13 West Street

Last updated

13 West Street
13 West Street .jpg
Film poster
Directed by Philip Leacock
Screenplay byBernard C. Schoenfeld
Robert Presnell Jr.
Based onThe Tiger Among Us (1957) by Leigh Brackett
Produced byWilliam Bloom
Alan Ladd
Starring Alan Ladd
Rod Steiger
Cinematography Charles Lawton Jr.
Edited by Al Clark
Music by George Duning
Color process Black and white
Production
company
Ladd Enterprises
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date
  • June 6, 1962 (1962-06-06)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

13 West Street is a 1962 American neo-noir crime film directed by Philip Leacock and starring Rod Steiger and Alan Ladd, whose own production company produced the film. [1] It is based on the 1957 novel The Tiger Among Us by Leigh Brackett, who called the film "very, very dull." [2]

Contents

Plot

After rocket scientist Walt Sherrill's car runs out of gas on a deserted city street, he is assaulted and viciously beaten up by the occupants of a speeding car, a group of well-dressed young men. Sherill becomes frustrated when the police, including investigating officer sergeant Koleski, seem slow to act and too busy to find the culprits, so Sherill pursues them himself.

The quest becomes an obsession for Sherrill, threatening his job and marriage. He purchases a gun and shoots tin cans as targets. His wife Tracey becomes afraid of what Sherrill is becoming and what the gang might do to him. One of the gang members throws a ball bearing ball through the Sherrills' window as a threat.

One night, Sherill spots a convertible that resembles one belonging to his assailants and tails it at high speed. The driver is a frightened teenage girl who calls the police, and Sherill spends an uncomfortable night in jail before Koleski has him released.

Sherill hires Finney, a private investigator, whose work leads him to Chuck Landry, the gang's leader. Sherill's nonstop search for revenge causes one member of the gang to commit suicide. Finney tails Landry at high speed on a winding road but his car plunges down a ravine and he is killed. Landry then goes to Sherill's home, where he menaces Tracey and plans to shoot Sherill when he returns home. Landry escapes from the police but Sherill takes his address from his abandoned car and is waiting there when Landry arrives. Sherrill beats him savagely with his cane. On the verge of killing him by drowning in the Landry family's swimming pool, Sherill finally relents, handing Landry to Koleski to be placed under arrest.

Cast

Production

Leigh Brackett's novel The Tiger Among Us was originally published in 1957. [3] Film rights were purchased by producer Charles Schnee, who had just left MGM and signed a deal with Columbia Pictures. He hired John Michael Hayes to write the script. [4] John Wayne was announced as a possible star. [5] It was then reported that Valentine Davies was working on the script, which had been retitled Fear No Evil. [6] Production plans were delayed when Schnee announced his departure from Columbia, frustrated with the studio's inability to advance any of his films to the development stage because of "almost insurmountable casting difficulties." [7] The project stayed with Columbia and was assigned to producer Boris Kaplan. Roger Presnell wrote a version of the script. [8] Philip Leacock was given the job as director and Alan Ladd and Rod Steiger were cast in the leads. [9]

The title The Tiger Among Us was changed to avoid the possible misconception among audiences that it was a jungle film. The new title was 13 East Street, but Ladd requested a change in the title's direction. He said: "The story concerned a teen-age gang from Los Angeles' east side, but I suggested locale be switched to the swank purlieu of Bel-Air. I have nothing against Bel-Air but I want to show that juvenile delinquency can breed in exclusive areas, too." [10] Ladd also asked for the number of gang members to be increased from three to six, saying: "You can't have a hero fighting just three kids." [11]

Filming began in April 1961. [12]

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times , critic Howard Thompson wrote: "The first half of '13 West Street' is pretty darn good. It's convincing and diverting to watch Alan Ladd as the determined victim and, especially, Rod Steiger as an eagle-eyed detective, try to find five young boys who for no reason nearly beat Mr. Ladd to death. ... Why did they nearly kill Mr. Ladd? Don't ask us. The picture is more concerned with the hero's almost paranoic obsession to get them. It maintains a man shouldn't take the law into his own hands and then whips up a hot melodramatic lather to prove it." [13]

