Perhaps finally flawed by its overt political assumptions, but the film remains a desperate kind of masterpiece.
Comment
02/09/06
Pickup on South Street (1953)
88
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:25
Fresh:22
Rotten:3
Average Rating:7.6/10
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... [More]
Starring: Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter, Richard Kiley
Director: Samuel Fuller
Reviews for Pickup on South Street
Top CriticIt's probably been a while since you watched a film as tough as Pickup On South Street.
05/24/03
Top CriticAlmost perfect.
05/14/09
Both Widmark and Peters are superb, but it is Ritter, as the seedy but much-loved Moe, who gives the film its emotional punch.
03/27/09
Top CriticPickup for the most part falls flat on its face and borders on presumably unintended, comedy.
12/01/08
Top CriticDefinitely one of the best film noir movies I've seen so far.
09/19/08
Sam Fuller, who wrote it and directed, appears to have been more concerned with firing a barrage of sensations than with telling a story to be believed.
03/25/06
Top CriticNo review available.
03/09/06
Great noir piece with Richard Widmark complementing Samuel Fuller's direction.
03/09/06
No review available.
01/07/06
No review available.
06/18/05
No review available.
05/08/05
80 minutes of breathless genre fun infused with pure, uninhibited passion.
05/04/05
Engagingly captures the hysteria over Reds and the underworld scene of the early 1950s.
02/06/05
No review available.
10/11/04
Along with Shock Corridor (1963), arguably [Fuller's] finest work.
07/20/04
One of Fuller's most compelling films.
07/19/04
The 1953 picture does a nice job capturing the mentality of the Cold War United States.
06/03/04
Fuller [took] genuine chances, [creating] moments of power unequaled by many more respectable directors.
04/12/04
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.
03/03/04
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