drugs. The drugs are better off as a MacGuffin because the search for it would be a more compelling story. Cops and criminal searching the pawn shops could find the bag and go down the road of looking for the boys. Actually finding the drugs is the movie's downfall. The teens look silly trying to be thugs selling drugs. It's unreal and uncompelling. This is director Irvin Kershner's first theatrical release and his work is functional.

Gritty low-budget film noir about teens and drugs...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 13 November 2007]

A jazz score accompanies the soundtrack of this gritty story about three teens who get involved with drugs (heroin supply) and then try to make a deal with a druggie who can turn over some cash for whatever amount they come up with. Meanwhile, some drug dealers are also after the drugs and will stop at nothing to find out where the teens have stashed the goods.

The no name cast is headed by YALE WEXLER as the more sensitive one who decides the drug heist should be handed over to the cops--but by the time he makes this decision it's too late and the dealers have already trapped his friends and beat them up. He manages to elude them when they pursue him on a climactic chase that forms the climax of the story.

Interesting, gritty and worthwhile if you're a film noir buff, but nothing extraordinary. The only reason I watched it was because I had seen the screen test of YALE WEXLER for the role of "Ben-Hur" in 1959 and wondered if he ever pursued an acting career after losing that role. Evidently, he did. He gives a convincing performance here and so does the rest of the cast.

Spotty, At Best

[dougdoepke · 30 November 2013]

Three aimless young men find a briefcase containing a load of valuable heroin. So what are they going to do with it. Desperate, they end up trying to sell it through an ex-junkie. The trouble is the mob wants their heroin back and are on the trail of the kids. And so are the cops.

Given the potentially explosive material, the 90-minutes comes across as peculiarly lacking in drama. The motions are there, but not the felt impact. Much, I think, has to do with the quality of the performances. Of the three boys, Marlo manages some grit as Nick. However, Wexler and Haze (yes, that Haze) appear to flounder in stand-around bland fashion. Plus, poor Abby Dalton looks completely lost. Thus, the movie's core is compromised at the outset. Then too, the cops are a particularly colorless bunch, adding nothing to the impact. Kramer, at least, looks the part of a washed-up ex- junkie, getting the big dramatic turn of painful drug withdrawal, where he writhes in expressive fashion. It's a scary public warning.

Then again, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the movie's high point. Namely, where the boys thrash through a real city dump looking for the heroin as a dozer keeps piling the trash higher. Talk about needles in a haystack, or climbing a mountain that keeps getting higher. One thing for sure, I've seen nothing like it before or since. Anyway, the direction (Kershner) is pretty spotty. There are some nice touches like the crashing bowling ball and bouncing pinball punctuating the two beatings, plus the cascade of heroin down the tank's side. Clearly, however, Kershner is more adept at staging than either coaching actors or building suspense. Even the imaginatively staged showdown doesn't generate the suspense it should. One big positive is the staging throughout. Real locations are used, lending a good glimpse of LA, circa 1958. Too bad the movie as a whole never quite gels, despite the promising premise.

Never throw away a woman's beauty product!

[XhcnoirX · 7/10 · 19 April 2016]

A drug bust goes wrong, and in the deadly aftermath a briefcase containing a can holding 2 pounds of uncut heroin gets lost. Teenagers Yale Wexler, Jonathan Haze and Steven Marlo find the briefcase but are unaware that among its contents is the heroin. They pawn the briefcase and use the money for a night at the bowling club. The next morning they read about the drug bust and the lost briefcase and put 2 and 2 together. They manage to find the can of 'facial powder' with the heroin and turn to local junkie Allen Kramer to find a buyer. But of course both the police and the mobsters are looking for the briefcase and the heroin. It's not long before the police find the briefcase and the mobsters find Kramer...

This movie was made on a shoestring budget, and it shows. The movie feels quite raw at times, even amateurish, esp the acting is pretty wooden at times. But on the other hand, the script is full of great lines, and the movie flows rather well. There is an authoritarian voice-over narration that gives the movie a documentary-style feel, which works well here. And while many scenes look rushed, some key scenes are executed rather well with nice set-up's and room to breathe, including a scene where the guys look for the can of heroin on a garbage site, a harrowing account of a junkie going through withdrawal and the climax at an industrial complex.

I don't think I'd ever heard of any of the actors in this movie before watching it. And aside from Kramer, who is quite convincing as a junkie, most of them are adequate at best... None of the actors seemed to have moved beyond these cheap B-features and/or moved on to TV, which is maybe for the best. Actors from that time with similar 'looks' as the main characters like Vince Edwards or John Cassavettes would've really lifted this movie up a notch or two.

