The Street with No Name

"Counter Attack!"

1948 1h 31m EN

😐

6.4

MID

★6.4TMDB · 54

CrimeThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

After two gang-related killings in "Center City," a suspect (who was framed) is arrested, released on bail...and murdered. Inspector Briggs of the FBI recruits a young agent, Gene Cordell, to go undercover in the shadowy Skid Row area (alias George Manly) as a potential victim of the same racket. Soon, Gene meets Alec Stiles, neurotic mastermind who's "building an organization along scientific lines." Stiles recruits Cordell, whose job becomes a lot more dangerous.

“Counter Attack!”

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Cast

Mark Stevens
Gene Cordell / George Manly
Richard Widmark
Alec Stiles
Lloyd Nolan
Inspector George A. Briggs
Barbara Lawrence
Judy Stiles
Ed Begley
Chief Bernard Harmatz
Donald Buka
Shivvy
Joseph Pevney
Matty
John McIntire
Cy Gordon

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: William Keighley
Writers: Harry Kleiner
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

78 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CRAFT

Did you know

Part of the "George Briggs, FBI" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by William Keighley, shot by Joseph MacDonald. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by David Buttolph. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Editor William Reynolds shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Mark Stevens and Richard Widmark and Lloyd Nolan carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Counter Attack!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0040843 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

William Keighley directs. Joseph MacDonald behind the camera. David Buttolph scores. William Reynolds cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

178 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Part of the "George Briggs, FBI" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
3Directed by William Keighley, shot by Joseph MacDonald. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by David Buttolph. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor William Reynolds shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Mark Stevens and Richard Widmark and Lloyd Nolan carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Counter Attack!".
8IMDB entry: tt0040843 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 54 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
10Classified under 9 themes, including "undercover", "film noir", "police corruption", "docudrama".

The technical file

Cinematography: Joseph MacDonald
Original score: David Buttolph
Editing: William Reynolds
Costume design: Kay Nelson
Makeup / hair: Ben Nye
Runtime: 91 min · 1h 31m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Street with No Name (1948)

Part of

George Briggs, FBI

Semidocumentary-style adventures with FBI Agent George Briggs, portrayed by Lloyd Nolan

Also by

William Keighley

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2018-09-30
★ 7/10
Central City Confidential. The Street With No Name is directed by William Keighley and adapted to screenplay by Samuel Engel and Harry Kleiner. It Stars Mark Stevens, Richard Widmark, Lloyd Nolan, Barbara Lawrence and Ed Begley. Music is by Lionel Newman and cinematography by Joseph MacDonald. Undercover FBI agent Gene Cordell (Stevens) infiltrates a crime gang led by Alec Stiles (Widmark). Produced in the good old semi-documentary style that suits cops and robbers noir pieces, The Street With No Name is all about showing how great the FBI is – and how dangerous their jobs are. Tight with its procedurals and investigative science, its thematic elements have high interest factors. Whilst the thrills come with the peril Cordell faces as he runs the risk of being unmasked by suspicious gang members and, naturally, there’s a stoolie in the mix as well. Stevens makes Cordell as the all American hero type, the kind the FBI want up front and personal as the face of its organisation. Widmark, fresh from prime psycho duties in Kiss of Death, again brings the nasty, only here with sly rational villainy in abundance. The polar opposites work well, while the characterisations of not only the principal players, but others as well, has that delightful ambiguity and personal quirky traits that would often drive film noir on. Joseph MacDonald (The Dark Corner/ Call Northside 777) cloaks it in suitably noirish photography, ensuring the fictional Central City comes off as a place in danger of being corruptible to the core. Dialogue is hard enough to land a punch, the script thus managing to offset Stiles being under written, and even though the plot is thin, cast are good enough to keep it as above average noir fare for discernible types. 7/10 Footnote: It would be reimaged as House of Bamboo in 1955 with Samuel Fuller directing (MacDonald on photography duty there as well). Interesting to compare the two from a noir perspective.

Production companies