Freaktana A Major Disappointment

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

HotToastyRag If you've never seen an Anthony Quinn movie, The Naked Street is the perfect one to start with. He's handsome, angry, warm, loyal, frightening, and passionate. He plays the powerful gangster brother to Anne Bancroft, and when she gets herself in the family way, he takes matters into his own hands. . .My mother and I aren't the only people in the world who thought Anthony Quinn should have played the title character in The Godfather; later in his career he continually played Italian mob bosses, as if to make it up to his fans who were disappointed in Marlon Brando's ridiculous performance. The Naked Street is what started it all. Tony is so perfectly Italian, it's hard to believe he actually wasn't! To my fellow Italians out there, what would you do if your younger sister got herself in trouble by a no-good criminal? Plan to bust him out of jail, of course! The real punishment would be to force him to marry her-and what Catholic wouldn't want a legitimate baby from his sister?The Naked Street is intense and gritty, for the time it was made. Film noir fans will find a gem in this largely forgotten film. Anthony Quinn gives a great performance and sufficiently scares the pants off of Farley Granger, as well as the audience! A young Anne Bancroft balances out her need for rescue with the rebellious streak that got her into the mess in the first place. For a great noir weekend, rent The Naked Street and Pickup on South Street.

filmalamosa Moralizing 50s gritty crime movie. I like the pure noir versions better.Anthony Quinn is a big time gangster he protects and adores his family. His sister gets knocked up by a good looking hood who is on death row. Quinn gets him off on condition he marry his sister and walk the straight and narrow; but Nikki (the hood) doesn't do the straight life well and starts to stray and abuse his wife.Quinn gets rid of him by framing him for murder and gets him the death sentence. But enter a newsreporter who has a thing for the sister and the police get a crack that allow them to go after Quinn.It is OK, I don't like the socially relevant stuff (Quinn's college were the rough streets of Brooklyn) it was the beginning of the PC stuff we are deluged with today.I gave it a 4 for that reason other wise it would have gotten a 6.

zetes A rather silly, though not exactly unentertaining, noir. Anthony Quinn stars as a big-time gangster who discovers his sister (Anne Bancroft) is pregnant. The catch? The guy who did it (Farley Granger) is now on death row. Quinn won't let his sister's kid be born a bastard, so he's goes about intimidating the witnesses to Granger's crime and gets him a retrial. It works (the justice system was even more screwed up back then than it is now, apparently), but, even though he's now married to Bancroft and should be uber-grateful to Quinn for springing him, Granger is still kind of a douchebag, treating poor Bancroft like crap, smacking her around and cheating on her and stuff. This, of course, does not please Quinn whatsoever. Peter Graves also co-stars as a newspaper man who also has a thing for Bancroft. Quinn is really good in the film, but it's not one that plays to Granger's strengths. He's best as a nervous type, like in Rope, Strangers on a Train and Edge of Doom. He's not a good tough guy. This can also be found on Netflix Instant.

artzau This film is a film noir wannabe and just doesn't quite make it. The plot, a mobster (Quinn) who holds his family as a icon of decency, discovers his sister (Bancroft) is "jammed up" by a local neighborhood playboy (Granger) who is on death row for murder. Bringing his influence to bear, the gangster gets the playboy a new trail and his freedom so he can marry his sister. But, the playboy can't stand it and gets caught by the hood stepping out on his wife. So, the gangster sets his roving brother-in-law up to be framed for murder. But, as his playboy son-in-law tells him, "I didn't kill this guy but I did kill the first one..." and the cops use him to chase the hood to his death while his mother is bringing him a bottle of seltzer water to have with his weekly dinner with her.Film buffs will enjoy seeing the younger Quinn in scowling action as well as Granger and Bancroft in their younger days. The acting is solid, the storyline somewhat pedestrian and there's no video or DVD. You'll have to catch on the late show.