Down on his luck postman Joe Norson (Farley Granger) makes a grave error when he steals what he believes is a package with $200 in it from a lawyer's office. Instead he discovers $30,000 inside and believes he can finally give his pregnant wife the life she deserves. He thinks he hides the money in a safe place, but it soon disappears just as the goons who run an extortion racket that it belongs to appear. Caught this Anthony Mann directed flick when it appeared on TCM. I enjoyed it, but with some reservations regarding some dumb moves screenwriter Sydney Boehm makes the leading man do. One, he has Joe hand $30,000 disguised as a present for his wife to a bartender to hold for safe keeping. Naturally, the guy peeps and splits with the money. Two, at one point Joe goes to the bad guys to ask about returning the money, even though they had no idea he was the one who stole it. So he identifies himself straight up to them, even giving them his address. He is D-U-M-B! That said it moves at a great clip and the end has a car chase through the deserted streets of New York is really a gorgeous sight to behold. It is also cool to see a very young Granger in one of his earliest leading roles.
Review of Side Street
