Temporary mail-delivery man Farley Granger (Joe) steals some money from a crooked lawyer's office. He does this so that he can provide for his family - he has a baby due any day courtesy of Cathy O'Donnell (Ellen). This money will see them start family life in an affluent manner. However, he comes away with way more money than he anticipated and panics as to what to do with it. I'm afraid that he makes some ludicrous decisions and gets into a mess that puts his life in danger.When I say ludicrous decisions, here are a few examples - if you have a large some of money, do you keep it or give it to someone else to keep for you? Well, Farley takes the ludicrous option. Here's another, if you thought about returning the money you had stolen, what would you do? Once again, Farley goes ludicrous on the viewer. He does this a lot. Pair this with the extremely soppy O'Donnell who seems to over-emote at every opportunity and I'm afraid you have two pretty dumb lead characters who elicit no sympathy. These two also starred in "They Live By Night" (1948) which is about as good as this film, ie, not very good.So, to summarize we have a thieving temporary postman - still a stereotype for today's postal workers - who has no steady job but thinks this is a good position to be in to start a family- a role model for today's families who thrive on being on benefits and can't wait to irresponsibly have the next baby. The happy couple are incredibly stupid - O'Donnell is so drippy that I was urging Farley to take the money and just run away from her to start a new life. Watch to see what happens but you have been warned that this is over-rated.

Anthony Mann directed this film noir that stars Farley Granger as a struggling letter carrier with a pregnant wife(played by Cathy O'Donnell) who is worried about how he will support them on his salary. Fate intervenes when he is tempted to steal money from ruthless racketeers. He thinks its only a few hundred dollars, but turns out to be several thousands. Now guilt-stricken, he is also being pursued by the racketeers who want their money back, and will gladly kill him in the process. Well-directed and acted film effectively portrays the pitfalls of giving in to temptation and theft, which results in near-fatal consequences for Granger, who wishes he had never taken the money.

Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell, upon the success of They Live by Night, were paired together again in this quick and taut film noir. Postman Farley delivers mail to a office building and, when delivering to one office in particular, sees money lying around and getting accidentally dropped on the floor (more money than he's seen in one place.) On his modest income and with dreams to fulfill and his wife and future baby to support, he gets it in his head to break in later and steal the money. Little does he realize, until he gets it home, that the hundreds of dollars he thought it was, was really $30,000.00. Due to his conscience bothering him and thinking it wise not to have it in the apartment, he asks a friend, who's a bartender, to hold it for him. Then, things get sticky.Farley Granger is an adequate actor and nice to look at, and his character is very likable. So the viewer is interested in what happens to him. His kissing scenes with Cathy are appropriately passionate for the newlyweds. Character and 'b' picture actor Charles McGraw is a minor villain, but James Craig is on hand as the "main bad guy," who plays it somewhat convincingly. But somehow I get the feeling he was too nice a guy in real life, to really project nastiness, as what may be called for in such a role. By the way, he too is incredibly easy on the eyes.Director Anthony Mann effectively sweeps the viewer into Farley's world by creating the mood and heating up the intensity, and you'll walk away from this very satisfied and very entertained. But, a lot of that comes from a character introduced about an hour into it. A good actor, a professional actor with some acting chops, you can spot from the moment you set eyes on them, because they know how to walk, how to say their lines in such a way to make them their own, and is in control of everything at all times. I say actor to include all people, but the subject in question is Jean Hagen, who plays James Craig's girlfriend. The moment you see her she captures you. You know she knows what she's doing. She's got it all in control. This movie may not have a reputation as an essential to film noir. I don't know. But it should. If for no other reason, than director Mann's way of telling a story and Jean Hagen's performance, which has to be one of her best in films. "Side Street" tells a story of a path taken in life, may be right, may be wrong, but it's a detour that leads to one of life's lessons.

So who does impulsive thief and part-time mail carrier Joe Norson (Granger) entrust with the $30,000 he's just stolen? Why that well-known paragon of virtue, the friendly neighborhood barkeep, of course. Then, when the latter disappears, a lot richer, guess what-- Joe is surprised! Let's hope the baby his wife just delivered got her genes instead of his. Now Joe gets to chase after the money before either the cops or the crooks get him first. Frankly, my money's on the crooks who certainly know how to surprise us with a broken-down lounge singer (Hagen). But then this is Production Code 1950 with the sweetfaced Granger, so better bet on the kid.This is Dore Schary's MGM playing catch-up with post-war noir, and they've hired the best— director Anthony Mann. That means the New York street scene never looked grittier, nor the great stone canyons more threatening. And that car chase down empty city corridors looks downright science-fiction eerie. Too bad they've saddled Mann with boring cops and a bad guy (Craig) about as scary as a TV salesman. And was there ever an actress whose sheer sweetness could melt the screen faster than O'Donnell. Together with the artless Granger, Mann's tough-guy cynicism never stood a chance. The visuals tell one story; the characters another. This is hard-shell noir with the softest of cores, but will still keep you stapled to the screen.