Reviewer Cyrus Durgin of The Boston Globe wrote: "This sort of story perhaps can be told better in the larger form of the novel, but screenwriters Schoenfeld and Presnell, and director Leacock have done a respectable job with it. To be sure, the conventions of the violence film, including a chase that kills a private investigator, are duly observed, for the film is leveled to a large, mass audience. I must say you experience a certain low satisfaction when Chuck gets his." [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leigh Brackett</span> American novelist and screenwriter (1915–1978)

Leigh Douglass Brackett was an American author and screenwriter. Nicknamed "the Queen of Space Opera," she was one of the most prominent female writers during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. As a screenwriter, she was best known for her collaborations with director Howard Hawks, mainly writing Westerns and crime films. She also worked on an early draft of The Empire Strikes Back (1980), elements of which remained in the film; she died before it went into production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Finney</span> English actor (1936–2019)

Albert Finney was an English actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked in the theatre before attaining fame for movie acting during the early 1960s, debuting with The Entertainer (1960), directed by Tony Richardson, who had previously directed him in theatre. He maintained a successful career in theatre, film and television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rod Steiger</span> American actor (1925–2002)

Rodney Stephen Steiger was an American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. Ranked as "one of Hollywood's most charismatic and dynamic stars", he is closely associated with the art of method acting, embodying the characters he played, which at times led to clashes with directors and co-stars. He starred as Marlon Brando's mobster brother Charley in On the Waterfront (1954), the title character Sol Nazerman in The Pawnbroker (1964) which won him the Silver Bear for Best Actor, and as police chief Bill Gillespie opposite Sidney Poitier in the film In the Heat of the Night (1967) which won him the Academy Award for Best Actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gail Russell</span> American actress (1924–1961)

Gail Russell was an American film and television actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Ladd</span> American actor (1913–1964)

Alan Walbridge Ladd was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lake in films noir, such as This Gun for Hire (1942), The Glass Key (1942), and The Blue Dahlia (1946). Whispering Smith (1948) was his first Western and color film, and Shane (1953) was noted for its contributions to the genre. Ladd also appeared in ten films with William Bendix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon Douglas (director)</span> American film director (1907–1993)

Gordon Douglas Brickner was an American film director and actor, who directed many different genres of films over the course of a five-decade career in motion pictures.

Euan Lloyd was a British film producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Callan</span> American actor (1935–2022)

Michael Callan, sometimes known as Mickey Collins, was an American actor best known for originating the role of Riff in West Side Story on Broadway, and for his film roles for Columbia Pictures, notably Gidget Goes Hawaiian, The Interns and Cat Ballou.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delmer Daves</span> American film director, producer, and screenwriter (1904–1977)

Delmer Lawrence Daves was an American screenwriter, film director and film producer. He worked in many genres, including film noir and warfare, but he is best known for his Western movies, especially Broken Arrow (1950), The Last Wagon (1956), 3:10 to Yuma (1957) and The Hanging Tree (1959). He was required to work exclusively on studio-based films after heart trouble in 1959, one of which, A Summer Place, was a huge commercial success.

<i>The Badlanders</i> 1958 film by Delmer Daves

The Badlanders is a 1958 American western caper film directed by Delmer Daves and starring Alan Ladd and Ernest Borgnine. Based on the 1949 novel The Asphalt Jungle by W. R. Burnett, the story was given an 1898 setting by screenwriter Richard Collins.

Charles Schnee was an American screenwriter and film producer. He wrote the scripts for the Westerns Red River (1948) and The Furies (1950), the social melodrama They Live by Night (1949), and the cynical Hollywood saga The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), for which he won an Academy Award.

<i>Shoot the Moon</i> 1982 film by Alan Parker

Shoot the Moon is a 1982 American drama film directed by Alan Parker, and written by Bo Goldman. It stars Albert Finney, Diane Keaton, Karen Allen, Peter Weller, and Dana Hill. Set in Marin County, California, the film follows George (Finney) and Faith Dunlap (Keaton), whose deteriorating marriage, separation and love affairs devastate their four children. The title of the film alludes to an accounting rule known in English as "shooting the moon" in the scored card game hearts.

Warwick Films was a film company founded by film producers Irving Allen and Albert R. Broccoli in London in 1951. The name was taken from the Warwick Hotel in New York City where Broccoli and his wife were staying at the time of the final negotiations for the company's creation. Their films were released by Columbia Pictures.

