The Naked Street is a "B" noir with an A-list cast including Anthony Quinn, Anne Bancroft and Farley Granger. What distinguishes it from other noirs from the same period is the unusual plot.
Gangster Phil Regal (Quinn) discovers his sister Rosalie (Bancroft) is pregnant by small-time hood Nicky Bradna (Granger) and his solution is to have Rosalie marry him to keep her "honor" intact. One small problem: Nicky is locked up and sentenced to die in the electric chair for killing a liquor store proprietor.
While I have heard of criminals intimidating witnesses who "change their minds" before testifying, I have never heard of cases where the witnesses change their minds AFTER the trial is over.
So it is possible that Phil could have gotten Nicky a new trial after having his thugs beat up as well as threaten the witnesses? I would say highly unlikely but since it's still possible one can simply suspend one's disbelief and see if the rest of the narrative holds up.
As it turns out, Phil arranges to have Nicky marry his sister and then gets him a job as a truckdriver much to the recently released murderer's chagrin. After Rosalie loses her baby, the impulsive Phil irrationally blames Nicky for the infant's death and ends up framing him for the murder of a bookie.
Peter Graves has the thankless role of Joe McFarland, NY Chronicle journalist, who attempts to expose Phil in his column. Phil threatens to kill him, but Phil's thugs only end up giving him a good beating (why they don't kill him I have no idea). Graves also is put upon as the film's narrator-an unnecessary device that detracts from the overall drama.
The bad guys must get their comeuppance including Nicky who finally is electrocuted after his second trial and Phil, who falls to his death off the roof of his apartment building while confronted by the police.
Anthony Quinn has the best part in the film-a Tony Soprano precursor-replete with the charm and devotion to family. Quinn was of Mexican heritage, but I believe was supposed to be playing a gangster of Italian extraction (although the film scenarists don't go out of their way to specify his ethnicity).
The role off Nicky was supposed to go to Richard Widmark who would have been much better than Granger, who playing against type, doesn't quite convince as the "punk" (as Phil would put it) involved in murder.
Bancroft seems a little too sophisticated as Phil's college dropout sister and I would have preferred Phil's mom to be played by an actress of an Italian background instead of Else Neft who sounds like she hails from Germany.
Given the offbeat plot and Quinn's performance, it wouldn't be such a bad idea to take in the film on a rainy Saturday despite the predictable, moralistic denouement.
Gangster Phil Regal (Quinn) discovers his sister Rosalie (Bancroft) is pregnant by small-time hood Nicky Bradna (Granger) and his solution is to have Rosalie marry him to keep her "honor" intact. One small problem: Nicky is locked up and sentenced to die in the electric chair for killing a liquor store proprietor.
While I have heard of criminals intimidating witnesses who "change their minds" before testifying, I have never heard of cases where the witnesses change their minds AFTER the trial is over.
So it is possible that Phil could have gotten Nicky a new trial after having his thugs beat up as well as threaten the witnesses? I would say highly unlikely but since it's still possible one can simply suspend one's disbelief and see if the rest of the narrative holds up.
As it turns out, Phil arranges to have Nicky marry his sister and then gets him a job as a truckdriver much to the recently released murderer's chagrin. After Rosalie loses her baby, the impulsive Phil irrationally blames Nicky for the infant's death and ends up framing him for the murder of a bookie.
Peter Graves has the thankless role of Joe McFarland, NY Chronicle journalist, who attempts to expose Phil in his column. Phil threatens to kill him, but Phil's thugs only end up giving him a good beating (why they don't kill him I have no idea). Graves also is put upon as the film's narrator-an unnecessary device that detracts from the overall drama.
The bad guys must get their comeuppance including Nicky who finally is electrocuted after his second trial and Phil, who falls to his death off the roof of his apartment building while confronted by the police.
Anthony Quinn has the best part in the film-a Tony Soprano precursor-replete with the charm and devotion to family. Quinn was of Mexican heritage, but I believe was supposed to be playing a gangster of Italian extraction (although the film scenarists don't go out of their way to specify his ethnicity).
The role off Nicky was supposed to go to Richard Widmark who would have been much better than Granger, who playing against type, doesn't quite convince as the "punk" (as Phil would put it) involved in murder.
Bancroft seems a little too sophisticated as Phil's college dropout sister and I would have preferred Phil's mom to be played by an actress of an Italian background instead of Else Neft who sounds like she hails from Germany.
Given the offbeat plot and Quinn's performance, it wouldn't be such a bad idea to take in the film on a rainy Saturday despite the predictable, moralistic denouement.