Side Street

Farley Granger dominates this urban crime drama about a man named Joe Norson, a down-on-his-luck mailman who happens on to a wad of cash, and impulsively steals it, not knowing that the money is connected to the murder of a well-known woman. Sensing his mistake, Joe tries to straighten out the situation, but does all the wrong things. In the process, he gets mixed up with thugs. It's Joe's choices that propel the plot.

More than anything else, "Side Street" is a character study of Joe, described by the film's narrator as: "no hero, no criminal, just human like all of us, weak like some of us, foolish like most of us". He's basically a good guy. But he gets tempted. When he yields to the temptation to steal, his whole world unravels.

As with 1940s noir crime dramas, all the characters in "Side Street" seem desperate, frightened, and unhappy. They're like rats in a maze. And the film's setting in lower Manhattan really accentuates that boxed in, trapped, claustrophobic feeling.

The B&W cinematography is excellent. From wide shots to close-ups, from low-angle to very high-angle, the variety of camera shots keeps the visuals interesting. Overhead shots of Manhattan at the beginning are among the best I have seen for such an old movie. Lighting is noir-based, consistent with crime films of that era.

My only complaint is that some of the secondary characters are a tad difficult to keep track of, a fault of the script. But a second viewing clears things up.

Beautifully photographed on location in lower Manhattan with its maze of narrow side streets, "Side Street" is a well-made film with an interesting story about a regular guy, trapped in a literal maze between tall buildings and a thematic maze of difficult choices. Farley Granger gives a fine performance, as does Cathy O'Donnell, his long-suffering wife.

So who does impulsive thief and part-time mail carrier Joe Norson (Granger) entrust with the $30,000 he's just stolen? Why that well-known paragon of virtue, the friendly neighborhood barkeep, of course. Then, when the latter disappears, a lot richer, guess what-- Joe is surprised! Let's hope the baby his wife just delivered got her genes instead of his. Now Joe gets to chase after the money before either the cops or the crooks get him first. Frankly, my money's on the crooks who certainly know how to surprise us with a broken-down lounge singer (Hagen). But then this is Production Code 1950 with the sweetfaced Granger, so better bet on the kid.

This is Dore Schary's MGM playing catch-up with post-war noir, and they've hired the best— director Anthony Mann. That means the New York street scene never looked grittier, nor the great stone canyons more threatening. And that car chase down empty city corridors looks downright science-fiction eerie. Too bad they've saddled Mann with boring cops and a bad guy (Craig) about as scary as a TV salesman. And was there ever an actress whose sheer sweetness could melt the screen faster than O'Donnell. Together with the artless Granger, Mann's tough-guy cynicism never stood a chance. The visuals tell one story; the characters another. This is hard-shell noir with the softest of cores, but will still keep you stapled to the screen.

Plot holes aside and not having to mind watching Farley Granger floundering rather pathetically, this is one heck of a noir. Worth it just for the location shooting. Tremendous shots of 50s New York City, probably as good as any archive material and if the plot verges on the silliness, everybody gives it their all. Great performances from the leads to the lowliest support. Much of that must be down to Mann and whether it was decided to use so much location shooting because of the budget or not it is truly awe inspiring from those opening aerial shots, the fantastic market area and the amazing chase through the streets at the end. So, not the most attention grabbing plot but still great viewing.

Side Street opens with narration that is practically omniscient, or at least as much as a New York City cop can get, and put over a very explicitly edited sequence showing various workers and people all across the city. Then it moves right into the saga of Joe (as in 'Average Joe' one might think), who is a postal delivery man who gets tempted by greed when he realizes the same amount is left in a drawer of one of the people he drops off for- $200- which would be just enough to get some new things for his wife and their kid on the way. He takes what's in there (a little grin for when he finds the crowbar to pry open the drawer as a cat watches), but later discovers it's $30,000, which as the narrator tells us is "much too much" for Joe to even think about ever having. He hides it, but it gets switched around from the bartender he left it with, and a nefarious criminal is out to get it as well, who originally left it in the drawer. Joe is racked with guilt, but can't turn himself in all the way: he'll do into part of the seedy underbelly to get it back and clear his name.

And so goes one of those stories that one might find under the dictionary if one went to look for B-noir archetypes (A-noir would probably be Double Indemnity, if it could be considered as such). Even if the femme fatale is reduced to a supporting role (Jean Hagen as the floozy Harriet, a nightclub singer who has a great scene with Granger's Joe), you've got the existential protagonist who's down on his luck and can't stand being a criminal for too long, and the cops who are out to get him and whomever, and the real villain (George played by James Craig fairly typically) who is the most desperate of all to escape at all costs. Granger and O'Connell come close to doing a reprisal of their parts in They Live By Night, only this time with the complication of a baby thrown in right away, and the sides of good conscience always present except for an instance (really amusing) when she screams on the phone to Joe "RUN, RUN AWAY" when prodded to talk him out of what he's doing by the cops.

