User Reviews

The script is by Reginald Rose who went on to write the original "Twelve Angry Men", a superb piece of formulaic writing, directed by Sidney Lumet, centering on the members of the jury in a murder case. Don Siegel directed "Crime in the Streets". He was to become a master of brutal crime thrillers. John Cassavetes is the lead and James Whitmore and Sal Mineo are in support. The score is by Hollywood pro Franz Waxman. Even Sam Pekinpah gets a screen credit, though under an altered name.

Yet everything about this story of a gang of 1950s delinquents seems mediocre -- dated, talky, preachy, and overdone.

The director of Rose's "Twelve Angry Men" set the story in a closed jury room and never tried opening it up. The sense of heat and claustrophobia increased with time -- possibly because the director, Lumet, actually had the walls moved closer together, making the room literally smaller. Here we are only too painfully aware that we're looking at a studio set that's maybe thirty yards long. There's nothing wrong with that in itself, as Lumet's film showed, not to mention "A Streetcar Named Desire." But in those instances the sense of uncomfortable closeness, of sweaty crowding, was thematically related to the story. Claustrophobia is about the last thing we think of when we imagine the streets of a city, even in the more decrepit neighborhoods.

And in "Twelve Angry Men," Rose laid out a taut story line. A kid's life was put at risk in the opening scene. The conversations that followed were ABOUT something, and even when they were about nothing more important than the weather they managed to capture the interactional styles of ordinary working-class people as well as a feeling for place -- New York City on a hot summer day.

There's no such feeling for location here. No reference to places or streets, no regional dialects. It could be taking place anywhere and it feels a little barren because of that. Actually a couple of important characters were from New York but you'd never know it. Pekinpah is credited as "dialog coach," but what Pekinpah, a native of California's central valley, would know about dialects is left to our imagination.

There are a couple of good performances. James Whitmore is always reliable, and John Cassavetes gets to bring his method intensity to the part of a half-crazed delinquent. Virginia Gregg, as Cassavetes' mother, is fine, but then hers is a well-written role. Sal Mineo has a genuine following. I realize that. But his charm almost completely eludes me. I hate to say it but he always reminded me of a thin, pitiful, blubbering child. Nothing in any of his performances ever really shook that impression.

The topic is terribly dated too. Almost all sociology departments used to offer classes in juvenile delinquency but the topic has disappeared from the curriculum. I don't know why. Of course, the fact that a subject is time-bound doesn't necessarily mean it has to be poorly done or that it's irrelevant. I mean, "Moby Dick" is about whaling.

Anyway, the film isn't terrible. I just found it uninteresting.

CRIME IN THE STREETS is so obviously a message picture that's it's almost painfully didactic in spots, a less-than-classic "Juvenile Delinquent" opus. The worst element is the social worker (James Whitmore_ who tries so desperately to change a clearly deeply disturbed, would-be psychopath Frankie (Cassavetes) with useless talk. It's that talk that nearly kills the movie. Very little happens for long stretches while characters discuss and argue at length. To his credit, Whitmore pulls off his thankless role as well as anyone probably could. Cassavetes has his moments too, but his method style is often distracting and he's clearly too old for the typical 1950s "Juvenile Delinquent" part, despite his boyish looks and short stature. Mark Rydell plays a coded gay part, relayed through stereotyped sweeping gestures, cigarette in hand. He's excited by Frankie's violent talk and volatile personality. The forgotten Virginia Gregg hurls herself into the role of Frankie's downtrodden mother. Immersed in misery and hopelessness, she's inert, and blind to the cause her son's real problem. It's not hard to guess what Frankie's problem is about, many years and many psycho-social films after this film was made. As Frankie's long-suffering little brother, Peter J. Votrian never hits a false note and he successfully carries a couple the film's emotive climaxes. This really is an actor's movie, and two other actors bring to life the film's strongest emotional scene. Will Kuluva, another forgotten talent from the period, gives genuine paternal feeling to his part. But it's Sal Mineo as Kuluva's son, "Baby" who gives the film's truest and most realized performance. Mineo was a real, instinctive, highly gifted actor. In spite of similarities to some of his other roles in this period, he puts a distinctive mark on "Baby" and the viewer is not likely to forget him. If only this film had more energy, more action perhaps, and less talk, it may have had greater impact.

