Main Street After Dark

Main Street After Dark starts out like a big city Shadow of A Doubt, takes a brief turn into Arsenic and Old Lace territory, and then spends it's last half hour playing out as an expanded edition of MGM's Crime Does Not Pay series. It's vaguely unsatisfying but features a stellar cast and has moments of noir sensibility. There are many worse ways to spend a mere 57 minutes of time.

MGM usually produced smoother B-films than MAIN STREET AFTER DARK, a curious item that starts out as a small-town study of crime, turns into a family melodrama about a bunch of pick-pockets and thieves, and then turns deadly serious when a murder is committed and the "crime doesn't pay" theme is attached to the unhappy ending.

SELENA ROYLE is the tough head of a crime family (in the sort of role you'd expect to find Shelley Winters) with TOM TROUT and DAN DURYEA as her criminal sons and AUDREY TOTTER as her wise-cracking daughter-in-law. The story involves girls who prey on soldiers and sailors to steal their wallets and anything else for financial gain so the profits can be turned over to the local pawnbroker (HUME CRONYN).

It's rather slow going even for a film that lasts just under an hour and leads to an obvious "crime doesn't pay" sort of conclusion.

The treatment is dated and heavy-handed with EDWARD ARNOLD in one of his least convincing roles as a detective committed to solving the series of petty crimes that eventually lead to a murder.

Summing up: You'll find the cast interesting but the plot is strictly by the numbers.

Main Street After Dark (1945)

** (out of 4)

Edward L. Cahn directed this drama about a family a pickpockets who prey on sailors at a local bar. Cahn directed several of the "Crime Does Not Pay" entries for MGM and I'm going to guess this 57-minute film was meant to be an extended version of that. Sadly there isn't too much going in this film and comes off rather dull in the end. The storyline never really takes off even though there's an impressive cast including Edward Arnold, Selena Royle, Audrey Totter and Hume Cronyn.

This one shows up on Turner Classic Movies ever couple of years.

Edward Arnold is a police lieutenant prowling Main Street After Dark invthis 1945 film also starring Selena Royle, Dan Duryea, Hume Cronyn, Audrey Totter, and Dorothy Morris. Directed by Edward L. Cahn.

Royle heads up a family gang of thieves, the Dibsons, and Cronyn is Keller, their pawnbroker. The big excitement in the family is that Lefty (Trout) is being released from prison. His wife Jessie (Totter) would be happier, but she seems to be in competition with her mother-in-law who takes charge of his welcoming.

The family's major concentration is on ripping off soldiers coming through town with wage packets, so none of them are very likable. And though Lefty is warned by his mother not to carry a gun, he does.

This is a more sophisticated Ma Barker group as they sit around the radio listening to - police scans instead of Jack Benny.

Audrey Totter is great in her debut.

This is supposed to be light-hearted but I felt sorry for the soldiers.

From the outside, the Gibsons are an all-American suburban family. In reality, it's a den of thieves. Ma Dibson is trading with crooked pawn dealer Keller (Hume Cronyn). His son Lefty gets released from prison. Her daughter Rosalie and daughter-in-law Jessie Belle dance with and steal from servicemen. Posey is her other thieving son. Lt. Lorrgan keeps a close eye on family and offers Lefty a farm job milking cows.

This is an one hour movie that plays more like a Crime Does Not Pay short. It's also possibly a warning for soldiers on leave. That seems to be part of the war effort. The acting is pulpy good especially sassy Audrey Totter. I am surprised to see Hume Cronyn who dons a bald cap to look like his older self although I don't think he ever got that bald. I like the family although I wish their thieving is more imaginative and dangerous.