Expertly directed by Anthony Mann, Side Street is a noir film that benefits from its black-and white, on location shooting in New York City and the acting of its two leads.
At the time of its initial release, Anthony Mann’s well-executed noir, Street Side, was not successful at the box office. But the film has been repeatedly shown on TCM (at least once a year) and museum’s retros of film noir, gaining a new generation of aficionados.
Farley Granger, then at the height of his career (after appearing in Hitchcock’s Rope), and Cathy O’Donnell, teamed for the second time, after the superior cult noir film of 1949, They Live By Night. (In the following year, Granger would again score in Hitchcock’s masterpiece, Stranger on a Train).
Granger plays Joe Norson, a young man, forced to living with his in-laws in Manhattan after losing his gas station; he’s now working as mail carrier.
Concerned about his pregnant wife, Ellen (O’Donnell), Joe plans to steal money from the offices of Victor Backett (Edmund Ryan), a corrupt attorney. However, once the crime is done, he realizes that he had actually stolen not $200 but $30,000.
Backett has framed wealthy broker-patsy Emil Lorrison (Paul Harvey) in a sex scandal, then extorted the money with the help of Lucille Colner (Adele Jergens) and ex-con accomplice George Garsell (James Craig).
In panic, Joe explains his new-found wealth to Ellen as a result from another job. He then disguises the money in a package, and leaves it with bartender Nick Drumman (Ed Max).
When Lucille’s body is found strangled in the East River, NYPD Capt. Walter Anderson (Paul Kelly) investigates the case, and Lorrison and Backett are interviewed, as their names had appeared in her diary.
After the birth of his child, Joe determines to return his ill-gotten gain, but Backett suspects a trap and refuses the offer. Backett instead sends Garsell and a cab driver accomplice to grab Joe and recover the cash.
Joe escapes after they discover that Drumman has substituted a nightgown in the package and gone into hiding with the money. He confesses the original theft to Ellen, who urges him to turn himself in, but he finds himself a suspect in Drumman’s murder. Meanwhile, Capt. Anderson pursues both men as suspects, Garsell for Lucille and Joe for Drumman.
Joe locates Garsell’s girlfriend, singer Harriette Sinton (Jean Hagen), but she betrays him. Garsell then plans to murder Joe and strangles Harriette to eliminate her as a witness.
Capt. Anderson is hot on their heels and a chase ensues through the streets of New York. Garsell kills his partner and forces Joe to drive, but Joe deliberately crashes the taxi to end the nightmare. Trying to run out, Garsell is killed by the police, and Joe is taken into the hospital, surviving the accident and reuniting.
Reaffirming the happy ending, a narrator informs at the end: “This is the story of Joe Norton, no villain, no hero, just like the rest of us. He’s gonna be all-right.”
At the time, the film was treated as a routine procedural crime thriller. As such, it made little impression commercially.
Mann’s direction, as expected, is reliably taut, and the cinema verite visual style lends the film, which was shot in and around the Third Avenue El area, greater authenticity.
Among the striking sequences is a thrilling chase scene early Sunday morning in the empty streets of Manhattan.
The film was a box-office flop, failing to recoup its modest budget, but it helped promote the reputation of Anthony Mann as a director.
In this picture, Mann shows penchant for mis-en-scene that is precise, and a distinctive visual style that is in tandem with his narrative and characters.
Cast
Farley Granger as Joe Norson
Cathy O’Donnell as Ellen Norson
James Craig as George Garsell
Paul Kelly as Capt. Walter Anderson
Jean Hagen as Harriette Sinton
Paul Harvey as Emil Lorrison
Edmon Ryan as Victor Backett
Charles McGraw as Det. Stan Simon
Edwin Max as Nick Drumman
Adele Jergens as Lucille Colner
Harry Bellaver as Larry Giff, cabdriver
Whit Bissell as Harold Simpson, chief teller
John Gallaudet as Gus Heldon, bar owner
Esther Somers as Mrs. Malby, Ellen’s mother
Harry Antrim as Mr. Malby, Ellen’s father
