Crime in the Streets

1956

1h 31m

IMDb RATING

6.0/10

YOUR RATING

Rate

POPULARITY

Play trailer

1 Video

9 Images

Crime

Drama

Thriller

A social worker tries to end juvenile crime by getting involved with a street gang.

Directors

Don Siegel

Writers

Reginald Rose(screenplay by)

Reginald Rose(story by)

Stars

James Whitmore

Sal Mineo

John Cassavetes

See production, box office & company info

Videos1

Trailer
Watch Sal Mineo - Crime in the Streets

Top cast

Ben Wagner

Angelo 'Baby' Gioia

Frankie Dane

Lou Macklin

Mrs. Dane

Richie Dane (as Peter Votrian)

Mr. Gioia

Mr. McAllister

Maria Gioia

Blockbuster

Glasses

Herky

The Fighter

Directors

Don Siegel

Writers

Reginald Rose(screenplay by)

Reginald Rose(story by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Sucking around is my job. Crime in the Streets is directed by Don Siegel and written by Reginald Rose. It stars John Cassavetes, James Whitmore, Sal Mineo, Mark Rydell, Virginia Gregg, Peter J. Votrian, Will Kuluva and Malcolm Atterbury. Music is scored by Franz Waxman and cinematography by Sam Leavitt. Social worker Ben Wagner (Whitmore) tries to help local slum gang, The Hornets, especially their troubled leader Frankie Dane (Cassavetes). When your body hits that sidewalk nobody will even turn around to look at yah. Decent "juve delinquent" lecture movie, Crime in the Streets boasts some mightily impressive performances and closes on a (expected) piece of dramatic worth, but the screenplay is staid and pic is claustrophobic for all the wrong reasons. There's a cramped cheapness to the production that doesn't suit the narrative and you can feel Siegel straining with every sinew to light a tinderbox with a damp match. However, Cassavetes' intense firecracker performance is worth the time of any classic era film fan, and with Whitmore doing good and controlled earnest and Gregg (sadly underused) tugging away at the maternal heart strings, it still comes out in credit. There's a bonus, too, in the form of Waxman's blending of stabby jazz shards with momentum building percussion, it's quality, even if ultimately it deserves a better movie. 6/10

John Chard29 Mar, 2020