The Naked Street

The Naked Street (1955)

*** (out of 4)

Gangster Phil Regal (Anthony Quinn) finds out that his younger sister Rosalie (Anne Bancroft) is pregnant by criminal Nicky Bradna (Farley Granger) who just happens to be at Sing Sing and on death row. Regal manages to scare the witnesses who change their testimony and Nicky is released but soon the gangster regrets what he did. THE NAKED STREET seems to have mostly negative reviews and while I can admit that the film has some major flaws, the cast is simply so great that it's impossible not to get caught up in everything going on and in the end I really enjoyed the picture. There's no question that the story itself is pretty far-fetched in the way the gangster is able to pull a man off death row and it's even more far-fetched when you come to the climax of everything. I won't spoil what happens but the logic behind it is set at a zero. Another problem is that the sister character was really poorly written and her dumbness really gets annoying after a while. I mean, her brother is a big time gangster yet she never realized how he gave her everything with having a "real" job? The morals of her character also goes back and forth as the film moves along, which is another problem. Outside of those things I thought the film was entertaining. Quinn is wonderful as the tough gangster who isn't afraid to push people around to get what he wants. For 1955 his performance is pretty raw and rough and it really reminded me of the stuff we used to see from the pre-code Warner gangster pics of the early 1930s. Granger is also very believable as the lover boy who simply got caught up in a bad crime. Even though her character is weak, Bancroft at least delivers a fine performance as does Peter Graves who plays a reporter. I also really liked how the Quinn character worries about his sister being pregnant, unmarried and what this would make her look like. The moral worries of a gangster was an interesting touch and it's handled in a rather raw fashion, which certainly wasn't normal for this era. THE NAKED STREET has some issues but for the most part it's worth watching.

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.

For such a low-budget, unknown film, "The Naked Street" has an abundance of riches in the casting department. Ok, so maybe Anne Bancroft wasn't well known, but Farley Granger certainly was. And Anthony Quinn had already won an Oscar, for pete's sake!

Quinn is the best thing about this movie, playing a gangster who manipulates the system to spring a death-row inmate out of prison. Why? Because he knocked up Quinn's sister (that would be Bancroft) and Quinn doesn't want his nephew being born out of wedlock. Whew, racy stuff for 1955. So Granger and Bancroft marry, he makes a lousy husband (no surprise there), and the baby dies in childbirth. Now there's no conceivable reason for Granger and Bancroft to stay married, so Quinn frames Granger for murder so that he'll be put back on death row, since he never liked the punk in the first place.

This is pretty hilarious on paper, and could have made for a juicy movie. But it mostly falls flat. It's mildly diverting, but it doesn't come near its potential given the out-there premise.

Peter Graves also stars as a journalist who has it in for Quinn and the hots for Bancroft.

Grade: B.

Enjoyed this film from the 1950's with Anthony Quinn playing the role as Phil Regal, mobster in a section of New York City. Nicky Bradna, (Farley Granger) was a young guy trying to go straight after getting out of prison and his girl friend is Rosalie Regalzyk, (Anne Bancroft. Rosalie just so happens to be the sister to Phil and so he managed to get Nicky out of jail. There is a horrible event which happens to Nicky and Rosalie Bradna, and Nick goes wild and gets himself deep into the world of crime which takes the entire film in a different direction. Anthony Quinn put his heart and soul into this role as being a mean and cruel and hateful mobster. If you like Anthony Quinn, don't miss this film, you will greatly enjoy viewing it.

Anthony Quinn stars in "The Naked Street," a 1955 film with Farley Granger, Anne Bancroft, and Peter Graves.

Quinn plays a gangster, Phil Regal, whose sister Rosalie (Bancroft) is pregnant and unmarried. Nowadays, this would be a cause for celebration. Back then, it was a scandal. The father is Nicky Bradna (Granger) who is at the moment on death row for killing a liquor store owner while he was stealing his money.

Regal is a wonderful son to his mother (Else Baeck) and a protective brother, but he's basically involved in lots of illegal activities.

Phil wants Nicky to marry Rosalie, so he drops bundles of cash in the right places. Suddenly the witnesses have second thoughts about what they saw and the DA is willing to give him another trial. Soon he's out, married to Rosalie, and driving a truck, which is not what he wanted to do. But big brother insisted.

It doesn't take Nicky long to start acting up - he and Rosalie suffer a tragedy, he doesn't like his job, and Regal wants him out of the way.

Pretty good noir, and Anthony Quinn does a wonderful job showing us the human being beneath the tough gangster. Anne Bancroft is very young, but excellent in her part, and Farley Granger does well as the loser husband.

"The Naked Street" is a derivative story, so it's not particularly special, but it is worth a look.