Pickup on South Street (1953)

Pickup on South Street
Directed by Samuel Fuller
Screenplay by Samuel Fuller; story by Dwight Taylor
1953/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
#265 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Skip McCoy: Are you waving the flag at *me*?[/box]

Sam Fuller really hits his stride in this major studio production.

Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark) is a recently released pickpocket and three-time loser.  One of his first jobs is to pinch a wallet from the purse of Candy (Jean Peters) who is riding the subway on the way to a rendevous.  Trouble is she is being watched and he has been spotted.  Skip gets away though and returns with his loot to the seaside shack where he lives.  There, he discovers that the wallet contains microfilm.  Soon we learn that the microfilm contains some sort of top secret plans that are being sold to the Reds.

The police soon locate Skip through Moe (Thelma Ritter) a professional snitch who is saving up for a fancy funeral, but Skip isn’t talking.  Then Candy’s boyfriend Joey (Richard Kiley) sends her to buy back the film.  Skip and Candy are immediately attracted but he is not about to give up the film for less than $25,000.

The rest of the story follows the increasingly brutal tactics of both the Commies and the police to get their hands on the film.  Skip finds out who his friends are in the process.

I really like this movie.  Superficially, it is about the Red menace but is really about honor among thieves and lowlifes.  The film is beautifully shot and tautly written.  The performances are outstanding too.  I especially like Ritter in perhaps her best performance as the tough yet fragile Moe.  I’ve not been especially impressed with Parker in other films but she is wonderful here.  She and Widmark just sizzle in their love scenes.  Recommended.

There is an interview with Fuller on the Criterion DVD.  He is exactly as I had expected, a true original.

Thelma Ritter was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x03NXUVaBi8

Trailer

Screenwriter on the film – Trailers from Hell