13 West Street (1962)

Touches You

So much average

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

I had fairly low expectations going into this one, but the film quickly churns into full noir-ish life as one of the last of what was to be a dying breed of movie--a psychological thriller pulling us close to the world of the always fascinating Alan Ladd as he runs head on into forces beyond his control. (I disagree that Ladd's personal problems detract from his performance at all. In fact to me the intentional darkness of the mood is simply strengthened by Ladd just as he was able to do in a dozen other gripping dramas both large and small. This is a "small" drama, to be sure, but none the less intense and intriguing.A plot theme emerges here treated the way a great noir director of the 40's might have treated it--pathological youth violence, a real social problem often glossed over {Rebel Without A Cause, for example) or in later 1960's films glamorized and turned into the iconic images for a new generation.But here it is--stark, vicious, mindless, and cruel just because people can get away with it. This is a brave and unflinching film and a real treat for those who appreciate the genre. Keep your expectations modest and it will surprise you quite happily!

It was not very long into viewing this film that Alan Ladd was at the end of his career in Hollywood, his problem with Alcohol were starting to get the best of him in his eyes and face and even makeup could not hide the demon's he was facing in real life. Walt Sherill,(Ladd) plays the role of an aerospace engineer and very successful and married to his wife, Tracey Sherill, (Dolores Dorn) in a very nice home in the suburbs. One night as Walt is leaving his office he runs out of gas and starts to walk to a telephone when he is almost run down by a speeding car driven by delinquent juveniles. Walt yells at them and they proceed to go back to Walt and beat the living day lights out of him. It is from this point in the film which becomes very interesting and Rod Steiger, (Det. Sergeant Kileski) gives an outstanding supporting role which makes this picture a success. It is sad to say that this was Alan Ladd's last starring role in Hollywood and two years later he passed on to a greater stage.

Alan Ladd, in his second-to-last film, plays some sort of scientist in Los Angeles who manages to run out of gas...in his car alone...at night in a bad neighborhood. A pack of country club teenagers in a souped-up car jump him and bust a couple of ribs, bringing Rod Steiger's detective ("Juvenile Division") into the picture, but Ladd can't wait for the slow arm of the law to bring him justice and looks for the boys on his own. Adaptation of Leigh Brackett's novel "The Tiger Among Us" (a better title!), the movie is a bit overwrought and wild-eyed, though the mechanics of the story are gripping, if utterly unpleasant. Steiger looks a little sheepish here and is disappointing, but Ladd's non-present performance is the real shame; his face puffy and jowly, his lips thin, Ladd is barely even alert. He has a fairly intense role here, but the fading actor just walks through it. Some of the details about the case are very interesting (particularly the wealthy kids involved, and how they relate to their indifferent parents), but the promising set-up for the plot is let down by all the overripe melodrama. Still, a curious, watchable attempt at delinquent terrors, perhaps a precursor to "Death Wish". ** from ****

SPOILERS. Sounds like it might be a good unpretentious flick, maybe a noir, doesn't it? "Pickup on South Street," "Call Northside 777," "The House on 92nd St.," "13 West Street." It isn't, though. The story is simple enough. Ladd is driving home from work late at night and his car chugs to a halt on an ominously deserted city street -- the only good location shooting in the movie. He's a rocket scientist, so when he sees that his car is out of gas, he tries to restart the engine. (A rocket scientist, mind you.) At this point, the good part is more or less over. Ladd is set upon and brutally beaten by a handful of well-dressed white thugs. He recovers in the hospital but spends the rest of the film on crutches or canes. The police of course investigate, under the guidance of Rod Steiger, but they are too slow for Ladd. He becomes obsessed with finding these punks and begins poking his nose into the investigation. Each time he does so, the juvenile delinquest somehow become aware of it and threaten him over the phone, throw rocks through his window, or beat him yet again. And all the time Steiger (who underplays -- for him) threatens to throw him in jail for "interfering with justice." And in fact he IS thrown in jail. In the end, things turn out as you would expect them to in a routine crime drama like this.The script is full of holes, beginning with the unmotivated beating of Ladd by rich, educated kids. Not that it doesn't happen, but they're given no motivation before this incident, or afterward. One of the kids, who feels he might soon be queried about the beating, hangs himself because he's upset. Both Ladd and his assailant act in the worst possible way, as far as their self interest is concerned. Ladd, a middle-aged engineer on a broken ankle, is able to subdue an athletic high schooler armed with a pistol. Well, I won't go on. The direction is perfunctory. There isn't a shot after the first few minutes that couldn't have been done by following an instructional manual. Oh -- one thing, perhaps. The head thug, Mickey Callan, after throwing his buddies out of his car for reasons known only to him, forces his way into Ladd's house and confronts Ladd's wife, Dolores Dorn. He plans to shoot Ladd, then rape her, he explains. Then, upon thinking things over, he decides to assault her first, and he throws her to the floor, shredding her bodice in the process. (This is known as "ripping a bodice".) At this point the director has the good taste to give us a glimpse of Dolores Dorn's bra and stockinged legs as she writhes on the floor terrified. The acting. This is the sad part. Ladd by this time in his career was pretty well shot, and he looks and sounds it. Some of this is due to the normal process of aging, for which no one, thank God, can be held responsible. But he was also doing beaucoup booze and pounding a lot of barbiturates. He looks puffy, the way Clark Gable began to look puffy when he was drinking heavily. Both his voice and his mannerisms are slurred, so much so that at times he utters a sentence that seems to consist of nothing but one long vowel and no consonants. And he needs to be seen on cane or crutch to be believed. He wobbles and flaps frantically when he moves quickly, and when he walks slowly or stand still the image evoked is Frankenstein's monster. Dolores Dorn, alas, is no actress but is nevertheless sympatico. Not only because of her role as the patient and understanding wife but because her voice, unprofessional as it sounds, seems imbued with a kind of pathos. We feel sorry for her. She's also quite attractive in a not quite conventional way. Her skin seems to have a tawny quality that suggests she is naturally tan all over, and her pale blonde hair complements the tone exquisitely. Steiger engages in little of his usual bravura acting. He's a reliable cop, but almost always in the background.Sometimes a film of this kind can be redeemed by a supporting cast of seasoned and familiar players, but not here. A bartender has a prominent bit part. The guy looks like an overweight actor -- when one thinks of what John Ford would have done with a part like that, it brings tears to the eyes. Mickey Callan I admire, as I do all dancers, for being able to do things I would never have dreamed of trying with my own body. But he's merely pretty, and a poor actor in a dramatic role. (He was better at light comedy.)I don't enjoy being this negative about a movie like this. I've enjoyed the performers' work in other films. And I do feel sympathetic towards Ladd. But there is simply nothing to recommend this movie.