The real talent in this movie tho was behind the camera. Director Irvin Kerschner in his first movie would later direct 'Star Wars V - The Empire Strikes Back', it doesn't get much bigger than that! And DoP Haskell Wexler (brother of one of the 3 kids, Yale Wexler), also lensing his first feature-length movie here, would go on to win 2 Oscars for his cinematography in his long career, for 'Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf' and 'Bound For Glory'. Their work here is really great, considering the shoestring budget. All in all, this movie exceeded my expectations, but I was let down by the mediocre acting. Still a pretty confident recommendation. 7+/10

Dobie Gillis Breaks Bad

[mgtbltp · 7/10 · 5 May 2016]

Los Angeles. A dope bust goes bad, cops killed, satchel with heroin is gone, tossed down a hillside by the dying mule.

Ves (Haze) shacks with his pop above Connie's Grocery store. He uses the back store room as a sort of social club for himself and his buddies, Jim (Wexler) a budding artist, and Nick (Marlo) an ex high school athlete, weightlifter, and already has been boxer. They hang out at the local bowling alley where Jim has a girl Kathy (Dalton) who works the cash register.They are all pretty much stuck in dead end jobs, but they all have dreams.

Ves has grocery delivery route. Drives a 1951 Plymouth Concord Suburban. He spots a satchel. Grabs it. Finishes route and heads back to the ranch. Jim and Nick are in the back, hanging out. Ves comes in drops satchel. They start goofing around. Time wasting. They finally check out the satchel. It's locked, It's heavy. They force the lock. It's woman's stuff. They check it out. Split it up. They toss a two pound can marked face powder around. Juggle it. Toss it back and forth. They make a basket in the trashcan. Score! Satchel may be worth something. Head for the swap shop. Score a few bucks. They split for the lanes. They bowl, play pinball, Jim gives Kathy some perfume, all is well, life goes on.

Both mob and police are looking for the dope. The HEAT is on. Cops on prowl. Cops shakedown EVERYONE. The mob has muscle. The word is out. The mob leans on EVERYONE.

The story slips out. It's headline news. Jim spots the story. Jim runs to store. Shows Ves and Nick. Crap! We're RICH! Where's the dope? Ves dumped it in the TRASH. Check the trash. It's GONE.

The boys SCRAMBLE. Jump in the Concord. Mad DASH to the DUMP. Garbage trucks VOMIT. Rubbish in piles. The boys are diving through the loads. The landfill dozer is chugging. Against all odds they FIND it.

Of course, being a noir, instead of turning it in they decide to sell it. They don't call it DOPE for nothing. Nick who has a bit of a wise guy bent, knows a junkie named Danny who hangs around the garage he works at. The boys go to see Danny. Danny lives in a tar paper shack. Danny was flying high on China White. Danny has crashed and burned.

They wake him up. Danny is paranoid. Danny is leery. Nick shows Danny a bindle. Danny takes a taste. Danny WANTS it. Danny WANTS it BAD. Nicks says there is more. Nick says you sell it you get MORE. Danny says come back tonight.

Deal is done. Danny DELIVERS. The boys are getting FAT. The Doe is rolling in. They begin to flash wads around. Everything's COOL, everything's good until it all goes BAD.

The film has a great flashback sequence that occurs when Danny is telling Jim about the effects of horse and about the times he was busted put in jail and had to go cold turkey and suffered through horrendous agonizing effects of withdrawal.

The cinematography is impressive, the Cold Turkey sequence is almost surrealistic. It's also well acted and narrated by Allen Kramer. This was Haskell Wexler's first feature film and it shows great promise. The film is adeptly directed by Irvin Kershner who went on to a long career in TV and film.

The film functions quite well as a anti-heroin message that's also thoroughly entertaining. A nice little sleeper of a film, originally a Warners release. 7/10

Not exactly a great start!

