Nick Romano lives in a poor tenement building on the south side of Chicago with his well-meaning but drug-addicted mother, Nellie. She encourages him to pursue his piano-playing talent in hopes that it will bring him a better life. Nellie's neighbors, like the alcoholic ex-lawyer who secretly loves her, help her in keeping Nick away from Louie, the resident drug dealer. But a chance meeting between Nick and Louie could change things forever.
Acting
Shelley Winters goes full Method before Method was cool.
Score
Ella Fitzgerald actually acts AND sings—steals every scene.
Production
Chicago location shooting feels dangerously authentic.
Director
Philip Leacock
Burl Ives
Judge Bruce Mallory Sullivan
Shelley Winters
Nellie Romano
James Darren
Nick Romano
Jean Seberg
Barbara Holloway
Ricardo Montalban
Louie Ramponi
Ella Fitzgerald
Flora
Rodolfo Acosta
Max
Philip Ober
Grant Holloway
Jeanne Cooper
Fran
Bernie Hamilton
Goodbye George
Walter Burke
Wart
Francis De Sales
Night Court Magistrate
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This is the forgotten sequel to Nicholas Ray's 1949 Knock on Any Door, with John Derek originally playing Nick; James Darren took over and the character aged down from twenty-something to teenager.
Columbia Pictures rushed this into production to capitalize on James Darren's teen idol status from Gidget, grafting heartthrob packaging onto grim social realism—with deeply weird results.
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