zardoz-13 Before he helmed his three most prominent films: "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back" (1980), "Never Say Never Again" (1983), and "RoboCop 2" (1990), director Irvin Kershner got his big-screen start with "Stake Out on Dope Street" in 1958. Kershner wrote this crime story with Andrew J. Fenady, who later scripted the John Wayne cattle western "Chism" (1970). Lensed in black & white by the incomparable Haskell Wexler of "Medium Cool" fame, with an atmospheric voice-over "Dragnet" style narration, this 82-minute melodrama concerns the loss of two pounds of uncut heroin after a drug bust. Los Angeles narcotics agents had arrested a white drug peddler carrying a satchel containing a can filled with two pounds of uncut heroin when they were fired on by assailants. The drug peddler died in the shooting, but he threw the satchel away. Nobody has any idea where the satchel landed, so both the police and the dope peddlers embark on a massive search for the heroin. Three teenagers-- Julian "Ves" Vespucci (Jonathon Haze), aspiring artist Jim Bowers (Yale Wexler) and bodybuilder Nick Raymond (Morris Miller)--discover the satchel and its content, but they aren't sure about the contents of the can. Initially, Julian throws it again, but when learn that it is heroin, they search high and low for it. Finally, they drive out to the city trash dump and stumble upon it. Meantime, the police send out their detectives roust anybody suspicious, while the underworld is doing the same thing but without to restraint. Nick turns his friends on to an older guy with a prison record, and he helps them see the heroin. It is only a matter of time until the cops catch up with both the teens and the criminals. The best scene deals with an oldster who once used heroin. He describes the nightmare that using heroin can induce. Naturally, the mob finds the teens and the drugs. Everything works out well in the long run. Most of the cast are unknowns. Nevertheless, Kershner keeps the action moving swiftly enough.

lchadbou-326-26592 The underrated director Irvin Kershner is best known for the second Star Wars film but early in his career specialized in films and TV programs about troubled youth. I've seen an episode of the series Confidential File he directed on the danger posed to youngsters by comic books, and one of his best theatrical jobs, Hoodlum Priest. This was his first feature and has interesting credits: photography by Haskell Wexler (under a pseudonym)a jazz score by Richard Markowitz performed by the Hollywood Chamber Jazz Group, and as one of the three protagonists, Jim, a nice role for Haskell's younger brother Yale Wexler. Jonathan Haze, who would star two years later as Seymour in the cult success The Little Shop Of Horrors, plays one of the other boys, Ves. The story of teenagers finding abandoned drugs (at first they are so naive they think the heroin is pimple powder) suffers somewhat from obtrusive Dragnet-style narration and most of the other players are little known "B" performers. The treatment is also rather melodramatic, such as the climax in which Jim is pursued by syndicate thugs on his trail to the top of a power tower at night. But there is a long, striking sequence in which an older man, an addict named Danny, warns Jim in lurid detail about the consequences of drug addiction; as we see scenes of Danny writhing in a prison cell in withdrawal we hear his voice-over. The episode bears comparison to the more famous scenes of Ray Milland as an alcoholic having the DTs in The Lost Weekend Here and elsewhere in the picture Kershner and Wexler use high angles (e.g through the bars above the cell) for dramatic effect. The period detail of LA locations shot in 1957 such as a Redondo Beach bowling alley also includes some curious dated slang.

MartinHafer "Stakeout on Dope Street" is a decent film when it comes to the plot idea, but nothing, I mean NOTHING, makes the film particularly compelling. It should have been a lot more interesting than it was.The film begins with a very gritty shootout--one where two cops are shot as well as one of the criminals. However, in the process, a briefcase full of pure, uncut heroin is lost. And, shortly afterwords, three young men discover the drugs and decide to get rich selling it. Two of the guys have no problem with this--but the third gets cold feet because he's worried about creating addicts just like the guy they hired to sell the stuff. However, once the guys start selling, it's inevitable that the guys who lost it will come looking.... If you want to find out what's next, see the film.While the plot idea sounds interesting, this low-budget film never excited me--and several times I found myself nodding off during the movie. It's not a terrible film--just not a very interesting one. See it if you'd like, but you could do better.

boblipton This is a surprisingly strong AIP feature, a first for Irvin Kershner as writer and director. Although stylistically it seems, at first sight, little more than an expanded DRAGNET episode in which you get to see the criminals' viewpoints, this largely no-name cast gives a bunch of decent performances with some well-written characters.The feature is about a group of rather clueless teenagers -- who appear to use all their off-screen time body building -- who discover a cannister of heroin. Neither hard core criminals nor saints, they want all the things that society says they should want, and are not choosy about how they go about getting it.The writing and direction are stronger than the acting, but the overall effect is quite striking. Definitely worth your time.