French poetic realism meets Italian neorealism (or what the Spanish often call custombrista) in Rafael Gil’s glorious, Barcelona-set La calle sin sol (US: The Sunless Street), where impoverished residents of Barcelona’s Raval (Chinatown) district scramble to catch the one moment of sunshine that blesses the neighborhood every day. Chasing the light is an apt metaphor for these desperate souls in their oppressively claustrophobic neighborhood, which, of course, Gil and cinematographer Fraile turn into a cozy, beautifully moonlit urban fantasy that would be right at home in a Marcel Carné production from the previous decade. French stowaway Mauricio (Antonio Vilar) and the stray dog he’s befriended “disembark” at the port of Barcelona, finding shelter in a hostel where he meets the lovely Pilar (Amparo Rivelles) and the motley crew of barrio residents: carnival charlatan Manolo (Manolo Morán), beggar Luis (José Nieto), and his blind wife Elvira (Mary Delgado), among others. When a murder takes place next door, the French stranger with a dark past becomes suspect numero uno. Despite its deprivations, the residential block’s shadowed alleys and lamp-lit cobblestones create a romantic backdrop for a murder investigation, which culminates in a blaze of action: watch for a fist fight on the staircase of a burning building while a mob tramples the pugilists and a blind woman fights for dear life.