Race Street

From 1948, Race Street, starring George Raft and directed by Edwin L. Marin.

Slower moving than an iceberg with two tuneless musical numbers to boot.

Raft plays bookie Dan Gannin, who is leaving the racket and has opened his own nightclub featuring his sister (Gale Robbins). When his buddy (Harry Morgan) is killed after refusing mob protection, Dan goes after the killers. This doesn't sit well with Runson (William Bendix) a cop and friend, who feels Dan is putting himself in danger.

Race Street has no zip, no pace, and the plot just meanders along. It seemed as if the same scenes were repeated over and over - Runson asking Dan if he had any info, Gannin's friends discussing the problem, Gannin being threatened.

Marilyn Maxwell as a brunette is Gannin's girlfriend. Charles Lane, who died at 102, is a switchboard operator - his last credit was in 1995 after a 65-year career. Jason Robards Sr. Is uncredited as a hotel clerk. Frank Faylen plays a bad guy.

You can skip this.

George Raft and director Edwin Marin made several films together: JOHNNY ANGEL, INTERIGUE; NOCTURNE and this very one, which is for me the best of them all, also showing William Bendix in an unusual cop character. Bendix should have made more films like this one, he had the face and charisma for it. This crime noir is excellent for me, a pretty exciting RKO feature which I watch regularely with great pleasure. Fast paced, not too long, the ending is also in the line of the story and far better than other movies from this era; Good directing and camera work emphasize the power of this story. I recommend it;

George Raft is said to have turned down more than one role that ended up making someone else's career. Sam Spade in "The Maltese Falcon," for example. Yet the movies he did choose are for the most part flat and predictable.

I like him as a tough guy. He does it well. "Race Street" is strictly routine. He won't pay protection money, with predictable results.

Harry Morgan is excellent in a fairly small role. William Bendix, who always turned in a fine performance, is very good as a cop. And Marilyn Maxwell is the femme fatale.

She's OK. But her performance is unexciting. We neither hate her nor feel sorry for her. Maxwell essentially executes a plot contrivance.

Noted San Francisco bookie and club owner George Raft is being muscled by the syndicate. He shrugs it off until pal Harry Morgan is thrown down a flight of stairs and killed. After that Raft is hot for revenge.

Though this film was produced by RKO it has a Paramount look to it because of the presence of William Bendix as a police lieutenant and Frank Faylen as the syndicate's man in San Francisco.

Raft gets a lot of good advice from Bendix in the film, most of which he ignores. Raft also has some very treacherous associates as the viewer will find out.

George Raft films are always art imitating life when they are about gangsters. Except for horror film stars like Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, I doubt there was ever a major star whose own life so closely got involved in the roles he played.

Raft was hardly a great actor, but in gangster films he knew the mob literally from the inside out so it was never acting.

Bill Bendix of course is always good, films with him in it should be seen if for no other reason than to watch him.

Race Street is an average noir film which I'm sure entertained the audiences who came to see whatever A picture was playing with it.

George Raft plays Gannin, a bookie who is, despite this, basically an honest guy. His pal, Hal (Harry Morgan) approaches him to say that some mobsters want in on his own bookmaking business. Well, these creeps turn out to mean business and when Hal refuses to cooperate, they murder him in a very vivid and brutal scene (one of the best in the film). Naturally, Gannin isn't happy but things are about to get rough for him as well, as the mobsters soon approach him as well. Now he could work with the detective (William Bendix) to expose these rats but, naturally, Gannin only likes to handle things alone. Does he possibly stand a chance?! Well, since it's George Raft, you certainly assume so!

This film turned out to be a lot better than I expected. No, George Raft was just as stiff and unbelievable as he usually was in films. However, the plot offered some nice twists and kept me guessing. Plus the ending came as a HUGE surprise to me! Well worth seeing...almost deserving an 8...but not quite making it due to Raft's very ordinary sort of performance.

Ironically, later Harry Morgan would play Bill Gannon on "Dragnet"...the show that helped make him a household name.