A lot of this, to those who are only somewhat familiar with the attitude of a solid noir thriller, isn't too surprising, and comes close to being average in story material. But it's heightened terrifically by Anthony Mann's direction; it would be one thing if material like this, which could be found in any pulp mystery magazine of the period for ten cents, was filmed with only competence and some skill in the storytelling. But many of the images in Side Street are indelible and essential for the sub-genre. If for nothing else it's a tour-de-force as far as pure film-making goes, as shots in the shadows are incredible (I loved the nightclub scene in the first images, cutting back and forth between Joe and Harriet), and the editing to go along with it is taut and hard-edged for the period and budget, particularly in the climactic chase through New York City's downtown areas. And, if nothing else should strike as a reason to see it, as far as NYC movies go it's a keeper, with the feeling as gritty as possible through the use of real streets and people and cars and accidents and dark alleys.

**SPOILERS** Film that shows that even the most honest of us can get a little crazy when financial conditions warrant.

Part-time letter carrier Joe Norson, Farley Granger, has dreams about him and his wife living the life of luxury and traveling the world over in style. In reality Joe is down on his luck barely able to support himself with his job, as a part-time flexible, in the Post office much less his wife Ellen, Cathy O'Donnell, and a little one on the way. Delivering mail to attorney Victor Backett, Edmon Ryan, one morning Joe notices two $100.00 bills fall out of a folder from Backett's filing cabinet; all of a sudden a bell rang in Joe's head.

The next day Joe again delivering mail to Backett notices the office door opened and the place empty. Joe sees his chance to take the two hundred dollars in Backetts file cabinet and use it to pay for his wife and soon to be born child's medical expenses. Finding the cabinet locked Joe goes outside and see an ax, for the use if there's a fire, in the hallway and uses it to break into it and take the folder that he saw the money in the day before.

On an empty roof-top Joe, to his utter surprise, sees that the folder doesn't contain just the $200.00 that he thought was in it but $30,000.00 in cold hard cash. What Joe is soon to find out is that the money is a blackmail payment from Emil Lorrison, Paul Harvey, that Backett and his co-blackmailer "Big George" Garsell, James Craig, took from the other blackmailer working with them party girl "Lucky" Lucille Colner, Adele Jergens. It was "Lucky" Lucille who's body was found floating in the East River that morning.

Joe guilt-ridden at what he did tries to return the stolen cash but doesn't know quite just how without ending up behind bars for grand larceny. It's then that Joe gives the secretly wrapped-up cash to bar owner Gus Heldon, John Gallaudet, for safe keeping telling him that it's a gift for is wife Ellen. Joe later goes to see Backett to somehow get him to take his money back but Backett tells Joe he has no idea what he's talking about! The 30 grand is hot and unknowing to Joe can lead whoever has it straight to the electric chair for the murder of "Lucky" Lucille.

The move "Side Street" then takes on the form of a man on the run from both the hoods after him to not only get their money back but rub Joe out to keep him from talking to the police with the cop also looking for Joe as a suspect in the murder of barkeeper Gus who "Big George" tracked down and strangled in order to get the blackmail money back.

Joe needing proof that he had nothing to do with Gus' murder finds a photo of "Big George's" former girlfriend Harriette Sinton, Jean Hagen, in the stolen folder. Tracking Hrriette down to the Les Artisets nightclub, where she's working as a singer, Joe does his best to get her to open up about the "Big" man telling Harriette that he's a old friend of "Big George" and would like to know where he lives. Noticing Joe going through her purse as she went backstage to change Harriett, smelling a rat, calls "Big George" thus setting Joe up to be ambushed.

Exciting final as Joe is knocked out kidnapped and about to be deep-sixth in the East River by "Big George" and his partner taxi driver Larry Giff, Harry Belaver. There's a hair-raising ride through the Wall Street as well as the Washington Park section, that was later demolished to make way for the tragic World Trade Center complex, in downtown Manhattan with the cops hot on "Big George" and Larry's tail.

Joe who's sense of honesty almost cost him his life, and his young wife Ellen the loss of a sweet and caring husband and breadwinner, in the end not only becomes a father and future role model to his new born son but also a hero in the eyes of the people of New York City as well.