Released in 1959, tense crime thriller No Trees in the Street saw director J. Lee Thompson move further towards social realism as British Cinema embraced the New Wave.  Adapted by TV and theatre writer Ted Willis from his own stage play (his screenplay received a BAFTA nomination), Thompson cast Sylvia Syms as Hetty, a sweet young woman who desperately tries to stop her younger teenage brother Tommy (Melvyn Hayes in a his breakout role) descending in to crime in the slums of pre-war East London. Hetty’s mother urges her to take up with Wilkie (Herbert Lom), a dangerous local racketeer, in an attempt to raise the family out of poverty. 

J. Lee Thompson, Sylvia Syms and Ted Willis had previously collaborated on the award-winning Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957) and Ice Cold in Alex (1958).  The production company that Thompson and Willis set up with producer Frank Godwin were responsible for a series of acclaimed dramas featuring strong female protagonists, that pre-empted the British New wave by several years.