Friday, September 16, 2022

TCM’s Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight and 10 a.m. ET is Maxwell Shane’s The Naked Street (1955) with Anthony Quinn, Farley Granger, Anne Bancroft, Peter Graves and Else Neft

By David in TN
Friday, September 16, 2022 at 4:37:00 p.m. edt

TCM’s Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at Midnight and 10 a.m. ET is Maxwell Shane’s The Naked Street (1955) with Anthony Quinn, Farley Granger, Anne Bancroft, Peter Graves and Else Neft.

Film Noir Guide: “Quinn plays a brutal New York crime chieftain who, between murders, pays a weekly visit to his elderly mother (Neft) and sister (Bancroft) for dinner at their Brooklyn apartment.”

“When he learns that Bancroft is pregnant and that the father (Granger) is in prison awaiting execution for killing a liquor store owner during a robbery, Quinn quickly makes arrangements to get the father-to-be released. After hiring a prominent attorney, Quinn has his goons torture two eyewitnesses until they agree to change their testimony.

“Granger, feeling pretty lucky to have escaped the chair, is more than happy to make an honest woman out of Bancroft, especially since it means marrying into the big time. But Quinn, who doesn’t like the punk, hires him to drive one of his trucks at an insulting 80 bucks a week.

“The conflict between the two men reaches the danger point when Granger, pushing his luck, starts cheating on Bancroft. Told in flashbacks by a reporter (Graves), The Naked Street is an average crime drama with Quinn and Bancroft giving top-notch performances.”



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a great cast.Unfortunately,no can do.

--GRA

David In TN said...

TCM's Film Noir of the Week Saturday Night-Sunday Morning at 12:30 and 10 am is S. Sylvan Simon's I Love Trouble (1947) with Franchot Tone, Janet Blair, Janis Carter, Adele Jergens, Steven Geray, Tom Powers, Glenda Farrell, Lynn Merrick.

The screenplay is by Roy Huggins, who also wrote the novel. Huggins wrote often for TV and was creator of The Fugitive TV Series.

Film Noir Guide: "Tone plays a jaunty gumshoe hired by a politician (Powers) to find out about his wife's past (she turns out to have been a bubble dancer). During his investigation, the private eye is beaten up several times, flirted with by just about every woman in the film except his faithful secretary (Farrell), and arrested for murder by homicide detective Powers."

"Keeping track of the female characters (Blair, Carter, Jergens and Merrick) is the key to following this confusing noir. Geray plays a shady nightclub owner. Interesting primarily for a peek at two relative newcomers to film, Raymond Burr and John Ireland, who play Geray's hoods."

David In TN: I Love Trouble is supposed to have been a "lost" noir. Eddie Muller will probably claim credit for finding it. Franchot Tone's character is named Stuart Bailey. The name was given to Efrem Zembalist's character in the TV Series 77 Sunset Strip, which Huggins also created. It looks like a knockoff of Raymond Chandler.