[JohnHowardReid · 5/10 · 4 October 2014]

Stakeout on Dope Street (1958) is the first movie feature directed by Irvin Kershner whose technique is angled much more to the demands of TV than the cinema – as we might expect from someone who spent the previous five or six years filming episodes for TV's Confidential File series. Although interest is kept alive by intercutting the sluggish main action with an occasional flash as to what the police are doing, the pace is often dead slow in these sequences too. No need to list all the movie's not-so-admirable TV traits like the over-reliance on close-ups, the filling-in-time dialogue that slows down the action while we needlessly tune in to the banal philosophy that underlies the actions of the three principals as they throw their dialogue back and forth in the one cramped studio set. As if this were not enough, we are then forced to take in another dose of philosophy from the hero's girlfriend, played by Abby Dalton, an attractive girl with a pleasant face and an absence of bustiness that makes her acceptable as a girl-next-door type. Stakeout was obviously lensed on an extremely tight budget. There is very little action and even the climax is rather tame. Best feature of the movie is Haskell Wexler's glossy, low-key photography. Available on a Video Beat DVD.

A Can of Worms

[sol1218 · 8/10 · 15 November 2007]

(There are Spoilers) Very probably the first movie coming out of Hollywood that addressed the drug epidemic on the streets of America with both street level smartness and native intelligence, among dealers users and police, in just how illegal drugs, in this case heroin, is both marketed and sold to it's many hooked and desperate customers.

A stakeout on Cole Street, known as Dope Street among the dealers and police, goes bad with one of the cops Sgt. Matthews, Matt Resnick, and the arrested drug pusher Jerome Lake, Charles Guasti, ending up shot and killed in the ensuing crossfire. Lake not being able to make his escape, in that he's handcuffed to the dead Sgt. Matthews, throws the briefcase loaded with the drugs, a two pound can of uncut and pure heroin, into the bushes. This happens just moments before Lake is gunned down by Sgt. Matthew's partner Officer Donahue (Slate Harlow), and the police back-up, who's also seriously wounded in the shootout.

Lake's partners Mitch Swardurski & Lenny Potter, Herman Rudin & Phllip Mansour, unable to retrieve the drugs or the suitcase, with the initials J.R.L stenciled on it, flee leaving it in the nearby bushes where it's found the next day by grocery delivery boy Julian "Vas" Vaspucci, Jonathon Haze. At his fathers grocery store Vas together with his two friends Jim Bowers & Nick Raymond, Yale Wexler & Steven Mario, open the suitcase finding samples of womens cosmetics and a strange two pound can of white powder, the pure heroin.

Keping the cosmetics, Jim gives them as a present to his girlfriend Kathy(Abby Dalton), the three young men throw the valuable heroin away in the garbage thinking that it's worthless powder. It's only later after selling the empty suitcase to a local pawnbroker Samuel Alber, Edward Schaaf, the trio realize, by seeing the story of the Dope or Cole Street shootout in the newspapers, that they threw away a fortune in illegal drugs!

Finding the missing can in the city dump the three now would be drug dealers get in touch with a middle man, a local heroin junkie, Danny played by Allen Kramer in order to first authenticate, by him using it, the heroin and then sell it to his friends splitting the take with his three partners in crime. What goes completely over the heads of Vas Jim and Nick, as well as Danny, is that both the mob headed by gangster Mr. Fennel, Herschel Bernardi, as well as police are out looking for them and the heroin. And in their case it would be a lot better if the cops instead of Mr. Fennel's boys got to them first!

Harrowing story of greed as well as stupidity on the part of the three young men with the can of pure heroin who were way over their heads and didn't realize it until it was almost too late. The naive trio think that they can get rich by not only selling death on the streets without the say so and approval of mobster Mr. Fennel, whom the heroin belongs to, but with the pursuing cops breathing down their necks who are out to avenge the murder of one of their own, Sgt. Matthews,over the missing drugs. Working almost as a team the police and Fennel Mob slowly track down the three by finding the suitcases where the heroin came from at Alber's pawnshop. It's then that the Mob tracks down Danny who not realizing he's the only heroin pusher in town because, with him having the missing heroin, he's the only one who has any smack, or heroin, to sell!

Predictable, but very exciting, and by the numbers final as Vas Nick and a very reluctant Jim, whom Kathy talked out this this drug dealing insanity, end up on the wrong side of the law as well as in the gun-sights of Mr. Fennel's hit men Swardurski & Potter. The final scene in a deserted L.A power plant has you on the edge of your seat in hoping that Jim, who's the one with the can of heroin, gets away from the two Mr. Fennel hit-men before they finish him off for good. But at the same time also knowing that if Jim, as well as his friends Vas and Nick, end up alive he'll have to pay for that brief moment of insanity in thinking that dealing drugs is a swell way to get rich; rich off the sufferings and deaths of those that he sells the drugs to.