The sociology of all sociological films is this 1956 excellent view of urban life, filled with social problems and the rise of gangs and ensuing violence. It's an absolutely wonderful film.

John Cassavetes, as Frankie, the boy craving attention, is just fabulous here and Sal Mineo, always good, especially when he is a follower and conflicted, is hesitant in going along with Frankie's plans to rub out an elderly man who blew the whistle on their friend. Peter Votrian, who plays their accomplice, is terrific. He is absolutely demented and actually enjoys what the trio plan to do.

James Whitmore is the social worker here who knows that Frankie and the guys are up to no good.

There is a wonderful performance by Virginia Gregg as Frankie's exhausted, over-worked waitress mother, who knows that she can't control him but pleads with him. You'd remember Ms. Gregg the year before as the nurse in "Ill Cry Tomorrow." She gave Susan Hayward her first drink in the film. Ditto for the gentleman who played the Italian father of Mineo.

The film, though extremely liberally slanted, provides an excellent view of urban decay and the rise of juvenile delinquency as a result. The ending in itself is ****.

A wonderful picture.

This movie is one of a very popular genre in the 1950s--the angry and disaffected teen film. Some of them (such as "Rebel Without a Cause" and "The Blackboard Jungle") were very good. Some were downright awful (they made a bazillion B-films using this theme such as "Beatniks" and "Teenage Crime Wave"). Many, like "Crime in the Streets", fall in between. And, like most of these films, the 'teens' in this film are mostly actors in their twenties and even thirties, though a few (Sal Mineo) were actually teens.

John Cassavetes plays the nominal leader of a gang of incredibly clean-cut looking punks. They begin the film with a rumble with a rival gang and terrorize the neighborhood. One of the neighbors (the familiar-faced Malcolm Atterbury) calls the police when he sees them in action, as Cassavetes takes it very personally--and plans on getting revenge. In the meantime, an incredibly earnest social worker (James Whitmore) comes on VERY strong and tries to point the guys in the right direction before it's too late. Will niceness or evil prevail?

The biggest problem I had with this film wasn't the fault of any of the people who made this film. It was released as part of a DVD collection of film noir movies--and this is clearly NOT film noir. While there are a few qualities similar to noir, a teenage delinquent film with a crusading social worker sounds nothing like noir! Another problem, though minor, is that the film has been done too many times before and the writing is a bit too pat. It comes off as a bit fake as a result. BUT, the film still has something to offer--John Cassavetes strong performance. While never as famous as James Dean, Dennis Hopper or other actors who specialized in these sort of roles, I think he was better here than these more well-known actors. He IS the film and helps to make up for the writing deficiencies (particularly Whitmore's character who just comes on a bit too strong at times--though he did have some good scenes--especially towards the end). There are a few other nice performances in the film as well (such as Will Kuluva, Mark Rydell, Virginia Gregg and Atterbury)--and this help the film to rise above the mediocrity of most delinquent teen films. Not great but worth seeing simply for the acting.

From the moment you see street thugs (John Cassavettes, Mark Rydell and Sal Mineo to mention a few), you can feel the anger pouring from the streets and onto the screen. They all have different issues, but it all boils down to the same thing-they hate everything about their lives, their families and their community. Cassavettes, who was a bit older than the late teen's he's supposed to be (he was 26), is the angriest of them all, although there are a few others who seem to be gleefully happy to cause the tension they do. When Cassavettes and his gang are caught in a fight with their rivals, a fed-up neighbor (Malcolm Atterbury) goes to the police, which results in the arrest of one of their pals. Later, the man slaps Cassavettes, and that causes him to begin to plot the man's murder. James Whitmore, as the local social worker determined to help the boys as much as he can, is like a substitute father figure, and even though they won't admit it, the young men respect him. When it comes apparent that Cassavettes is planning revenge, it's up to Whitmore to step in before it's too late.

These kids aren't living the middle class life of the rebels without a cause of that 1955 James Dean/Sal Mineo/Natalie Wood classic. They are poor, fairly uneducated, and with little or no hope of making it out of their situations. Cassavettes' mother (Virginia Gregg) is a tired waitress who neglected him after giving birth to his much younger half-brother (a wonderful Peter J. Votrian) who hasn't been corrupted yet but is scared of his dangerous sibling whom he adores. Mineo is the baby-faced youngest member of the gang who is desperate for acceptance. One key scene has Mineo in a confrontation with his worried father (Will Kuluva) who actually acts more like an overprotective mother in his display of love for his son. Soap vet Denise Alexander plays Mineo's sister who is tired of the violence and also tries to get through to Cassavettes.

