Pickup on South Street [VHS]

Pickup on South Street [VHS]
by Samuel Fuller

Pickup on South Street [VHS]

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Product details

Actor: Jean Peters, Murvyn Vye, Richard Kiley, Richard Widmark, Thelma Ritter
Director: Samuel Fuller
Cinematographer: Joseph MacDonald
Writer: Samuel Fuller
Editor: Nick DeMaggio
Producer: Jules Schermer
Writer: Dwight Taylor
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Black & White, HiFi Sound, NTSC
Running Time: 80 minutes
Release Date: 1998-01-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: 20th Century Fox
Studio: 20th Century Fox

VHS Movie Reviews of Pickup on South Street [VHS]

Movie Review: Nice Little Noir
Summary: 3 Stars

PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET---(1953)Richard Widmark,Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter, Richard Kiley.
I had not seen this film prior to ordering it but had seen/heard many references to it in discussions of film noir. Being a great fan of Widmark, I decided to add it to my collection. I found it to be a pretty good little film---nothing special, but enjoyable. Widmark plays yet another "low-life" that lives by his own "code". Thelma Ritter is especially good as the world-weary "snitch" who also has her own set of rules to live by. The film was made at the height of the "Red Scare" period and the obsession with, "the Commies", is somewhat dated---even comical, at times. Anyway, as I noted, not a great film, but, IMO, worth watching.

Movie Review: Good Film, But A Little Pricey
Summary: 4 Stars

The only thing about this film that bums me out is that the Criterion DVD is so expensive. It's too much for my budget at the moment, or I would purchase it, because the film is a good example of film noir...and I enjoy watching Richard Widmark, Jean Peters and Thelma Ritter.

Criterion produces great DVDs but sometimes the asking price is just a bit muchfor an 80-minute mono sound film that is good but nothing extraordinary, cinematography-wise.

The best part of the disc is the story here (as opposed to visuals, actors, sound, sets, etc.) as a pickpocket (Widmark) inadvertently winds up with espionage microfilm in his possession after pilfering Peters' purse. (Say that three times!).

Everyone but Peters is a believable character in this movie: Widmark, the cops, the U.S. agents and the Communists and, especially Ritter as "Moe," an informant. She and Widmark are the stars of this film.

Peters does a decent job of playing the cheap floozy but loses her credibility early on by "falling in love" with Widmark on the first meeting even though he's nasty to her. Only in world of film!! Too bad, because that ludicrous romance part of the story takes away from it.

This an average film noir which means good, but not great and certainly not worth owning at a price of $25-$30. For that price, one could do a lot better in the film noir market.

Movie Review: 2.5 stars out of 4
Summary: 3 Stars

The Bottom Line:

Though the premise is intriguing and Widmark is effective, this short (80 minutes) noir is too insubstantial to be worth recommending; long on atmosphere and short on plot, it's worth a look if you're a noir-hound but there are many better options out there.

Movie Review: SAMUEL FULLER, OPUS 6
Summary: 5 Stars

***** 1953. Written and directed by Samuel Fuller. One nomination for the Academy awards (Thelma Ritter). A pickpocket steals a microfilm without knowing it. Cops, F.B.I. and communists are soon after him. Criterion released a perfect copy of this movie that should be in any movie lover's library. Two rare interviews of Samuel Fuller complete this DVD. Masterpiece.

Movie Review: Au Revoir, Richard...thanks for this great one among many!
Summary: 4 Stars

Great job...great actor...he will be missed! Seeing this one, plus Kiss of Death, and then The Bedford Incident will give you a good overview of R.W.'s talent and his contribution to acting over the years.

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Summary of Pickup on South Street [VHS]

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

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