The Naked Street Reviews

This solid, fast-paced crime tale stars Quinn as a brutal and powerful gangster who is shocked to learn that his sister, Bancroft, is pregnant by a small-time hood about to be executed. Not wanting his sister to wind up an unwed mother, Quinn pulls every trick in the book to get the father of the baby, Granger, out of the electric chair. The scheme works and Granger soon finds himself married to Bancroft, which does not please him. When the baby is stillborn, Quinn flies into a rage and persecutes Granger. Granger reacts by diving once again into a life of crime, cheating on Bancroft all the while. Outraged, Quinn frames Granger on a murder rap, sending the kid back to the chair. Before he is executed, Granger spills the beans to Graves, a local reporter and former childhood sweetheart of Bancroft. Graves turns the heat on Quinn in the press and soon the pressure from the district attorney causes one of the mob boss's hoods to crack. Armed with enough evidence to put Quinn away, the police move in on the crime boss. Quinn attempts to escape in a chase across the rooftops, but he slips and falls to his death. Rid of all the unsavory elements in her life, Bancroft rekindles her romance with Graves. While the script for THE NAKED STREET isn't particularly original or clever, the film makes the most of its fine cast. Quinn brings a varied set of emotions to his brutish character, which even allows this cruel mobster to look forward to the day he will become an uncle. It's Bancroft, however, who steals the film as the forever-manipulated sister who is allowed no choices of her own.