Face au crime

"Crime In the Streets" tells the story of growing up in the slums, and what some young people will do to get out, or just to have a few kicks to help them forget their dead-end lives. This film's non-existent budget actually helps to add to the realism, with sets that are bleak and cheap-looking. Back alleys never looked so lurid and dangerous as they do in this sadly forgotten film. "Crime In the Streets" features some wonderful performances, especially Sal Mineo, who doesn't have enough scenes, but when he is on camera, the magic is there. Anyone who is familiar with Mineo's work knows what I'm talking about. The scene between Sal and his father is unforgettable. The actress who plays Frankie Dane's mother also gives an amazing, dramatic performance as the over-worked waitress, abandoned with two sons, all living in a dismal tenement apartment. John Cassevetes is waaaaay too old to play the 18 year old delinquent, though his performance is fine. It is depressing to witness how badly people treat each other in this film, and it is particularly disturbing to see Frankie abuse his little brother. He really treats this child savagely, hitting him, threatening him, and holding knives to his throat. I also should mention the fantastic jazz score featured, that compliments the dark, shadowy images and the taught drama unfolding on the screen. "Crime In the Streets" is almost impossible to find as there has never been an official video or DVD release. My copy is a bootleg DVD, and the quality is good enough. This and other early Sal Mineo films deserve to be re-discovered, but I don't imagine this one being re-issued any time soon. This is probably one of the best in the 50's 'JD' category.

I don't want to elaborate too much on what's already been said, but 1956's "Crime in the Streets" becomes claustrophobic very quickly because of the shabby, back-lot "New York street" that screams artificial 1930s Hollywood set a la "Dead End" and "Scarface." Since this is an Allied Artists film, I'm guessing it was shot at the old Monogram Studios on Sunset Boulevard in East Hollywood, which was shabby even in the 1930s. Perhaps Don Siegel was looking for claustrophobia and delapidation to enhance the atmosphere, but more likely they were simply a product of a low budget. (After all, Siegel had already used the real-life streets of Hollywood and the nearby town of Sierra Madre to great effect a year earlier in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers.") Though no source material is given for "Crime in the Streets" except for the original teleplay, it owes quite a lot to Hal Ellson and other social workers-turned-writers who cranked out top-selling novels in the late '40s and early '50s, such as "Duke" and "The Golden Spike," that explored the tribulations of growing up in poor, urban, ethnic American neighborhoods. Also unacknowledged is Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters' rhythm and blues hit, "Such a Night," which provided Mark Rydell's character (clearly the movie's most interesting) with the "ba-dooby-dobby-doo" riff that became a jazz motif when the boys were awaiting their big crime in the alley.

I just saw this movie at the Don S. film festival at Film Forum, and this movie was surprisingly better than I could have expected. While it is a little preachy at times, the performances by Cassevetes and Mineo are mind-blowing in how touching and nuanced they are at such a young age.

From the beginning it is clear that this film was made on a small set in Hollywood, but you quickly forget about this and can easily become wrapped up in the story - an almost reverse Crime and Punishment parable. Cassevetes and Mineo overcome an of the actors' deficiencies even though most of the other performances such as the mother, Mineo's father, are also superb (the only truly cornball performances come from the preachy social worker, the sappy little brother and a couple of the stereotyped gang members).

The director does an amazing job of making this small slum world feel so small (the set is probably half a city block in size on the set) and tense.

Film Forum displayed Scorcese's personal copy, which was unfortunately quite damaged. Hopefully, the studio which owns this film will reprint a clean 35 mm copy or print a restored DVD. For fans of the "youth gone wild" genre or simple of Cassevetes, this movie is a true waiting-to-be rediscovered gem

Social worker Ben Wagner (James Whitmore) tries to reach tough gang member Frankie Dane (a typically intense John Cassavetes) who is planning a revenge killing. The film, directed by Don Siegal, was based on a teleplay, and the theatrical release retains a limited (almost claustrophobic), stagy look which fits the 'dead-end' feel of the story. Street gangs in large American cities have changed a lot since the 1950s and modern audiences may view the Hornets and the Dukes to be about as menacing as West Side Story's Sharks and Jets, but much of the story remains relevant. Cassavetes is very good (although at 27, he's not a very convincing teenager), as is Sal Mineo (who was actually a teenager when the film was made) as his young buddy Angelo "Baby" Gioia. The story is solid and script very good (if you can get past the dated slang, daddy-o), which is unsurprising as the original teleplay was written by Reginald Rose, who earlier in the decade penned the iconic courtroom drama '12 Angry Men'. Films about youth culture (good or bad) often don't age well and 'Crime in the Streets' is no exception, but it is still a well-made and entertaining retro-drama.

A social worker tries to tame a street gang. Cassavetes is pretty good in his second film credit, although he was a bit old at 26 to be playing a teen. Rydell is quite creepy in his film debut as a psychotic gang member who can't conceal his glee at the thought of committing murder. Rydell, like Cassavetes, went on to become a director. His second film role would not come until 1973 in Robert Altman's "The Long Goodbye," when he played another frightening character. Mineo plays a character not unlike the one had just played in "Rebel Without a Cause." In his follow-up to "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," Siegel creates a gritty atmosphere but stresses the melodramatics.