Interesting Early Youth/Drugs Entry

[lchadbou-326-26592 · 7/10 · 17 August 2015]

The underrated director Irvin Kershner is best known for the second Star Wars film but early in his career specialized in films and TV programs about troubled youth. I've seen an episode of the series Confidential File he directed on the danger posed to youngsters by comic books, and one of his best theatrical jobs, Hoodlum Priest. This was his first feature and has interesting credits: photography by Haskell Wexler (under a pseudonym)a jazz score by Richard Markowitz performed by the Hollywood Chamber Jazz Group, and as one of the three protagonists, Jim, a nice role for Haskell's younger brother Yale Wexler. Jonathan Haze, who would star two years later as Seymour in the cult success The Little Shop Of Horrors, plays one of the other boys, Ves. The story of teenagers finding abandoned drugs (at first they are so naive they think the heroin is pimple powder) suffers somewhat from obtrusive Dragnet-style narration and most of the other players are little known "B" performers. The treatment is also rather melodramatic, such as the climax in which Jim is pursued by syndicate thugs on his trail to the top of a power tower at night. But there is a long, striking sequence in which an older man, an addict named Danny, warns Jim in lurid detail about the consequences of drug addiction; as we see scenes of Danny writhing in a prison cell in withdrawal we hear his voice-over. The episode bears comparison to the more famous scenes of Ray Milland as an alcoholic having the DTs in The Lost Weekend Here and elsewhere in the picture Kershner and Wexler use high angles (e.g through the bars above the cell) for dramatic effect. The period detail of LA locations shot in 1957 such as a Redondo Beach bowling alley also includes some curious dated slang.

Poor performances ruin this one.

[hemisphere65-1 · 3/10 · 12 July 2021]

Since they cast 27 to 31 year old actors to play the main "kids", you'd think they could have found good actors!

All three of the leads are awful, and the dialogue makes their poor acting seem even worse. The love interest (Dalton) is horrible as well, so that doesn't help.

Interesting story, forgettable movie.

Gritty, superb first film by a very fine director

[Handlinghandel · 8/10 · 13 November 2007]

Irvin Kershner has directed some excellent, some famous, movies. This one was his first. It certainly isn't famous but it is indeed excellent.

It's about three young men who find a briefcase that contains, hidden among cosmetics, a can of heroin. The guys reminded me of characters from "West Side Story," though they are more middle-class. They kind of hang out, kind of have jobs. One kind of has a girlfriend. (She is played by Abby Dalton, the only name in the cast list I'd ever heard, and I'm not sure where I heard it.) That girlfriend notwithstanding, one of them has also drawn a head and unclothed torso of one of the others. This drawing is shown throughout the film.

Though it's a sensationalistic film, it is not pro-drug. I am going to risk some brickbats but I never liked "Easy Rider." And I'm a baby boomer. Yes, I liked Jack Nicholson but the whole stoned thing: No, not for me.

This little film has a jazz score. It plays out for us like a poem. It reminds me of Allen Ginsburg. It's smart, it's hip. It's everything a movie ought to be. And, I'd guess, it accomplishes this on a pretty low budget.

The movie has a Police Gazette type title. And it may have played at drive-ins. But make no mistake: This is real art.

As Ben Franklin used to say, "In for a pinch . . . "

[pixrox1 · 7/10 · 16 July 2021]

" . . . In for a pound." STAKEOUT ON DOPE STREET documents the fact that "pretty girls" cannot bowl: they just unleash gutter balls. Though Julian come to his local alley desperate for a date, he settles for homely Cindy because she, at least, can sometimes pick up a spare. The latter wench may not sport the most curvaceous derriere, but she's got enough muscle to notch even an occasional lucky strike. Does an entire town's destiny depend upon these Languorous Dames of the Lanes? You decide.

Very ordinary despite the interesting plot idea

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 30 November 2013]

"Stakeout on Dope Street" is a decent film when it comes to the plot idea, but nothing, I mean NOTHING, makes the film particularly compelling. It should have been a lot more interesting than it was.

The film begins with a very gritty shootout--one where two cops are shot as well as one of the criminals. However, in the process, a briefcase full of pure, uncut heroin is lost. And, shortly afterwords, three young men discover the drugs and decide to get rich selling it. Two of the guys have no problem with this--but the third gets cold feet because he's worried about creating addicts just like the guy they hired to sell the stuff. However, once the guys start selling, it's inevitable that the guys who lost it will come looking.... If you want to find out what's next, see the film.

While the plot idea sounds interesting, this low-budget film never excited me--and several times I found myself nodding off during the movie. It's not a terrible film--just not a very interesting one. See it if you'd like, but you could do better.

