i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

1948's "The Street With No Name" is, without question, hard-hitting, well-scripted, and, most definitely, top-of-the-line Film Noir.Shot in a semi-documentary style (which was a popular format in its time), this film of crime and corruption tells the vivid story of a tough, undercover FBI agent who infiltrates a ruthless criminal gang who operate in the skid-row district of the fictional "Center City" (which clearly reminds one of NYC).Very entertaining, "The Street With No Name" is a real treat for any fan of the Film Noir genre.I really liked actor Mark Stevens in this picture. He was superb as the FBI agent, Gene Cordell.

Richard Widmark's first film (Kiss of Death) got him an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe. He followed it up the next year with this film.A classic noir involving the FBI and a plant (Mark Stevens) to get inside Widmark's gang to find out who killed a housewife, and two others.Widmark was excellent as the gang leader, and ruthless when he thought he was crossed, as his wife (Barbara Lawrence) found out.The ending was very good, and provided some great twists. Of course, the FBI always gets their man.

From the stentorian prologue, you'd think it's organized crime and not organized Soviets about to take over the country. Either way the FBI gets a big image boost and an expanded role. As 40's film buffs know, a number of federal agencies got the docu-drama face-lift during this period, likely driven by Cold War needs. Note in this installment how public trust is located in federal authorities instead of more traditional local ones. Cynics might regard this as helping prepare the public for the growth of a post-war national security state.The real star here are the seedy locations from skid row San Pedro to boxing gym LA. Cameraman Joe McDonald does ace work getting a noirish feel that lends real eye appeal to the venues. However, Widmark has undergone a relaxant since his psychotic turn as Tommy Udo (Kiss of Death, 1947) and is not nearly as interesting. Still, those skeletal features are menacing enough. Blandly handsome Stevens gets the thankless agency-man role and is predictably colorless. Too bad these agency stereotypes aren't allowed at least some quirks.Wow, I really like Barbara Lawrence, all blonde hair and svelte figure. If I were Widmark I wouldn't bat her around so much, even if those brief scenes are the movie's liveliest. Then too, that final sequence should have been sent back for rewrite. It's not only unbelievable but also needlessly insulting to cops. Now, I'm no Pollyanna when it comes to the boys in blue, but can Widmark really count on cops just walking up and shooting someone, even under suspicious circumstances. The movie may be in the FBI's back pocket, but it's clearly not in the cop's. I'm just sorry a noir director, like Mann or Karlson didn't get the material first. Keighley is competent but lacks a feel for the complexities of evil, especially any kind of chaotic undercurrent. As a result, we get little more than an unmemorable procedure tale, cloaked in the atmospherics of noir but without the substance. The movie has some suspense and is entertaining, but if you think you've seen it before, you probably have.

"The House on 92nd Street" was a terrific no-frills tale of the FBI investigation of a Nazi spy ring in America during the war. Because of the success of the film, Lloyd Nolan returns as the same FBI investigator but this time he's out to smash organized crime. And, once again, the film capitalizes on what made the first one so good--realism. While there certainly are some film noir-like touches (especially the lighting, but also the dialog and type of plot), the movie emphasizes realism over style--much like some of the best of the genre, such as "Naked City".The film begins with a series of brutal robberies in which some of the victims are killed. As a result, Nolan becomes involved. However, he needs a man on the inside to investigate the mob, so he finds a very proficient young G-man to infiltrate. Mark Stevens is this agent and goes to "Skid Row" to be seen by the local riff-raff--hoping to find some mob contacts. I loved how the film used words like "Skid Row" and set one of the crimes in the generic-sounding "Center City"--a cute use of film noir style names and in effort to make a film that could be placed in any big city in America.Eventually, Stevens is able to impress the local mob bit-shot (played by Richard Widmark) when he boxes in a mob-controlled joint. The local favorite, though a strong guy, is an undisciplined boxer and Stevens acquits himself very well in the ring against him. Widmark is impressed and approaches Stevens to feel him out--will this guy be able to make the grade in the mob? Watch it yourself and see! Overall, excellent on all levels. A must-see for lovers of noir and good crime dramas.