Stakeout on Dope Street (1958)

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... See full summary »

Director:

Irvin Kershner

Writers:

Andrew J. Fenady (screenplay), Irvin Kershner (screenplay)

Stars:

Yale Wexler, Jonathan Haze, Steven Marlo

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yale Wexler	...	Jim Bowers
Jonathan Haze	...	Julian 'Ves' Vespucci (as Jonathon Haze)
Steven Marlo	...	Nick Raymond (as Morris Miller)
Abby Dalton	...	Kathy
Allen Kramer	...	Danny
Herman Rudin	...	Mitch Swardurski
Philip Mansour	...	Lenny Potter (as Phillip Mansour)
Frank Harding	...	Police Capt. Richard R. Allen
William Shaw	...	Chuck (as Bill Shaw)
Andrew J. Fenady	...	Stan (as A.J. Fenady)
Slate Harlow	...	Police Officer Lynn Donahue
Herschel Bernardi	...	Mr. Fennel
Carol Nelson	...	Nick's Girl
Edward Schaaf	...	Samuel Alber (as Ed Schaff)
Matt Resnick	...	Police Sgt. Fred Matthews

Storyline

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. However, the drug dealer's gang also wants the heroin, finds out the boys have it, and sets out to hunt them down and get back their dope.

---

Plot Keywords:

psychotronic film | heroin | drug dealer | drugs | teenager | 

---

Taglines:

IN ALMOST EVERY MAJOR CITY THE WAVES OF CRIME MOUNT STEADILY, MORALITY IS AT A LOW EBB. JUVENILE BRUTALITY BECOMES INCREASINGLY SAVAGE...!

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama

---

Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Feature film debut for director Irvin Kershner.

---

Quotes

Officer Lynn Donahue: Nick and Ves had passed the earlier part of the afternoon looking at clothes, sporting equipment, bongo drums, and other racy items for kids their age.

---

Connections

Featured in TCM Guest Programmer: James Ellroy (2007)

---

Soundtracks

Love Dream
(uncredited)
Composed by Richard Markowitz
Performed by Hollywood Chamber Jazz Group conducted by Richard Markowitz

User Reviews

Excellent Film About Drugs

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.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 May 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

H is for Heroin

Filming Locations:

Redondo Recreation, Redondo Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1