This film gives a really mean looking portrayal of the life of these kids. Just a year after "Rebel Without a Cause" and "The Blackboard Jungle", teen gang films were catching on, but few of them really were anything more than exploitation films. This is not one of those, but a serious look at a problem that still exists today. Cassavettes and Whitmore give the most intense performances. My only real issue with the film was the sterilized ending which doesn't really complete the story, but takes it into a new direction the audience doesn't get to see.

I saw this movie when it first came out in the theater at the Midway Theater on Queens Blvd in Forest Hills. My Father and I sat in the Theater and watched if from beginning to end. At the time I was fighting with my younger brother all the time and it was really bad.

When the actor Peter Votrian playing Ritchie Dane broke down crying telling Frankie John Cassavetes that he loved him, my Father broke down crying in the movies. I never saw my Father cry and he hated to see my brother and me fight all the time.

That moment in the movie changed everything for us and it was poignant and moving and for that I shall always remember this movie fondly.

**SPOILERS** After having a nighttime rumble by the docks with rival street gang the Dukes the butt kicking Hornets put them to flight and capture one of their gang members who they signal out for special treatment. Eariler in the week Hornet member Lenny the "Lip" was worked over by the Duke's when he entered their turf and got his nose broken for doing it. Now Lenny and his boys were going to do the same thing to the captured Duke street gang member.

It was too bad for Lenny that concerned citizen Mr. Mcallister caught him in the act of pulling a zip-gun and reported Lenny to the police. With Lenny under arrest and facing at least a year behind bars for the violation of the NY State Sullivan Law, carrying a gun without a permit, the Hornets gang leader Frankie "Touchy" Dane is as mad as a hornet at Mr. Mcallister and plans to off him when the opportunity presents itself to him. Together with his two fellow gang members Angelo "Baby" Gioia and Lou "Crazy Louie" Macklin Frankie plans to do in Mr. Mcallister the very next evening when he comes home from his weekly bowling game. The trouble with Frankie's crackpot plan is that he has a habit of opening his big mouth in public and by doing that lets the cat out of the bag in what he together with Baby Angelo and Crazy Louie are planning to do! And this comes to the attention of neighborhood social worker Ben Wagner through Frankie's kid brother Richie who overheard his plan and wants to keep him from carrying it out. As well as, if he succeeds, prevent his big brother Frankie from ending up being strapped into Sing Sing's electric chair!

Following the success of troubled teenage movies like "The Blackboard Jungle" and "Rebel Without a Cause" the previous year it was a given that they'll be followed with a film like "Crime in the Streets" that actually preceded, on TV, both of them. Even though he was a bit old, at age 27, to play an 18 year old John Cassavetes was very convincing as the misguided and troubled Frankie Dane. A person who hated being touched, even by his mother, but loved to touch, with brass knuckles tire irons and switchblades, those who get in his way. There's also the sensitive and confused Angelo Baby Giola played by 16 year old Sal Mineo. Baby is torn between his pop who owns the neighborhood malt shop & candy store, in him wanting Baby to make something of himself, and his membership in Frankie's gang the Hornets which is a one way ticket to the state penitentiary. Trying to please both his dad and Frankie cause Baby to suffer from deep guilt problems. But when it comes to do in Mr. Macllister the poor kid reaches his breaking point!

***SPOILERS*** As for Crazy Louie, played by Mark Rydell, he's by far the craziest of the bunch in having no morals at all in murdering someone which even the not so stable Frankie, who planned Mr. Macllister's murder, later has second thought about! The real heroes in the movie is Frankie's kid brother Richie, Peter J. Votrian, and social worker Ben Wagner, James Whitmore, who in the end put Frankie straight in seeing that his hatred for the world at large, in putting him in the mess that he finds himself in, was more of his own making and one one else's! And it was Frankie and Frankie alone who by becoming a normal and sensitive person in him being able to feel the pain of others, instead of inflicting pain on them, that will help him overcome his very severe and dangerous inferiority complex!