The Naked Street (1955)

The Naked Street is narrated in flashback from the point of view of investigative reporter Peter Graves who gets both the story and the girl in the end. The story is that of Anthony Quinn one tough and ruthless gangster who like Paul Muni in Scarface is slightly overprotective of his sister. The sister is Anne Bancroft and she's gotten herself knocked up.The doer is Farley Granger a local punk who is now on death row for killing someone. Quinn who has striven mightily to keep his gangster life away from his sister goes to some extraordinary and illegal lengths to get Granger sprung. But once the shotgun wedding has been concluded he treats Granger the way Sonny Corleone treated Carlo Rizzi his new brother-in-law. Granger actually tries at one point to go straight, but Quinn just hates him with a passion. It ends bad for both Quinn and Granger.Anthony Quinn who in his career was one of those chameleon like players who could do just about anything is dominant in the story in whatever scene he's in. The hatred of Quinn for Granger is what drives the whole story.As for Granger he recycled the part he did in Edge Of Doom where he plays the killer of a priest and another priest Dana Andrews brings him to accountability. It's like the fates were truly against him and due to Quinn's machinations comes to a truly ironic ending.Others to note are James Flavin as a noted criminal defense attorney who Quinn hires for Granger and Lee Van Cleef who is unbilled and who becomes an unwitting pawn in Quinn's plans for Granger. Bancroft is showing a bit of acting chops herself, there's a glimmer of the talent that got her that Oscar for The Miracle Worker.The Naked Street didn't have any great production design touches, but the talented cast keeps you interested.

There are some Fight Scenes that Lend a bit of Roughness to the Proceedings and a few Scenes that have an Edge, but this is another Example of just how the Fifties Filtered and Weakened Film-Noir.Elements Remain from the Golden Age of the Genre but its Decline is Evident as Things became Glossy, Obvious, and Preachy. One Thing this one does Bring to the Table is the Out of Wedlock Pregnancy that is Dealt with Head-On. However, the Voice Over Narration No Longer is Ominous or Layered with Defeatism. Now it is just Matter of Fact Police Procedural or in this Film a Journalist just Stating the Facts.Some Strong Acting is Evident from Anthony Quinn and Anne Bancroft with some Good Turns by Supporting Players, but Peter Graves and Farley Granger seem Miscast. Overall, Worth a Watch to See the Decline of Film-Noir and for an Interesting but mostly Implausible Story about the Underworld.

I had to really think things through in listening to an almost unrecognizable Peter Graves narrate this crime saga of a punk and a mobster tied together through fate and both on opposite sides of the law in spite of an obvious detestment of each other. Solid performances by all four leads (Anthony Quinn as a powerful racketeer, Farley Granger as a death row inmate, Anne Bancroft as Quinn's tough sister impregnated by Granger, as well as the aforementioned Graves) guide the story of Quinn's decision o get Granger's conviction for murder overturned so he can marry Bancroft. But these two amoral men are doomed to be in conflict, and it is Graves' job to expose both of their corruptions.The narration, quite weakly presented, seems so immaturely written in spite of the adult situations. By 1955, this type of structure was almost a cliché for film noir, and while it may have worked had it been written better, it could have been even better totally without it. There's a lot of cleverness to be found, but certain incidents in the film have no real point in being there, such as a murder discovered at the beginning and the discovery of a body in the east river towards the end of the film. Quinn has a floozy mistress that simply disappears from the film, and Granger's hijacking of the truck he drives for Quinn is barely dealt with, either. Bancroft is one of those actresses that shines in everything even though at this time Hollywood producers didn't see her as anything more than a typical stock player.You pretty much figure out how the film will play out in a key scene halfway through the film, and the conclusion totally forgets about wrapping up what has happened to Granger at that point, which was the major plot of the last quarter. This ends up being a grievous error on the part of all involved in the film's continuity, forgotten without any after thought by the director, writer and ultimately the editor.

Anthony Quinn plays a tough mobster named 'Phil Regal'--a guy who has managed to balance his family life and his job. His family really doesn't know exactly what sort of guy he is. All his mother and sister know is that he's the man of the family and his job is to take care of them and be their protector. When his sister (Anne Bancroft) becomes pregnant, Quinn insists on fixing things--which is tough, as the father is a young punk on death row (Farley Granger). Using lots of money and muscle, Quinn manages to get the guy sprung. The only problem is that once Granger marries into the family, he can't keep from screwing up his life--cheating on his lovely wife and getting involved in penny-ante crimes. Now considering what a tough customer Granger's brother-in-law is, Granger obviously is a total moron...and sooner of later Quinn is going to fix this problem...permanently.In addition to this family, another major character in the film is a young Peter Graves. He plays a reporter who went to school with Bancroft and he is investigating Quinn's 'business activities'--and you know sooner or later this will come to a head.This film was far better than I'd expected since it wasn't a very famous example of film noir. Yet, the film is original and very exciting to watch--it's also a nice showcase for Graves, who at this time was a complete unknown in Hollywood. Well scripted and acted, this menacing little film is a treat for anyone who loves the genre.