Flawed but somewhat interesting

[Wizard-8 · 12 January 2014]

Long before Irvin Kershner tackled big budget movies such as "The Empire Strikes Back", he began his theatrical directorial career with this little movie. At times it's a pretty interesting debut. It tackles the subject of drugs when it was next to taboo to deal with them in movies. Kershner probably got away with it because the movie does portray drugs in a very negative light, from showing the brutal criminals that deal with them to the addicts controlled by the drugs they take. The negative portrayal is a little heavy handed at times, but one must remember the movie was made during a different time. Anyway, as entertainment the movie is certainly not boring, though the plotting is somewhat off - the bad guys after the opening sequence don't really reappear until the last part of the movie, and the youths' plan to sell the heroin seems padded out by today's standards. It also doesn't help that the "youths" are portrayed by actors who obviously left their teenage years many years in the past. In short, this is a flawed movie, but may be of interest to those who have interest in low budget youth-oriented movies from this period.

Standard Issue Crime Film about Heroin

[zardoz-13 · 5/10 · 19 April 2018]

Before he helmed his three most prominent films: "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back" (1980), "Never Say Never Again" (1983), and "RoboCop 2" (1990), director Irvin Kershner got his big-screen start with "Stake Out on Dope Street" in 1958. Kershner wrote this crime story with Andrew J. Fenady, who later scripted the John Wayne cattle western "Chism" (1970). Lensed in black & white by the incomparable Haskell Wexler of "Medium Cool" fame, with an atmospheric voice-over "Dragnet" style narration, this 82-minute melodrama concerns the loss of two pounds of uncut heroin after a drug bust. Los Angeles narcotics agents had arrested a white drug peddler carrying a satchel containing a can filled with two pounds of uncut heroin when they were fired on by assailants. The drug peddler died in the shooting, but he threw the satchel away. Nobody has any idea where the satchel landed, so both the police and the dope peddlers embark on a massive search for the heroin. Three teenagers-- Julian "Ves" Vespucci (Jonathon Haze), aspiring artist Jim Bowers (Yale Wexler) and bodybuilder Nick Raymond (Morris Miller)--discover the satchel and its content, but they aren't sure about the contents of the can. Initially, Julian throws it again, but when learn that it is heroin, they search high and low for it. Finally, they drive out to the city trash dump and stumble upon it. Meantime, the police send out their detectives roust anybody suspicious, while the underworld is doing the same thing but without to restraint. Nick turns his friends on to an older guy with a prison record, and he helps them see the heroin. It is only a matter of time until the cops catch up with both the teens and the criminals. The best scene deals with an oldster who once used heroin. He describes the nightmare that using heroin can induce. Naturally, the mob finds the teens and the drugs. Everything works out well in the long run. Most of the cast are unknowns. Nevertheless, Kershner keeps the action moving swiftly enough.

Excellent Film About Drugs

[whpratt1 · 10/10 · 13 November 2007]

This film reminded me about a film called, "The Man with the Golden Arm" starring Frank Sinatra and Kim Novack and this film clearly shows the horrors of withdrawal from the drug of heroin. Three young men get involved with a suitcase that holds a very large supply of uncut heroin and wind up throwing it away, thinking it was a cleansing powder and it winds up in a garbage dump which they manage to rescue. The young men decided to sell this drug and are able to make plenty of money by filtering it out through and old time heroin user. There are some girl friends in this film who try to stop these guys and tell them to turn the drugs into the police, but they do not face the consequences of turning themselves in. This is a great 1958 classic film filmed in Los Angeles, California and there is also some pretty way out music through out the film that makes this a very exciting black and white film.

An Unsung Crime Film

[gavin6942 · 8/10 · 15 May 2017]

Three teenagers find a briefcase with a beat-up old can in it. They throw away the can and pawn the suitcase. When they read in the papers that the can was full of uncut heroin and belonged to a drug dealer who killed two narcotics agents in a shootout, they go back to look for the can, find it, and decide to go into the heroin selling business.

This is not one of those great crime films you hear about, but it should be. It not only has a great story of cops and crooks, with teenagers caught in the middle, but it is refreshingly honest. I don't know that films about heroin were really around until the indie boom of the 1970s, but this film is very direct and does not try to sugar coat the issues.

I suppose one could say it has some seems that are bit melodramatic, and the junkie's long story of going through withdrawal has almost a "Reefer Madness" quality to it. But as a whole, this is a solid film.