There’s nothing like a story of a man who steals money so he, his wife and child can have a better life but then feels completely conflicted about it! In Anthony Mann’s Film Noir Side Street is such a film about your average American committing a crime and later regretting it! The movie was shot New York City and is known for being one of the first films that had a car chase scene. It is mild, but it was the start of bigger and better car chase movies!
In Side Street, screen legend Farley Granger (Strangers on a Train, Rope, The Prowler) is Joe Norson, a mail carrier who has decided to steal $200 from a lawyer’s office that he sees during his mail delivery. He goes back to the lawyer’s office after hours to get the $200, but he winds up accidently stealing a bag with $30,000! And to make things worse, he stole the money from a corrupt attorney named Victor Backett (Edmon Ryan, Mystery Street, The Dark Eyes of London), and he wants the money back, but he must be careful of it, so not to get arrested or wanted by the police. Joe is eventually chased and hounded by Backett and even the police as they think he murdered a man as well. Joe has certainly gotten way over his head to the point where he admits to those close to him that he stole the money! His guilt is so great that he asks Nick Drumman (Edwin Max), a bartender to hide it away for safe keeping but the money gets lost! Or does it?
The angst that Joe goes through, with his guilty conscious driving him crazy, causing him to panic is priceless! When he confesses to his wife Ellen (Cathy O’Donnell, The Best Years of Our Lives, Detective Story, Ben-Hur) about what he did, even though it’s for himself, wife and newborn so they could have a better life, things progressively get worse as now that she knows what he did, her life is threatened also, plus she had just given birth to their child!
Side Street stars Farley Granger and Cathy O’Donnell, both were paired together in They Live by Night a year earlier and once more display what strong chemistry the two actors have!
The film’s cast also includes screen veterans Paul Kelly (Fit for a King, Invisible Stripes, The Painted Hills) as New York Police Captain Walter Anderson, hot on the trail of Joe along with Charles McGraw(The Threat, The Birds, The Narrow Margin) as Detective Stanley Simon, assisting Anderson on the case and veteran character actor Whit Bissell (Lost Continent, He Walked by Night, Raw Deal) as a bank teller who refuses to help Joe!
Warner Archive presents Side Street on Blu-ray, sporting a brand new 4K scan of best preservation elements. Warner Archive has done another wonderful job restoring this movie to look as good as it ever will! The picture quality for this black and white film, in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1 looks terrific all the way through with strong details and textures throughout. The cinematography by Joseph Ruttenberg looks as good as ever showing various New York locations. Whites, black and greys look perfectly balanced. Film grain is present throughout. I did notice a few scenes appeared to be a little darker, ever so slightly murky, but nothing to ruin the viewing experience. This is without a doubt a huge upgrade over the DVD.
The English DTS- HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono soundtrack is pleasant with dialogue, action sounds, and the music by Lennie Hayton are balanced with nothing coming in as overly aggressive. No hissing, popping or drop-offs were detected. English SDH are available for this release.
Special Features for Side Street were ported over from the DVD release which includes a commentary track by Richard Schickel, and a featurette called Where Temptation Lurks.
New supplements include a Crime Does Not Pay Short, The Luckiest Guy in the World, which stars Barry Nelson, and a pair of classic cartoons, Goggle-Fishing Bear and Polka Dot Puss. The original theatrical trailer rounds out the supplemental materials.
Missing from the DVD are the commentary track by Farley Granger and Eddie Muller and “They Live by Night: The Twisted Road” featurette, so if they are of interest to you, you should still hold on to the DVD.
Side Street is a great film with a cast that hands in wonderful performances and has at long last been given a terrific Blu-ray release. It was the second feature in a Warner Home Video “Film Noir Classic Collection Double Feature” DVD release with They Live by Night, and when that feature was given a Blu-ray release, I had to hold onto the DVD because Side Street hadn’t gone “Blu” yet. Years later, the Blu-ray is now available for Side Street and it’s a dandy with excellent audio and video quality to go with some supplements, old and new! I and others can watch this classic in beautiful HD! As with all Warner Blu-rays that I have covered, this is also recommended!
Side Street
Director – Anthony Mann
Cast- Farley Granger, Cathy O’Donnell, Paul Kelly
Country of Origin-USA
Distributor – Warner Archive/ Warner Home Video
Number of Discs –1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date- 5/3/2025