Purely Joyful Movie!

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

One of those docudramas from the 1940s that wraps a fictional film and stentorian narration around the real-life workings of a government office, in this case the FBI.Mark Stevens plays an agent who poses as a hood in order to infiltrate a crime gang suspected of a couple of murders. Richard Widmark is head of the gang and, to no one's surprise, steals the movie. It's pretty standard stuff with nothing to necessarily elevate it above the fray, but it kept me pretty engaged for its running time and has a satisfyingly suspenseful climax.Grade: B+

"The Street With No Name" is another of 20th Century Fox's documentary/noire style dramas popular in the late 40s. The film uses actual FBI employees in the FBI headquarters sequences.The scene is set in "Center City" where a recent crime wave has broken out resulting in two killings. Because crimes have involved federal banks, the FBI is called in. Inspector George Briggs (Lloyd Nolan in a role he played in "The House on 92nd Street) is assigned to the case. Working with Police Chief Bernard Harmotz (Ed Begley) and Commissioner Ralph Demory (Howard Smith), they decide to plant FBI agent Gene Cordell (Mark Stevens) within the gang. Cordell assumes the identity of George Manly who with main contact Cy Gordon (John McIntire), set up shop in the skid row district of the city.Manly soon comes into contact with gang leader Alec Stiles (Richard Widmark) who controls the crime operation. After being set up as the fall guy in a heist, Manly becomes a gang member participating in the gang's plans. Stiles tells Shivvy (Donald Burka) and Matty (Joseph Pevney) to keep an eye on Manly. The gang is planning a major heist but it is halted when an inside source informs Stiles that there is an undercover cop within the organization.Stiles bides his time and knowing that Manly is the "rat" makes his move and..............................................Although Mark Stevens was a capable leading man, it is Richard Widmark who steals the film. His cold calculating Stiles reminiscent of his "Tommy Udo" portrayal in "Kiss of Death" (1947), is terrifying. He even gets to slap his wife Judy (Barbara Lawrence) around in a fit of rage. Lloyd Nolan was everybody's favorite cop in the forties. He had starred in the Michael Shayne detective series earlier in the decade.If I have a criticism, I felt that the identity of the police insider was revealed far too early. I would have kept the audience guessing a little longer.

"THE STREET WHERE CRIME FLOURISHES IS THE STREET THAT EXTENDS RIGHT ACROSS America. IT IS THE STREET WITH NO NAME............"J.Edgar Hoover.From the vaults of 20th. Century Fox comes this excellent crime thriller THE STREET WITH NO NAME. Produced for the studio in 1948 by Samuel G.Engel it was directed with great care to detail and atmosphere by William Keighley. Crisply photographed by master cinematographer Joe MacDonald, it was beautifully written for the screen by Harry Kleiner and was filmed by Fox in their customary forties semi-documentary style that they had started producing with great success in 1945 with "The House On 92nd Street".Richard Widmark is Alec Stiles. The vicious over dressed leader of a gang of hoodlums who are terrorizing the city with their well planned robberies and killings. Determined to outwit and bring them down the FBI, under Inspector Briggs (Lloyd Nolan), trains an undercover agent Gene Cordell (Mark Stevens) to infiltrate the gang to find out just how and from who they are getting their information prior to every job they undertake. After gaining Stiles' confidence and becoming a trusted gang member Cordell's life is put in grave danger when the mysterious informer he seeks exposes him to Stiles. The picture ends with an exciting and action filled finale in a well staged shootout between the gang and FBI agents.The acting is good throughout. Mark Stevens heads a nicely chosen cast as the undercover agent. Stevens, an actor who had some degree of success was a mildly appealing leading man in the forties and fifties. After many bit parts billed under his real name of Stephen Richards ("Objective Burma"/"Pride Of The Marines") he changed his name and with the exception of "Cry Vengeance" (1954) and "Timetable" (1956) - which he also directed - appeared in his fair share of indifferent movies. THE STREET WITH NO NAME was one of his better and more memorable efforts. Mark Stevens died in 1977. Also good to watch is Lloyd Nolan. Here repeating his role as the FBI's Inspector Briggs from "House On 92nd Street" and there's a nice contribution too from John McIntire as Steven's fellow undercover agent. But there is no doubt the picture belongs to Richard Widmark. This was the actor's second movie after his blistering nominated debut performance the previous year in "Kiss Of Death" Here as Stiles he is just as mean but without the Tommy Udo snigger. Two years later Widmark would give what is arguably his greatest performance when he played the racist young thug in "No Way Out" (1950).As was usual with Fox during this period for this type of picture there is no music score except for a robust march theme heard over the opening and closing credits. Nevertheless THE STREET WITH NO NAME remains a memorable noir and a classic crime thriller.In 1955 Fox remade the picture as "House Of Bamboo". This was a most unfortunate decision. Its noir antecedents were utterly lost in the totally unsuitable Cinemascope/colour presentation. Moreover, its daft and questionable decision to relocate the entire story to a Tokyo setting makes one wonder what sort of brainstorm Fox's head of production was going through at the time and did he even see the original. Hmmm!

The Street with No Name (1948)Lloyd Nolan appears as George Briggs, FBI agent (exactly as he did in Henry Hathaway's 1945 House on 92nd Street), and again, we see the FBI steadfastly solve a crime. This time it isn't that largest of themes, the atom bomb, but a more routine and gripping one, robbery and murder. Short parts of the film are basic FBI training dramatizations (well done, but a little undramatic), and there is sometimes the inevitable omniscient narrator, a little heavyhanded, but the rest of the film cooks along really well. Watch for some great noir scenes, including an edgy shootout in a factory.Most interesting is the presence of Richard Widmark (in his second film after after Hathaway's Kiss of Death). He is an interesting addition to any movie, from snarling bad guy in Kiss to navy officer in The Bedford Incident. The plot moves at a good clip, and the mayhem compounds as the FBI gradually builds leads (and uses its huge resources), and then the straight drama gets going, and the movie takes off. There are some great night shots, and once the lead agents get out on their own in the layered jazz of the city, it gets edgy and pretty exciting. It never becomes something completely self-sustaining and special, however, due to the need to explain the FBI's tireless and all too flawless efforts.Director William Keighley had an uneven career, but some high points including the legendary Robin Hood of 1938. Street with No Name pulls together a lot of great scenes, from sleazy hotel rooms to a boxing gym. I enjoyed this a lot more than the seemingly similar (in budget and intent) House on 92nd Street (also 20th Century Fox). You'll notice that there is a lot of trading and overlap of talent in these Fox films, and these are basically B- movies that have the hook of actual FBI promotion built in. Efficient stuff, made for a quick appearance and some short term money (the directors knew these were not classics). Because we know the FBI will steadfastly succeed, a certain suspense is removed. But maybe that's comparing it to classics like Fox's Kiss of Death, which isn't fair. The Street with No Name is sometimes dazzling, and definitely a qualified pleasure.