La strada dei peccatori

It's the first day for New York city beat cop John Dean (George Montgomery). He's taking over from a retiring veteran who allowed for a loose interpretation of the law. John is the opposite and he intends to clean up. Leon owns the local bar, owns the police, and runs the wild streets. Nancy is the underaged wild girl working in the bar. Terry is the local drunk who often takes off her clothes in the street.

It's a police melodrama. It's a 50's fantasy street life. There is an element of selling to middle America. There is over-acting here and characters worthy of pulpy crime comics. It's fun in an enjoyable B-movie way. The actors are pretty good despite the melodramatic material. The characters may be one-dimensional but compelling enough to be rooting interest.

John (George Montgomery) is a rookie cop about to start his first beat. However, he is quite naive and knows little about the neighborhood and the hood who runs it. Leon (Nehemiah Persoff) is a small-time mobster who has connections in City Hall....and for years, folks have ignored Leon. But while at first Leon seems like a minor crook who isn't doing much harm, his influence goes far beyond just serving liquor to underage kids in his bar. Can John manage to stand up to Leon and both keep his job AND not get his head blown off as well? And, can John effect change when his fellow officers don't seem to care?

Despite the film initially seeming pretty cheesy and stiff, the film improves as you watch. It soon becomes tense and exciting....and leads to a dandy finale. Well made and very well written.

By the way, believe it or not, Persoff turns 102 this August. Good luck to a fine, fine actor....and he sure plays an excellent villain!

Novice cop George Montgomery starts his beat on a street uptown. Bar owner Nehemiah Persoff controls the neighborhood of drunks and delinquents. He and Montgomery tangle, and when Geraldine Brooks jumps off the ledge of her apartment while Montgomery and her ex-husband are present, Montgomery is suspended.

It's a fast-paced little programmer, and Persoff is terrific as the guy who came out of the gutter and didn't travel far. It's well produced on a cheap budget, but like most of Montgomery's vehicles in this period, it was designed to make a profit without doing much for anyone's career.

Inner-City Youths Boxed in to a Few Streets with 1 Beat-Cop to Deal With, When the Current "Look-the-Other-Way" Type Retires...

Hard-Nosed, By-the-Rules "Rookie" George Montgomery Takes Over and Things Get Out of Hand Fast.

Gritty Stuff on "Sinner-Street" with Seemingly "No-Way-Out", especially when the Local Bar-Hang-Out is Pushing Drinks on Minors and then Pushing the Girls "Down-Town" for "Modeling" Jobs (yea sure).

Montgomery is a One-Man Reformer Bucking the Locals with the "Old-Man' who runs the Bar, the Girls, and Everything Else with Tentacles Everywhere to Keep Things Running "Above the Law".

Phillip Yordan Adds some Character Development, and these are a Bunch of "Loser" Characters...

One Young Alcoholic Divorcee is so "Out-of-It" She is Cracked Wide-Open, Burns a Steak and Biscuits and Takes a Dive Off Her Tenement Building Ledge.

One Young Lady Goes from a Bar-Fly Flirting with the "Boss" (His Favorite), Sent-Packing "Downtown" in a Heartbeat.

Some Over-Acting and the Confines of the Limitations of "Sinner Street" Hold the Thing Back from any Broad Appeal or Significance,

but the Low-Budget Cast, some Taut Dialog, and Piled on Melodrama Help Make it More than it Should Be, and is...

Worth a Watch.

If you can get past the stereotyping, clichés, cheesy dialogue, and the fiery jazz soundtrack with screeching brass, you will probably enjoy this as a solid B movie. It started out typical, but it progressed into a formidable sociological statement. It is entertaining!

It's clear the entire cast wanted this project to succeed. For that reason, I categorize this as an ensemble. Some actors shine; some do not. But my gut instinct tells me the entire crew was so happy to be working that they decided to give it their all. And it shows.

I rate this film a 7 because of the production, which includes the director. It's typical Hollywood, but that's what makes it fun. Not for those who can't handle dated films.