Side Street (1949)

Film: Side Street (1949)

Stars: Farley Granger, Cathy O'Donnell, James Craig, Paul Kelly, Jean Hagen, Paul Harvey, Adele Jergens

Director: Anthony Mann

Oscar History: No nominations

Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

Throughout the month of June we will be doing a Film Noir Movie Marathon, featuring fifteen film noir classics that I'll be seeing for the first time.  Reviews of other film noir classics are at the bottom of this article.

Hollywood used to do a better job of pairing actors who were successful together again, not in sequels but in another story.  In a different era, for example, we'd for sure have another film with Sydney Sweeney & Glen Powell in production by now given the surprise success of Anyone But You.  This was the case for 1949's Side Street, which reunited They Live By Night stars Farley Granger & Cathy O'Donnell, though for an odd reason.  They Live By Night is generally considered one of the more important film noirs of the late-1940's, inspiring New Hollywood films like Breathless and Bonnie and Clyde, but it was a flop, one that was only rescued decades later by film critics.  As a result, I'm kind of a surprised that Granger & O'Donnell got brought back together so soon-possibly given that film was released in August of 1948 and today's film, the second (and last) pairing of Granger & O'Donnell was released just the next year, they were too far in to stop production, but honestly for a film noir from MGM, it's unlikely that was the case.  What I will say, though, may surprise you-I wasn't wowed by They Live By Night (you can see my review of it below), but was far more intrigued by Side Street, the lesser-known pairing of the two actors.

(Spoilers Ahead) There's a lot of plot here, but the first thing to know is that Joe Norson (Granger) is not the smartest guy in the room (he's played by Farley Granger, though, so he is the prettiest guy in the room).  He has recently lost his job and during his part-time gig as a mail carrier, he steals what he thinks is $200 from a lawyer's office so that his very pregnant wife Ellen (O'Donnell) can give birth in a private room.  It turns out, though, that he has accidentally stolen $30,000, in this case from a corrupt attorney who is working with organized crime.  This sets off a chase, with Joe trying to outrun not just the attorney, but also several blackmailers, one of whom has been killed, and whomever has the cash, is likely who the police are going to pin the murder upon.

Granger's quite good here.  I think Granger is maybe the hottest guy (give or take Marlon Brando) in classic cinema, but his sexuality is rarely put to good use, with the exception of Alfred Hitchcock's Rope and Strangers on a Train.  This is mostly the case in Side Street, save for a really remarkable interlude toward the end of the picture.  As part of his plan, he has to seduce a mobster's girlfriend, Harriet Stinton (played by Jean Hagen).  Hagen is amazing in this movie.  For those of you who only know her as Lina Lamont, this is a total 180 from that comic turn, but is truly worthy of such comparisons.  She is clearly heartbroken, desperate for her scumbag of a boyfriend to love her, but really she wants anyone to love her.  In the one moment in the film where he seems to know what to do, Joe flirts with her, using his young guy sex appeal to try to win her trust.  In real life Hagen was just two years older than Granger, but while both are gorgeous here, he looks much younger and it reads as him trying to trick a fading beauty.  Harriet's fate is particularly nasty after she betrays Granger-she gets strangled, mid-embrace, by her crooked boyfriend, literally giving her the kiss of death.

Nothing else in Side Street can compete with this, and honestly nothing else needs to.  O'Donnell is not good (she's too mousy, and Granger isn't dangerous enough to add intrigue to them both in the way Humphrey Bogart or Robert Mitchum might've when paired with such an actress), and the movie has maybe one too many characters to really sell this as a classic.  But see this (and you should) just for the fading glamour of Jean Hagen, playing her tragic femme fatale for every penny this script is worth.

1940's: Act of Violence, The Big Sleep, The Blue Dahlia, Blues in the Night, Born to Kill, Brighton Rock, Brute Force, Call Northside 777, Caught, Criss Cross, Crossfire, Cry Wolf, Daisy Kenyon, Dead Reckoning, Detour, Fallen Angel, The Fallen Idol, Force of Evil, Gilda, High Sierra, I Walk Alone, I Wake Up Screaming, The Killers, The Lady from Shanghai, Leave Her to Heaven, Ministry of Fear, Moonrise, Murder My Sweet, The Naked City, Nightmare Alley, Out of the Past, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Raw Deal, The Reckless Moment, Ride the Pink Horse, Scarlet Street, Secret Beyond the Door, Sorry, Wrong Number, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, Stranger on the Third Floor, They Drive By Night, They Won't Believe Me, Too Late for Tears, The Woman in the Window, The Woman on the Beach, A Woman's Secret

1950's: Ace in the Hole, Affair in Trinidad, The Asphalt Jungle, Beat the Devil, The Big Combo, The Big Heat, The Blue Gardenia, The Breaking Point, The Burglar, Cast a Dark Shadow, The Crimson Kimono, Elevator to the Gallows, Gun Crazy, The Hitch-Hiker, House of Bamboo, In a Lonely Place, Julie, The Killing, Kiss Me Deadly, Lightning Strikes Twice, Murder by Contract, Night and the City, Odds Against Tomorrow, On Dangerous Ground, Pickup on South Street, The Prowler, Slightly Scarlet, Sudden Fear, Sweet Smell of Success, They Live By Night, While the City Sleeps

Neo-Noir: Blade Runner, Body Heat, Farewell My Lovely, Fargo, From Afar, The Late Show, The Long Goodbye, Lost Highway, Night Moves, Nightcrawler, Le Samourai