Too much of everything

To me, this movie is perfection.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

All aboard for cheesy sets and a lot of unconvincing talk, talk, talk with the usual stock characters and stock situations.James Whitmore, badly miscast, is a dead weight. Cassavetes is all sub-Brando method acting, but Sal Mineo is bit more with-it than usual.Nonetheless, the only really impressive performance is offered by Mark Rydell. On the negative side, production values are extremely crummy. Don Siegel, Sam Leavit, amd Franz Waxman should hang their heads in shame for respectively contributing such uninspired direction, plodding photography, and a pedestrian music score.And as for art director Serge Kriznan, he should be drummed out of town. Or maybe the shabby sets were entirely the fault of penny-pinching producer Vincent M. Fennelly?

We've always had juvenile delinquents, but post-war, teenagers in and making trouble became great fodder for Hollywood. There were a rash of films about angry, mean teens: Rebel without a Cause, Blackboard Jungle, So Young, So Bad, High School Confidential, Blue Denim, etc., etc. Was it because kids' fathers didn't return from the war and their mothers had to work? Poverty? I'm not a sociologist, so I can't say. But JD became a big topic.This film, "Crime in the Streets," from 1956, is a low-budget, black and white movie about a bunch of mean kids in a bad neighborhood. The film's titular star was James Whitmore as a social worker running a community center. But "Crime in the Streets" "introduced" a mainly TV actor, John Cassavetes. He had had bit parts in a couple of films; this was his first main role. Don't ask me how he did it, but from 1956 until a Columbo episode in 1974, he didn't change a bit. The film also features Sal Mineo, future director Mark Rydell, Virginia Gregg, and Denise Alexander, who has appeared on General Hospital on and off for the past 38 years. Here's she's a teenager.The story focuses in on one family, the Danes, which includes Frankie (Cassavetes), his little brother Richie, and their mom (Gregg). Frankie is out of control, hanging out in the neighborhood with his buddies until all hours, refusing to get a job, and totally alienated from his mother. He's incredibly angry and at one point, he plans to kill a neighbor he hates and tries to get his friends to come along with him.This is pretty dreary stuff that looks like an old TV show, done on a sound stage. The acting is good, but neither Whitmore nor Cassavetes has that much to do to display their talent.Very ordinary, and not inspired. Directed by Don Siegel, who was capable of more.

This is best viewed as a filmed Stage Play because that is basically what it is. There is very little Movie pretensions and is delivered as an Actor's vehicle. It is a talky treatise on Juvenile Delinquency that starts out with a Rumble but then (un)settles in for a peek behind the cement curtain of dingy apartments and dirty streets, one Parent Families and smelly surroundings. A strong cast and Direction with an ambiance that is stifling and unsanitary (in the Kitchen, the 10 year old little Brother says..."I caught a roach, you want to see"). That is basically what we are witnessing. Human roaches scurrying around in this filth trying to survive. Sometimes it is so gritty that audiences may feel uncomfortable watching. The dialog has verisimilitude and the Film feels authentic beneath the facade, but as Movie Entertainment it could have opened up a bit, but the limited budget and Studio bound sets were not accommodating. Overall it is worth seeing as an artifact of the time, an era that was starting to pay some attention, if not enough, to the plight of underprivileged Youth in underdeveloped neighborhoods, and understaffed and overworked broken "homes".

"Crime In the Streets" tells the story of growing up in the slums, and what some young people will do to get out, or just to have a few kicks to help them forget their dead-end lives. This film's non-existent budget actually helps to add to the realism, with sets that are bleak and cheap-looking. Back alleys never looked so lurid and dangerous as they do in this sadly forgotten film. "Crime In the Streets" features some wonderful performances, especially Sal Mineo, who doesn't have enough scenes, but when he is on camera, the magic is there. Anyone who is familiar with Mineo's work knows what I'm talking about. The scene between Sal and his father is unforgettable. The actress who plays Frankie Dane's mother also gives an amazing, dramatic performance as the over-worked waitress, abandoned with two sons, all living in a dismal tenement apartment. John Cassevetes is waaaaay too old to play the 18 year old delinquent, though his performance is fine. It is depressing to witness how badly people treat each other in this film, and it is particularly disturbing to see Frankie abuse his little brother. He really treats this child savagely, hitting him, threatening him, and holding knives to his throat. I also should mention the fantastic jazz score featured, that compliments the dark, shadowy images and the taught drama unfolding on the screen. "Crime In the Streets" is almost impossible to find as there has never been an official video or DVD release. My copy is a bootleg DVD, and the quality is good enough. This and other early Sal Mineo films deserve to be re-discovered, but I don't imagine this one being re-issued any time soon. This is probably one of the best in the 50's 'JD' category.