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Pickup on South Street (1953)
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Reviews Counted: 17
Fresh: 16
Rotten:1
Average Rating: 7.9/10
Runtime: 81 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: This film noir classic plays on America's paranoia about a Communist takeover in the 1950s. Dwelling in a neon-lit nightscape are: a pickpocket, Skip McCoy; an abused dame, Candy; a seen-it-all stoolie, Moe; Joey, Candy's violent... This film noir classic plays on America's paranoia about a Communist takeover in the 1950s. Dwelling in a neon-lit nightscape are: a pickpocket, Skip McCoy; an abused dame, Candy; a seen-it-all stoolie, Moe; Joey, Candy's violent boyfriend and Communist plotter; shifty G-Men; cynical cops; and a whole nest of vipers in fedoras and trenchcoats. Joey forces Candy to deliver a secret package for him. Then Skip snatches Candy's purse and inadvertently takes a cryptic film that some underground Reds have stolen. A pair of Feds tracking the film's whereabouts witness the pickpocket and close in on him. But Skip first considers cutting a deal with the Communists. Then he realizes that several parties are interested in the film -- and some are even willing to kill for it! [More]
Starring: Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter, Richard Kiley
Starring: Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter, Richard Kiley, Murvyn Vye, Willis Bouchey, Milburn Stone, Jerry O'Sullivan, Harry Carter
Director: Samuel Fuller
Director: Samuel Fuller
Screenwriter: Samuel Fuller
Producer: Jules Schermer
Composer: Leigh Harline
Reviews for Pickup on South Street
80 minutes of breathless genre fun infused with pure, uninhibited passion.
Engagingly captures the hysteria over Reds and the underworld scene of the early 1950s.
The 1953 picture does a nice job capturing the mentality of the Cold War United States.
Fuller [took] genuine chances, [creating] moments of power unequaled by many more respectable directors.
One of Fuller's few studio-financed pictures, this bruising, brutal movie still manages to emanate waves of B-movie street cred at every juncture.
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