Cassavetes, acting again. he did mostly television, up until now. turns out, he could do it all! writing and directing. James Whitmore and Sal Mineo, who died way too young. Two rival gangs, the dukes and the hornets, get into it in NYC... think west side story, which was made a couple years later. here, the social worker McAllister tries to help, and only makes things worse. he slaps Frankie (Cassavetes), which makes him more angry. and then puts the pressure on Angie Goia, in front of his father. not good! it's a little hokey, with everyone wearing prim and proper clothes, and being so polite. but we get the idear.... gangs are bad. and violent. anything can happen. rough and gritty scenes of the city. this highlighted the younger rough crowds; up to now, the old, black and white films showed the syndicate, the older age mob crowds; now, we're looking at the teens and twenty-somethings as the thugs on the streets. we know there's going to be a show-down at some point. Directed by Don Siegel, who also did Dirty Harry and Escape From Alcatraz. it's pretty good. early teen-age-angst. convincing show by Cassavetes.
Review of Crime in the Streets
