Special Features:
Commentary by film historians James Ursini and Alain Silver   �  Theatrical Trailers

The first 15 minutes of The Street With No Name are about as straight forward and blah as any police procedural film you will ever see. It is shot with no style and almost plays like an FBI recruiting film. Luckily once our undercover agent (Mark Stevens) gets his assignment the film really kicks in. We know almost from the beginning who the killer is, but the film takes us behind the scenes to show us how the FBI would catch him and get enough evidence to hold him. Richard Widmark plays one of his classic villains as the leader of the gang. What I really like about the movie is the villains are not played as idiots. Stiles is smart and well organized and obviously has come up with some of his tactics from his military training/service. This is director William Keighley's only film noir but with the help of veteran cinematographer Joe MacDonald (Call Northside 777, Pickup On South Street, etc.) this film drips with shadow play and classic film noir visuals and storytelling. Definitely worth a rental.

(February 2007)