Side Street (1950)

In the bustling, shadowy labyrinth of New York City, we meet Joe Norson, a humble mail carrier whose life is teetering on the brink of despair. Once a proud owner of a gas station, Joe finds himself grappling with the aftermath of his business's demise, thrusting him and his pregnant wife, Ellen, into the arms of her parents. Their dire financial situation couldn't have come at a worse time, as Ellen is on the cusp of giving birth to their firstborn. Joe's desperation leads him to a misguided decision — stealing $200 from the filing cabinet of Victor Backett, a cunning attorney whose office lies on his delivery route. However, fate has a cruel sense of humor. Instead of finding the $200 he so desperately needs, Joe instead stumbles upon a staggering $30,000. Consumed by shock and fear, he absconds with the entire amount, unknowingly plunging himself into a perilous world of crime and deception. The stolen money, as it turns out, was a hefty sum of blackmail money that Backett and his nefarious associate, Georgie Garsell, squeezed out of their wealthy victim, Emil Lorrison. Unbeknownst to naive Joe, this illicit money has a blood trail. The seductive Lucille Colner, an accomplice in the Backett-Garsell scheme, met a grisly end at Georgie's hands after their successful sting operation on Lorrison. As Joe juggles his mounting panic and the need to keep his actions hidden from Ellen and her family, he unwittingly lands in the crosshairs of the ruthless blackmailers. His every move draws him further into the sinister underbelly of New York, and the danger escalates, extending its cold grasp towards the unsuspecting Ellen. Caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse, Joe finds himself in a race against time, entrapped in a web of murder, blackmail, and treachery. His only hope is to navigate through the murky, treacherous side streets of the city, where one wrong turn could mean the difference between life and death.

Side Street is a crime movie featuring Farley Granger and directed by Anthony Mann.

Side Street is currently streaming on TCM.