Watch The Street with No Name For Free

That was an excellent one.

There are women in the film, but none has anything you could call a personality.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Film Noir, which has become an almost religious term, allegorically harbored fearful and reactionary attitudes towards women's liberation, radical politics, and the public sphere in general. It implied that post- war American society was morally bankrupt and that the subjects of such a society were doomed to a collective punishment for their lawlessness, for being "led astray" from the traditional "morality" of the patriarchal order. It is thus a fatalistic and thus metaphysical world view. The crime film genre, of which this film is a fine example, those films dealing with the process of the pursuit and capture of criminals by law enforcement, was ironically more progressive and materialistic. Crime was not so much demonized as presented as a byproduct of capitalism, one that law enforcement had to contain. The process of such containment is not romanticized- it is grimy and often boring. But the system works well enough to reproduce itself. "

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.

Man, where do they dig up these golden moldies? A 1948 pre-television era programmer, STREET is the story of the FBI infiltrating a gang of robbers who have graduated to murder. It is told In semi-documentary fashion and uses a voice-over, which today makes it look absolutely hilarious, as if we were watching one of those 1950s duck-and-cover Cold War shorts. But when this baby finally gets going, it really gets going thanks to Richard Widmark as the incredibly nasty and nefarious head of the gang. Mark Stevens, an Alan Ladd lookalike without the acting talent, plays the FBI agent who infiltrates the gang. There are some very silly shots of Stevens running here and there, while being tailed by the bad guys the whole time, as he makes contact with his boss (who else but Lloyd Nolan) and other FBI agents. Widmark, who is superb as the chief bad guy, has put together a gang that acts like the East Side Kids in suits and ties. They're about as menacing and scary as -- well, they're not menacing or scary at all. Some decent location photography for the time. An historic curiosity.

Street with No Name, The (1948) *** (out of 4) A couple gangland killings prompt the FBI to sent agent Gene Cordell (Mark Stevens) into a mob being ran by the hot-tempered Alec Stiles (Richard Widmark). The two strike up a good working relationship but soon informants tip off Stiles and Cordell must try and find a way out before getting killed. This crime/thriller has a lot in common with THE HOUSE ON 92ND STREET, although a lot of issues in that film are corrected here. Thankfully all the introductions and most of the narration is cut out in this film as the screenwriters obviously thought viewers would be smart enough to follow the story without having to have someone tell us what's going on every few minutes. By not having the narration we're greeting with some fine performances as both Stevens and Widmark really nail their characters. Stevens comes off very good as the undercover agent as he perfectly fits the role and comes across smart enough to be able to do everything we see here. It should come as no shock that Widmark steals the film as the snake gangster. There's a scene where he beats up his girlfriend that is so perfectly shot and acted that it really does seem like Widmark is getting a kick out of doing it. He has that certain toughness and coolness that makes his character very cold and he does all of this without a single problem. Ed Begley has a supporting role and does great work with it and we get strong performances by Lloyd Nolan, Donald Buka and Barbara Lawrence. This film has been labeled a "film-noir" but I really didn't see it as this has a lot more in common with the gangster films being released by Warner a decade earlier rather than any of the mysteries or dramas coming from various other studios around this time. The use of shadows will certainly remind folks of noir but that's pretty much it. As a crime film, this here works extremely well because we've got a hero we can care for and a villain that we love to hate. The actual story being told certainly isn't anything too original but it's entertaining enough to work and keep the viewer captivated from start to finish. Keighley's direction is top-notch throughout and he has no problem building up a nice atmosphere that hangs thickly over the film. Fans of Scorsese will also notice a few touches in both GOODFELLAS and THE DEPARTED.