Side Street Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Side Street Blu-ray Movie Review

"Fate dropped $30,000 into his lap!"

Reviewed by Randy Miller III May 7, 2025

One of the most "New York" movies of its time (and perhaps even since then), Anthony Mann's final film noir Side Street may not be an air-tight drama but nonetheless gets by on atmosphere and tension alone, easily staying afloat despite the bumbling exploits of its troubled main character. Said sad sack is Joe Norson (Farley Granger), who worked at a gas station before becoming a temporary mail carrier. Dreaming of success and a better life for his pregnant young wife Ellen (Cathy O'Donnell), Joe happens upon a bundle of cash that may get him one step closer to happiness.

It sounds like a simple plot in which Joe just gets lucky, but truth be told it's really a tipping point that sends his life into a downward spiral. The actual circumstances surrounding these above events? During his regular mail route that includes a lawyer's office, Joe overhears a conversation about $200 tucked away in a filing cabinet. Stopping by again some time later, Joe finds the door unlocked and an empty office... well, except for a cat. Deciding to nab the $200 to cover upcoming baby expenses, Joe pries the cabinet open and leaves with the envelope, fleeing the premises only to discover he actually has $30,000 in cash. Joe's instantly a wreck, paranoid and sweaty to the point of near-exhaustion, and soon enough he attempts to cover his tracks with a near-endless string of lies. His poor wife thinks Joe just got a well-paying out-of-town job from an old school buddy. Joe's parents (Harry Antrim and Esther Somers) mistake their son's strange new behavior for an illness. The bartender at Joe's regular watering hole (Edwin Max) even hides the wrapped money in a cabinet, told that it's actually a surprise present for Ellen. How low will Joe go?

Six feet deep, if he's not careful. It turns out that the missing $30,000 is tied to a sex scandal involving no less than four people: rich patsy Emil Lorrison (Paul Harvey), lovely Lucille "Lucky" Colner (Adele Jergens), accomplice Georgie Garsell (James Craig)... and the corrupt lawyer whose office Joe broke into, Victor Backett (Edmon Ryan). A high-profile scandal that eventually leads to murder? That makes Joe's bad decision even worse, as police captain Walter Anderson (Paul Kelly) and his men are immediately on the case, which means Side Street is as much a procedural as a straight-ahead film noir, one that tightens the noose around our hapless hero's neck as the consequences pile up.

Side Street arrived during a particularly strong and prolific period in director Anthony Mann's compact but dense filmography. Preceded by the likes of Raw Deal, Border Incident, The Furies, and Winchester '73, Side Street would immediately be followed by the solid Devil's Doorway and a handful of similarly great Westerns, with the above-linked run of classic films all debuting within just over a 28-month window. His film noir output, while only lasting a few short years, was packed with classic films and Side Street, while not the best of the bunch, is still an entertaining one that's only semi-burdened by its two leads: Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell, fresh off their pairing in 1948's superior They Live By Night, here play a similarly challenged young couple. Unfortunately, their shared scenes here are fairly cheesy and predictable, with his over-the-top paranoia exacerbated by her fawning, wistful line delivery.

Luckily, Mann's directorial expertise and terrific cinematography by Joseph Ruttenberg (Gaslight, The Philadelphia Story) keep things moving and interesting, bolstered by a steady stream of tension and some rather enjoyable twists and turns along the way, even if the first act is admittedly a little mushy. The fact remains that Side Street still stands tall as a decently efficient showcase that entertains almost 80 years after its theatrical debut, where it likely wowed audiences with extensive on-location New York footage and its bracing third act that culminates in a thrilling car chase. In the end, it's not a perfect picture but Side Street is a very good one in spite of its few flaws, and it plays as well as ever on Warner Archive's new Blu-ray led by another great presentation that die-hard fans will enjoy.

Side Street Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

This new 1080p transfer of Side Street was sourced from a new 4K scan of "best available preservation elements"... which in the case of MGM titles from this era, usually indicates a safety preservation made about a decade before the 1978 George Eastman House fire claimed an untold amount of nitrate camera negatives. This isn't the first time WAC has handled such elements and, save for a bit of inherent softness, it could easily be mistaken for the original camera negative as Side Street's excellent on-location footage exhibits a strong amount of fine detail and textural clarity. This is aided by the boutique label's commitment to a purist-friendly picture, one that's loaded with organic film grain and features excellent shadow detail and contrast that's not hindered by artificial boosting or processing. Disc encoding is solid too, exhibiting no real signs of posterization, macro blocking, or similar artifacts. I've said it before, but this is a best-case scenario for videophiles as it truly pushes format boundaries in more ways than one.

Side Street Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD 2.0 follows suit with a clean and well-rendered split two-channel presentation of the original mono source. Dialogue and front-field effects are balanced very well, there's a bit of width in the crowded urban environments, and the constantly changing scenery ensures as much sonic variety as we get with the visuals. The original score by Lennie Hayton adds a lot as well, bringing plenty of mood and suspense at unexpected moments but rarely calling all that much attention to itself. No obvious age-related damage or sync issues were detected along the way, aside from negligible amounts of hiss likely left in to avoid compromising the film's dynamic range.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only, not the extras listed below.

Side Street Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed cover art and an assortment of great extras.

• Audio Commentary - A casual but informative and entertaining DVD-era track featuring celebrated film historian Richard Schickel, who does a good job analyzing the film's themes, characters, and cinematography while going into detail about the lives and careers of various cast and crew members. Please note that this audio commentary plays over an unrestored standard-definition version of Side Street, as it was originally recorded "hard baked" into the older DVD master rather than as a stand-alone audio file.

• Where Temptation Lurks (5:49) - This short but enjoyable DVD-era retrospective features comments from AFI editor Patricia King Hanson, director Christopher Coppola, Richard Schickel, and director Oliver Stone.

• The Luckiest Guy in the World (21:09) - Thematically tied to Side Street in a loose manner and presented more as era-specific pre-show entertainment, this 1947 short film is part of the Crime Does Not Pay series and concerns an insurance salesman who commits fraud to fund his gambling habit.

• Classic Cartoons - Two nicely-restored animated shorts from the MGM vault.

• Polka-Dot Puss (7:45) - This classic 1949 Tom and Jerry short finds Tom on the wrong side of Mammy's wrath, so he takes advantage of the recent measles outbreak to fool her into staying. Topical!
• Goggle-Fishing Bear (7:21) - Barney Bear stars in this fun short where he goes snorkeling to find fish, but an angry shark and lobster -- among other threats -- stand in his way.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:25) - This classic promotional piece can also be seen here.

Side Street Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Anthony Mann's Side Street has a few speed bumps and is a little derivative along the way, yet it still entertains thanks to foreboding suspense and strong momentum in the second half. As it stands, it's a solid cap to the director's short but impressive run of films noir, and what's more is that it still plays very well on the small screen some 80 years later. This is largely due to the ace restorative efforts of Warner Archive, who once again serve up a Blu-ray with top-tier A/V merits and a solid collection of legacy and era-specific extras from the vault. Firmly Recommended.