Side Street

Three sons of Irish immigrants live and work in New Your City. They are blond doctor Matt Moore (as John O'Farrell), jovial policeman Tom Moore (as Jimmy O'Farrell) and mysteriously well-dressed Owen Moore (as Denny O'Farrell). The trio gather for dinner with their parents. Nobody suspects gift-bearing brother Owen is wealthy due to engaging in criminal activities. They think he's just a businessman who travels. Owen's real-life wife Kathryn Perry (as Ton's fiancée) and her brother-in-law John have eye-opening moments. You won't have trouble figuring out what happens between Owen and his brothers...

Written and directed by Malcolm St. Clair, this was his first real "all-talking" picture and the veteran filmmaker is clearly restricted by the microphone...

The main attraction, at the time, was seeing the three Moore brothers perform in a sound film, together. However, by 1929, this couldn't have been much of a lure. Their great appeal isn't exactly clear in "Side Street", so looking back is recommended. The brothers were present early on, and became much bigger stars when Owen was discovered to have married Mary Pickford. She was the gold standard. The more recent generations of film-goers will enjoy watching George Raft in a small, but very impressive role. A future "gangster" genre film star, Mr. Raft was quite a dancer; he and June Clyde make good impressions.

**** Side Street (9/8/29) Malcolm St. Clair ~ Owen Moore, Tom Moore, Matt Moore, Katherine Perry