The Naked Street

The Naked Street (1955)

A hidden gem. It's too straight forward to be some kind of memorable classic, and it has too many of the earmarks of many movies that came earlier to be original in any way. But this is a really well made, slightly lower budget, crime and romance film with a great cast. Anthony Quinn in particular shows several sides to his personality as a nice big brother who is also controlling and blind to his little sister, a full grown Ann Bancroft, who is radiant in the working class apartment she lives in with her mother. And Farley Granger is a good echo of the slightly idealistic but misled innocent he played in "Strangers on a Train," though here he is not so innocent.

Expect a fast progression, some good solid filming, and acting that holds its own. The director, Maxwell Shane, is really more of a screenwriter, and so it figures the writing here is pretty good (he co-wrote, too). He has only a handful of other films he directed in this period, all reasonably good (the first, "Fear in the Night," the most forgettable, and the best, "The Glass Wall" stars Gloria Grahame), and all fairly formula stuff. This one rises up because of its tight construction and good, very good, acting. Give it a chance.