Pickup on South Street - Criterion Collection

Starring:Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter, Murvyn Vye, Richard Kiley, Willis Bouchey, Milburn Stone, Wilson Wood, Jay Loft-Lyn, George Eldredge, Clancy Cooper, Emmett Lynn, George Berkeley, Harry Carter (II), Victor Perry, Parley Baer, Roger Moore (II), Henry Slate, Jerry O'Sullivan, George E. Stone
Director: Samuel Fuller
Studio: Criterion
Product Type: DVD

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Director Sam Fuller's biggest success of its time (and, superficially at least, his most conventional film) is the 1953 noir effort Pickup on South Street. Candy (Jean Peters) has her purse picked on the subway by small-time thief and ex-con Skip (Richard Widmark), neither of them realizing that the purse contains microfilm bound for Communist spies and that they are being watched the whole time by Federal agents. The New York police and the Feds catch up with Skip and try to cajole him into turning over the microfilm, but as he's one of Fuller's "outsider" antihero protagonists, the patriotic angle cuts no ice with him. He plays both sides against the middle when he finds out that the Communists are involved, hoping to make a big score off the deal, but eventually he comes around when he realizes that he's smitten with Candy. Finally Skip plays ball with the authorities, but is it out of his love for both his friend Moe and Candy, or is he swayed by the patriotic urgings of the FBI, or does it just come from some inner core of decency? You decide. When Skip is asked, "Do you know what treason is?" he smirks, "Who cares?"; when the Feds try to appeal to his patriotism, he sneers through several layers of Sinatra cool, "Are you waving the flag at me?" Pickup is set almost entirely in the garbage-strewn alleys, grimy subways, seedy waterfront dives, and gloomy streets of New York City; it's marked by extremely lengthy takes and fluid, mobile camera work. The closing scene when Skip tracks down another character in the subway and administers a brutal beating to him is one of the more violent scenes you'll find in '50s film noir. --Jerry Renshaw

Description

Petty crook Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark) has his eyes fixed on the big score, but when he picks the purse of unsuspecting Candy (Jean Peters) he finds a haul bigger than he could imagine: a strip of microfilm bearing confidential U.S. secrets. Tailed by both Feds and the unwitting courier's Communist puppeteers, Skip and Candy find themselves in a precarious gambit that pits greed against redemption, Right versus Red, and passion against self preservation. A dazzling cast, hardboiled repartee and director Samuel Fuller's signature raw energy combine to create a true film noir classic.

Customer Reviews:

not only one of the best noirs - also one of the best films of the era.........2007-07-04

Samuel Fuller's pickup on south street is as perfect as film noir can get... It feauture 3 characters who would normally be seen as villains - as real people who we can identify with - people who simply do their jobs... They also happen to be incredibly interesting characters..
The film was shot magnificently in black and white for a remarkably low budget - only someone like fuller could pull it off...
The way the characters relate to one another in a matter of fact way.. and the way they are all targeted by the law and use the law to their advantage.. make this one of the most interesting twisted film noirs.. The stylization and direction combined with striking casting make this one of the best films period.
I would highly recommend this as an introduction to fuller and as a classic film noir..

A psychopath, a heroic doctor & a now sneak thief........2006-08-19

Richard Widmark plays them all. Later in his career he does numerous westerns & even a mad Navy ship's captain. In this one he is Skip McCoy a happy-go-lucky career criminal. His performance is above the movie itself. He is a pickpocket who steals Candy's (Jean Peters) wallet. Unknown to both of them she is a courier for communist spies & had a piece of microfilm with government secrets in her wallet. The Feds know about it too. Soon they're both in trouble & turn to each other in some of the movies best scenes. She's in trouble with her commie bosses. He's in trouble because he is already a three time loser. He's not particlarly patriotic, even when he figures out what he has. He is looking for a big score. He has to reconcile, doing the right thing, going straight & pursuing a long-term relationship with Candy. Widmark does the best he can with the material he's given in this average B movie. I give him 4****.

cold war paranoia sure did make for some fun movies!.......2006-05-04

just a near-perfect concept: richard widmark is a pickpocket whose latest mark is a young woman who just happens to be a spy carrying nuclear secrets in her wallet. film noir at its very best. and thelma ritter to boot.

About as good as it gets........2006-02-27

I usually tell people who wonder about Film Noir to see Out Of The Past. Pickup On South Street didn't change my opinion but its still very good.

This time, Richard Widmark skirts the line between the psycho he played in earlier films and the good guy he would become. This seems just right because it gives him the dangerous edge he needs. The movie is tough and politically incorrect but like the anti-Commie business, a product of its time.

No need to say more. Performances are great as are scenes of a New York long gone.

Kiss, Slap, Bang!.......2005-10-11

I've reviewed many Noir films from the 40's and 50's, "Maltese Falcon" to the B film "Detour," and loved them all, and don't get me wrong, POSS held me all the way through; the problem with this film is it's ugly misogamy, which unfortunately lives on to some extent in the film industry.

Sure, Noir films demand hardboiled punks and bimbo's of loose morals, but how many times is poor Jean Peter's, an okay doll, get punched in the face or shot in the belly. Come on, that's over-female-kill. That last scene after all the mayhem is just laughable.

Okay, I know, the story in "Detour" didn't make any sense either. These films are vehicles for an American mythology. The men are tough, able to take a punch and give it back too. Yeah, that's an urban John Wayne for you. The women are essentially ladies of the evening in a cocktail dress with a heart of gold, not marriage material, so you can er, kiss `em or beat `em up if ya want depending on the hour. Can't lay a hand on mother material I guess.

Richard Widmark is ludicrously cocky in his role of the pickpocket with brains. If his old man hadn't beat him to a pulp every day after reform school, things would have been different; he's smart enough to go to Harvard, but as it is, he enjoys cracking wise in the cop house. Ya got ta love a lug like that.

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