La Rue des pécheresses

Director William Berke was referred to as "The King of the B's" for his prolific output of low-budget movies. In one of his last films, Street Of Sinners, he worked with equally prolific actors George Montgomery, Nehemiah Persoff and Geraldine Brooks.

Montgomery is a by-the-book cop who is working a new beat. Persoff is the proprietor of a lounge that serves drinks to minors, handles illegal bets and engages in sex trafficking. Brooks, convincingly, plays one of the victims to Persoff's devilish ways.

Montgomery's cop is given the lone hero treatment, but Persoff has all the contacts downtown that prevent him from being brought to justice.

The film moves briskly through its plot points and even pays attention to character development.

It all feels too remedial, but if you're a lover of 50s crime films you'll find a certain lure to the movie particularly because of the performances by the leads.

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!

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.

Officer Dean (George Montgomery) is taking over the beat, and he's not making any friends on his very first day. The thugs are testing him, to see what they can get away with. Leon (Nehemiah Persoff) is the antagonist, the "business man", who really does run a legit business. But he also runs a few businesses that aren't so clean, even selling booze to under age kids. Dean is determined to shut him down and clean up the street. It comes across as a documentary, like dragnet, but it's a little too on the nose. Everything is overdone. The kids overact, the punk kids are dressed a little too clean as they break the law. Dean doesn't even make an effort to get along with the kids from the very first day. And it all goes exactly as expected. There's going to be big showdown at some point. It's just fair to middlin. Montgomery had a long successful career, acting and even directed a few things. Since Persoff had so many early roles in tv, he managed to skip many of the "uncredited" roles that actors get as they claw their way to the lead. He was frequently the second banana, playing parts on both sidess of the law. Persoff himself has an interesting story on wikipedia. Story by Philip Yordan. Directed by Bill Berke. No oscars, but was successful in film and tv series. Died young at 54. This one was made in the late 1950s, when all the studios were making films on the rough, gritty, city life.

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.