AllMovie

Contract on Cherry Street represented Frank Sinatra's TV movie debut--an event deemed worthy of a TV Guide cover story. Sinatra plays NYPD veteran Deputy Inspector Frank Hovannes, in charge of a special unit set up to battle organized crime. The murder of Hovannes' partner, coupled with departmental restrictions and legalities, leads the Inspector to organize a semi-vigilante group with three other like-minded officers. They murder an underworld honcho, in hopes of triggering a mob war that will result in the decimation of every gangster in the Big Apple. Edward Anhalt's script for Contract on Cherry Street can't make up its mind whether to emulate The Godfather or Kojak. Sinatra's own Artanis Productions was responsible for this film, so any praise or blame must ultimately fall upon Ol' Blue Eyes' shoulders.