13 West Street

Last updated

13 West Street
13 West Street .jpg
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 was based on the 1957 novel The Tiger Among Us (1957) by Leigh Brackett, who called the film "very, very dull". [2]

Contents

Plot

A rocket scientist, Walt Sherrill, is driving along a empty city street at night when his car breaks down. After he is almost run down by a speeding car, he is assaulted and viciously beaten by the occupants, a group of well-dressed young men, the opposite of a slum dwelling street gang. When the police, including investigating juvenile officer Detective Koleski, are - in Sherill's opinion - acting too slowly and seem too busy to focus on finding the culprits, Sherill decides to go after them on his own.

This quest becomes an obsession for Sherrill which threatens the stability of both his job and his marriage. Sherrill proves to be an amateur sleuth at best, going over ground the police have already covered. His wife uncomfortably watches him use a gun he has purchased to take target practice on tin cans.

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

Sherill hires Finney, a private investigator, whose work leads him to Chuck Landry, the gang's leader. Sherill's non-stop search for revenge causes one member of the gang to commit suicide. Landry counters by luring Finney to a dangerous section of road where he is killed, then coming to Sherill's home where he menaces his wife and plans to shoot Sherill when he returns home. Landry escapes from the police but Sherill takes the boy's 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 him in the Landry family's swimming pool, Sherill finally relents, turning Landry over to Koleski to be placed under arrest. Tracey and Walt leave the scene to go home.

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 he was leaving Columbia, claiming he was unable to get any of his films in development made 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 out of fear audiences might expect a jungle film. The new title was 13 East Street then Alan Ladd requested "east" be changed to "west". "The story concerns a teenage gang from Los Angeles east side but I suggested the locale be switched to the swank purlieu of Bel Air", said Ladd. "I have nothing against Bel Air but I want to show that juvenile delinquency can breed in exclusive areas too." [10]

Filming started April 1961. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<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.

<i>This Gun for Hire</i> 1942 film by Frank Tuttle

This Gun for Hire is a 1942 American film noir crime film directed by Frank Tuttle and starring Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar, and Alan Ladd. It is based on the 1936 novel A Gun for Sale by Graham Greene.

<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.

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>Island of Lost Women</i> 1959 film by Frank Tuttle

Island of Lost Women is a 1959 American independently made black-and-white castaways melodrama film, produced by George C. Bertholon, Albert J. Cohen, and Alan Ladd, that was directed by Frank Tuttle and released by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film stars Jeff Richards, Venetia Stevenson, John Smith, Alan Napier, Diane Jergens, and June Blair. The film's storyline borrows details from Shakespeare's The Tempest and more contemporaneously the 1956 science fiction film Forbidden Planet.

<i>Two Years Before the Mast</i> (film) 1946 film by John Farrow

Two Years Before the Mast is a 1946 American historical adventure film directed by John Farrow and starring Alan Ladd, Brian Donlevy, William Bendix, and Barry Fitzgerald. It is based on Richard Henry Dana Jr.'s travel book of the same name and was produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures.

<i>Whispering Smith</i> 1948 film by Leslie Fenton

Whispering Smith is a 1948 American Western film directed by Leslie Fenton and starring Alan Ladd as a railroad detective assigned to stop a gang of train robbers. The supporting cast includes Robert Preston, Brenda Marshall and Donald Crisp.

<i>Appointment with Danger</i> 1951 film by Lewis Allen

Appointment with Danger is a 1950 American crime film noir starring Alan Ladd and Phyllis Calvert, supported by Paul Stewart, Jan Sterling, and Jack Webb. Produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures, the drama was directed by Lewis Allen and written by Richard L. Breen and Warren Duff.

<i>The Red Beret</i> 1954 film by Terence Young

The Red Beret is a 1953 British-American war film directed by Terence Young and starring Alan Ladd, Leo Genn and Susan Stephen.

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 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.

Robert D. Webb was an American film director. He directed 16 films between 1945 and 1968. He won the Academy Award for Best Assistant Director for In Old Chicago, the last time that category was offered.

<i>The Proud Rebel</i> 1958 film by Michael Curtiz

The Proud Rebel is a 1958 American Technicolor Western film directed by Michael Curtiz, with a screenplay by Joseph Petracca and Lillie Hayward that was based on a story by James Edward Grant. It is the story of a widowed Confederate veteran and his mute son who struggle to make a new life among sometimes hostile neighbors in the Midwest. Despite the implications of the title, the main character in "The Proud Rebel" does not dwell much on his Southern past, but finds his life complicated by sectional prejudice. Many of the Yankee male town folk refer to him disdainfully, however, as 'Reb', while noting his proud refusal to compromise his values for any price.

<i>Hell Below Zero</i> 1954 film by Mark Robson

Hell Below Zero is a 1954 British-American adventure film directed by Mark Robson and starring Alan Ladd, Joan Tetzel, Basil Sydney and Stanley Baker. It was written by Alec Coppel and Max Trell based on the 1949 novel The White South by Hammond Innes, and presents interesting footage of whaling fleets in action. It was the second of Ladd's films for Warwick Films.

<i>Saigon</i> (1948 film) 1948 film by Leslie Fenton

Saigon is a 1948 American crime film directed by Leslie Fenton starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake, in their fourth and final film together. It was distributed by Paramount Pictures and was one of the last films Veronica Lake made under her contract with the studio. Ladd and Lake made four films together; This Gun for Hire and The Glass Key, both in 1942, The Blue Dahlia in 1946 and Saigon. While the earlier films all proved to be big box office successes, Saigon did not do as well financially. Ladd continued to remain one of Paramount's top male stars, while Lake's career was in decline. By the end of 1948 her contract with Paramount had expired and the studio chose not to renew it.

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.

<i>No Time to Die</i> (1958 film) 1958 British film by Terence Young

No Time to Die is a 1958 British war film directed by Terence Young and starring Victor Mature, Leo Genn, Anthony Newley and Bonar Colleano. It is about an American sergeant in the British Army during the Second World War.

<i>The Vampires Ghost</i> 1945 film by Lesley Selander

The Vampire's Ghost is a 1945 American horror film directed by Lesley Selander, written by Leigh Brackett and John K. Butler, and starring John Abbott, Charles Gordon, Peggy Stewart, Grant Withers, Emmett Vogan and Adele Mara. The film was released on May 21, 1945, by Republic Pictures.

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. O22.
  11. Scheuer, Philip K. (April 20, 1961). "California 'Feud' Will Engage Ladd: Zanuck Consults Literateurs; Gordons Package Lee Remick". Los Angeles Times. p. B13.