Side Street Story

Joe Norson lives in New York City with his wife, Ellen, and her parents after losing his gas-station job. Struggling to provide for a pregnant partner, he convinces himself that a quick theft from a lawyer’s office on his mail route—what he believes is a mere $200—could be a risky but necessary gain. The reality turns out far more dangerous: he has actually stolen $30,000 from Victor Backett, a corrupt attorney who has already entangled the wealthy broker Emil Lorrison in a sex scandal and extorted money from him with the help of Lucille “Lucky” Colner and the ex-con Georgie Garsell.

In a panic, Joe tries to normalize this windfall by disguising the money as earnings from an out-of-town job and leaves it with the bartender, Nick Drumman. Soon after, Lucille’s body is discovered in the East River, and Captain Walter Anderson of the New York Police Department starts to untangle the web. Both Lorrison and Backett are questioned, their names surfacing in Lucille’s “love diary.” After the birth of his son, Joe makes a half-hearted attempt to return the money, but Backett senses a trap and refuses the offer. He instead dispatches Garsell and a taxi driver to seize the cash from Joe.

The plan goes awry when Drumman has substituted a nightgown for the money in the package and has fled with it. Joe escapes, though the search for the bartender continues. Garsell tracks Drumman down, strangles him, and recovers the money. Realizing the danger he’s in, Joe confesses the original theft to Ellen, who urges him to surrender to the police, but suspicion soon falls on him for Drumman’s murder. He scrambles to locate the source of the money in order to clear his name while Captain Anderson pursues Garsell for Lucille’s murder and Joe for Drumman’s.

Desperate for an alibi, Joe discovers Garsell’s girlfriend, Harriet Sinton, but she betrays him to Garsell. To silence any remaining witnesses, Garsell kills Harriet. The chase intensifies through the pre-dawn streets of New York as Captain Anderson closes in, and the taxi-driver accomplice tries to surrender, only to be shot by Garsell who then forces Joe to drive. A frantic crash follows, leaving Garsell dead in a final exchange of gunfire with the police. Ellen arrives to find Joe badly wounded but alive, and she cradles him in her arms as the police load him into an ambulance.

Last Updated: December 10, 2025 at 12:33