<i>Guns of the Timberland</i> 1960 film by Robert D. Webb

Guns of the Timberland is a 1960 American Technicolor lumberjack Western film directed by Robert D. Webb and starring Alan Ladd, Jeanne Crain, Gilbert Roland and Frankie Avalon. It is based on the 1955 book Guns of the Timberlands by Louis L'Amour.

<i>Hell on Frisco Bay</i> 1956 film by Frank Tuttle

Hell on Frisco Bay is a 1956 American CinemaScope film noir crime film directed by Frank Tuttle and starring Alan Ladd, Edward G. Robinson and Joanne Dru. It was made for Ladd's own production company, Jaguar.

<i>Hennessy</i> (film) 1975 British thriller film

Hennessy is a 1975 British thriller film directed by Don Sharp and starring Rod Steiger, Trevor Howard, Lee Remick, Richard Johnson, Peter Egan, Stanley Lebor, Patrick Stewart and a young Patsy Kensit, the last two in their film debuts.

<i>The Iron Mistress</i> 1952 film by Gordon Douglas

The Iron Mistress is a 1952 American Western film directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Alan Ladd and Virginia Mayo. It ends with Bowie's marriage to Ursula de Veramendi and does not deal with his death at the Battle of the Alamo in 1836.

<i>Al Capone</i> (film) 1959 film

Al Capone is a 1959 biographical crime drama film directed by Richard Wilson, written by Malvin Wald and Henry F. Greenberg and released by Allied Artists. It stars Rod Steiger as Al Capone.

Jaguar Productions was a short-lived production company established by actor Alan Ladd in the 1953. It produced several movies, most of them starring Ladd. The majority of the films were distributed through Warner Bros.

<i>The Big Land</i> 1957 film by Gordon Douglas

The Big Land is a 1957 American Western film in Warnercolor directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Alan Ladd, Virginia Mayo and Edmond O'Brien.

References

  1. ↑ Richard Harland Smith, "13 West Street", Turner Classic Movies accessed January 12, 2013
  2. ↑ Brackett, Leigh (July 1975). "Leigh Brackett — An Audio Interview" (Interview). Interviewed by Tony Macklin. Archived from the original on March 28, 2015. Retrieved May 30, 2015. 55m
  3. ↑ ANTHONY BOUCHER (January 13, 1957). "Report on Criminals at Large". New York Times. p. BR11.
  4. ↑ Schallert, Edwin (October 4, 1957). "Henreid Will Direct 'Take Five From Five' Teen-age Scourge Due". Los Angeles Times. p. A9.
  5. ↑ Schallert, Edwin (October 14, 1957). "Bromfield Seeks Desi Arnaz as Star; Wills Livens 'Hell Bent Kid'". Los Angeles Times. p. C11.
  6. ↑ "FILM EVENTS: Anna Lee in Hudson Film Play". Los Angeles Times. August 23, 1958. p. 12.
  7. ↑ THOMAS M. PRYOR (January 30, 1959). "WALD, NEGULESCO TO TEAM ON FILM: Director and Producer Will Make 'Best of Everything' -- Schnee Settles Pact". New York Times. p. 33.
  8. ↑ "ALAN LADD FILM NAMES DIRECTOR: Robert Webb Is Signed for 'Guns of Timberland' -- Columbia Adds Writers". New York Times. March 24, 1959. p. 45.
  9. ↑ Hopper, Hedda (March 15, 1961). "'Critic's Choice' Film to Star Hank Fonda". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. b5.
  10. ↑ Scott, John L. (November 19, 1961). "Marriage at First Sight". Los Angeles Times . p. 22, Calendar section.
  11. ↑ Carroll, Harrison (May 30, 1961). "Behind the Scenes in Hollywood". Morristown Gazette-Mail. Morristown, Tennessee. p. 4.
  12. ↑ Hopper, Hedda (March 15, 1961). "Leslie Caron Set for 'L-Shaped Room'". Los Angeles Times . p. 7, Part IV.
  13. ↑ Thompson, Howard (June 17, 1962). "Alan Ladd and Rod Steiger Starring in '13 West Street'". The New York Times . p. 31.
  14. ↑ Durgin, Cyrus (May 17, 1962). "'13 West Street' Film of Delinquent Violence". The Boston Globe . p. 21.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.