A provocative drama, directed by Philip Leacock, set in Chicago's notorious South Side in the 1950's. Shelley Winters stars as Nellie Romano, a waitress working in a bar hoping to do the best for her young son Nick(James Darren). Nick will grow up on the dirty streets dodging bums, drunks and drug addicts. Nellie and Nick live in a dirty tenement apartment, where there is more than an abundance of losers trying to look out for them. Nick practices on piano, while his mother does her best to hide the fact that Nick's father died in the electric chair.
Nick often dons a black leather jacket, but is not the worst young man in the neighborhood. Albeit he gets a jail sentence for helping a friend victimized in a gang fight. Nick avoids jail by way of a "special favor" from his mom's boyfriend Louie(Ricardo Montalban). Things get dark when Nick finds out that Louie, a bookie and drug pusher, plies Nellie of any virtue with dope.
A story of shame, squalor, poverty, addiction and survival. Besides Winters' stellar performance, Burl Ives turns in a strong job of acting as a former judge turned drunk. And jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald is solid as a junkie piano player. Other players include: Jean Seberg, Rodolfo Acosta, Walter Burk, Phil Ober and Bernie Hamilton.
Nick often dons a black leather jacket, but is not the worst young man in the neighborhood. Albeit he gets a jail sentence for helping a friend victimized in a gang fight. Nick avoids jail by way of a "special favor" from his mom's boyfriend Louie(Ricardo Montalban). Things get dark when Nick finds out that Louie, a bookie and drug pusher, plies Nellie of any virtue with dope.
A story of shame, squalor, poverty, addiction and survival. Besides Winters' stellar performance, Burl Ives turns in a strong job of acting as a former judge turned drunk. And jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald is solid as a junkie piano player. Other players include: Jean Seberg, Rodolfo Acosta, Walter Burk, Phil Ober and Bernie Hamilton.