The greatest movie ever made..!

Absolutely Fantastic

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Anthony Mann's Side Street, another Farley Granger noir, is about a young man who steals money with the best of intentions, only to see his one transgression turn into an avalanche of ever-constricting situations.Granger is Joe Norson, a part-time letter carrier in New York with a pregnant wife at home. Delivering to a law office, Joe sees a couple of hundred-dollar bills fall to the floor. The dropper gives young Joe a glare and tells him to beat it. A day or so later, Joe notices that the office is temporarily vacant. He busts open a nearby file cabinet and retrieves wads of cash. It's more than the $200 he thought he was going to snag - it's more than $30,000. Only it's not exactly clean money.Returning to the scene to give back the money doesn't work (the bad guys think he may be trying to lure them to the cops). And when people connected with the law office start getting themselves strangled, Joe finds himself neck deep in some serious problems. Can he get out of New York? What will become of his wife Ellen (Cathy O'Donnell) and their newborn? Why are the cops involved, anyway? A solid supporting cast helps: James Craig, Paul Harvey, Jean Hagen (as a sultry lounge singer), Adele Jurgens (as a blackmailer). Not people on whom you'd want to turn your back, even if they were holding an infant and a puppy. They'd probably throw both at you, anyway, then shoot all three of you.The best comes last, a harrowing car chase around New York; a cab pursued by the cops. That the cab is also carrying a newly dead person, right there in the back seat, makes the ride all the more terrifying. And because this is a noir film, chances are pretty good it won't end well for most of the characters. Side Street is an excellent example of a film noir, with the usual stark photography, dismal tone, sense of hopelessness, and not-exactly-benign characters.

SIDE STREET – 1949 Side Street is one of the lesser seen Anthony Mann film noir productions. Don't let that stop you from taking in this excellent noir. It has all the usual Mann ingredients at play, with a cracker-jack story, violence a plenty, and a superb look.Farley Granger is a just returned veteran working odd jobs to make ends meet. Granger and his pregnant wife, Cathy O'Donnell, are living with his parents till he can earn enough to get a place of their own. Needless to say this grates on the young man.He stumbles into a situation where he can grab a few hundred in cash from an office he make deliveries to. This of course starts a rather unpleasant series of events that involve, blackmail, murder etc. Even when he tries to do the right thing, it just digs him further into the mess.The cast in this one are all excellent with James Craig, Edmon Ryan and Harry Bellaver as the villains. The cops are played by Paul Kelly, King Donovan and noir favourite, Charles McGraw. The distaff side is well represented by some good work from Cathy O'Donnell, Adele Jergens and Jean Hagen.Veteran cinematographer, Joseph Ruttenburg really shines here and makes excellent use of the New York locations. The four time nominated, and two time Oscar winner, only dabbled in noir, but each one was a top effort. These include GASLIGHT and THE BRIBE.The story and screenplay was from the one time Oscar nominated, Sydney Boehm. Boehm was another film noir veteran having supplied stories or screenplays for, HIGH WALL, THE UNDERCOVER MAN, MYSTERY STREET, UNION STATION, ROUGE COP, BLACK TUESDAY, VIOLENT Saturday and of course, THE BIG HEAT.No need to mention director Mann's noir pedigree. Suffice it to say that all noir fans have 2 or 3 of his films on their top 10 list.This one is well worth the 82 minute time investment.

Side Street is directed by Anthony Mann and written by Sydney Boehm. It stars Farley Granger, Cathy O'Donnell, James Craig, Jean Hagen, Paul Kelly, Paul Harvey, Edmon Ryan and Charles McGraw. Music is by Lennie Hayton (original) and Cole Porter (non original), and cinematography is by Joseph Ruttenberg.Joe Norson (Granger) is desperate for a full time job so he can support his pregnant wife Ellen (O'Donnell). Ever since he lost the filling station he invested in, Joe has struggled to get on top of things. Working part time as a mail carrier, Joe is tempted to steal what he thinks is $200 dollars from a lawyers office he delivered to earlier on his rounds. However, when he gets time to examine his plunder he finds there is in fact $30,000. This is merely the start of his problems, for the money is crooked and sure to be sorely missed by some very tough people. As he frets on how to get out of this mess, the police and the bad guys begin to draw ever closer.After the winning chemistry that arose out of Granger and O'Donnell's previous pairing for They Live By Night in 1948 (Nicholas Ray), it was no surprise to see them team up again for another slice of noirish pie. With Anthony Mann in the directing chair, having already established himself with the likes of T-Men and Raw Deal, and a decent budget in place, Side Street was in good hands. While although master cinematographer John Alton wasn't available, 4 time Oscar winner Joseph Ruttenberg was no small fry himself. Shooting in and around real New York locations, Mann and Ruttenberg give the film a real sense of authenticity, yes the plot takes some stretching of the imagination, but visually the picture is most appealing to the film noir fan. Be it aerial shots of the maze like Lower Manhattan setting or the shadowy flecked interiors that cloak the characters, Side Street showcases some strengths of director and photographer alike.Certainly inferior to They Live By Night, and only mid tier of the noir pictures helmed by Mann, Side Street none the less still functions real well as a taut story that features a classic noir protagonist seemingly doomed by his actions. Even though Joe Norson is wimpy, idiotic even, the narrative spins him into a sequence of events that make for some riveting sweaty panic, and sweaty panic is something that Granger does considerably well here. There's no great fleshing out of the romance between husband and wife, because Joe is on the run around mostly, so O'Donnell is more of a secondary character, but we do feel the love and this helps considerably for the last quarter of the film.It does at times feel like a hammer is tapping us on the forehead with its "Crime Doesn't Pay" morality, however, the bursts of violence bite hard and with Mann adroit in his action construction (a high speed car pursuit in the finale is top draw), film manages to rise above its flaws to entertain fully. In support it's Kelly (narrating and head investigative copper), Ryan (cagey lawyer) and Hagen (torch singer who likes a drink) who leave the best marks, while McGraw, arguably miscast as a good guy, is still good value for a gruff voiced presence. It does feel like an illegitimate second cousin to The Naked City, and a touch more claustrophobia wouldn't have gone amiss on the atmospheric front, but Side Street is a comfortable recommendation to the crime/film noir fan. 7/10

New York City postman Farley Granger (as Joe Norson) has his youth, good looks, and plenty of hope. He dreams about seeing Paris someday, and wants to buy pretty pregnant wife Cathy O'Donnell (as Ellen) a full-length mink coat. But, Mr. Granger also worries about how he will support his growing family on a meager part-time postal salary. When, during his mail route, temptation presents Granger with an opportunity to take $30,000 in blackmail payoff money, Granger takes it. Alas, he money turns out to be bigger and dirtier than Granger dreamed, turning him into both a murder suspect and potential victim… Watching director Anthony Mann and photographer Joseph Ruttenberg chase Granger around New York City, in beautiful black and white, is marvelous to behold. The three are superb. Regrettably, writer Sydney Boehm's protagonist often comes across as more dumb than naïve; the first obvious example is how Granger leaves his stash with bartender Ed Max (as Nick). Not too smart. The act needed more desperation; simply keeping a police presence on screen would have helped. Still, you can feel the big, shadowy city closing in on Granger's psyche. With a little tinkering, "Side Street" might have been a masterpiece.******** Side Street (3/23/50) Anthony Mann ~ Farley Granger, Cathy O'Donnell, James Craig, Jean Hagen