Director: Samuel Fuller
Producer: Jules Schermer
Screenwriter: Samuel Fuller
Cinematographer: Joseph MacDonald
Music: Lionel Newman
Studio: 2oth Century Fox 1953
Main Acting: Richard Widmark and Jean Peters
Director Samuel Fuller’s reputation continues to grow with every passing year. With such major cinematic figures as Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino consistently praising his body of work, the journalist-turned-low-budget-maverick has moved closer and closer to the front rank of auteurists in the eyes of many movie lovers. While I can praise a Fuller picture for many of the same qualities that the above filmmakers do (toughness, brash ostracized characters, blunt tabloid-like stories) as well as acknowledge how his themes could marvel a modern audience, I do remain mysteriously unmoved by his overall filmography. At times, his message can feel as forced and heavy handed as a George Romero zombie flick. With Pickup On South Street, I am highlighting what I consider to be the best feature the director ever managed to make (with The Steel Helmet a close second).
Noir has many examples of works within its genre that harness ludicrous plots and hair-brained developments that push credibility to the breaking point. Pickup On South Street is such a case. Richard Widmark plays a professional pickpocket, Skip McCoy, who grifts a wallet from a saucy dame, Candy (apt name for character played by Jean Peters), that just so happens to have some microfilm that is valuable to Communists and the American government alike. Given to her by her ex-boyfriend Joey, as one more favor before they break-up up for good, she’s expected to deliver the harmless-looking contents to a mysterious man she is scheduled to meet. Not getting this strip of celluloid transported properly can lead to much hardship for all the main central players. Portraying the standard noir anti-hero, Skip figures out that the contents are valuable and looks to collect as much dough as he can wring out from whoever feels like ponying up some cash. Candy’s feeble attempts to persuade him to give her back the merchandise only leads to her being slapped around a few times by Skip, which oddly enough, brings them closer together. As all concerned parties begin to slowly head towards a critical confrontation, the questions remaining are: Will Skip McCoy fall in love with Candy, resist dealing with determined commie infiltrators, and avoid a three-strike prison term that could land him in the big house indefinitely?
If we choose to follow the plot literally and really pay attention to specific details in the story, then Pickup On South Street ends up looking like a bit of a mess. In my eyes, what propels the movie to land on this countdown is that the Communist angle is really just a MacGuffin for Fuller to explore a bunch of fascinating marginalized people. I wish that he could have somehow exercised this unnecessary element out of the tale, but it doesn’t overly hinder the proceedings. Many wonderful scenes are incorporated throughout. Thelma Ritter’s death at the hands of Joey being the greatest. Her visit to the police station explaining the various techniques used by pickpocket thieves being another. All the roles are imbued with a tough realistic frisson that coupled with the pulpy dialogue feels like it’s being sprouted by actual people. The movie is crackling with vibrant synergy that while slightly lacking as a finished whole still triumphs with its street-like swagger and primitive ferocity. This was Fuller’s greatest gift… a sort of low-brow intensity that was tailor made for noir’s sensibility. The fact that I’m unimpressed by The Naked Kiss, Underworld USA, and House Of Bamboo is a hundred-to-one-shot that remains almost unbelievable even to me as I write this.
Click on names for archives
Writers/Founders
Wonders in the Dark 
While a solid noir, Pickup for me is not quite satisfying and the weak ending is hard to swallow. The Crimson Kimono, The Naked Kiss, and Underworld USA are superior. This is not to say the cast is not great. Widmark, Peters, and Ritter give fine performances, but the movie does not come together. This is not so much Fuller’s fault, but the commies under the bed screenplay, which Fuller tries to fill-out with the strong characterizations, is too Howard Hughes to be taken seriously.
This film sure divides many people. Some think its a masterpiece, others the exact opposite. Showing the folly of trying to rank stuff (though I enjoy doing it) I actually think that at least four films that already appeared on this list should probably be ranked higher now than Pickup On South Street. Panic In The Streets, Where The Sidewalk Ends and He Walked By Night are all too low.
For me it’s the characters (Widmark, Ritter and Peters) that drive this film along with Fuller’s use of the camera. Ritter’s bag lady death scene is a high point. Classic Widmark and Peters looks great. Like all Fuller films there is a gravel like roughness to it that either rubs you the right way or not. I pretty much agree with Tony’s selection of Fuller’s best noirs though I always find watching PICKUP thrilling. I do think his non noir film; THE STEEL HELMET is his best. Have you or anyone seen PARK ROW, a terrific small newspaper film.
I totally agree with your first sentence John. The strength of the film comes mainly from those three actors/actresses. Ritter’s death is a high point and The Steel Helmet is terrific. Park Row I have seen and would rate it about ***1/2. Not a fan of any of the Fuller films Tony mentioned. To be perfectly honest, I consider the director to be massively overrated (I tried to sugarcoat my disdain in the essay). I guess the roughness upsets my delicate nature lol.
Another very readable review Maurizio.
I’ve seen a few of Fuller’s films (my favourite is FORTY GUNS) but not this one.
I understand why people may not like Pickup. The communist angle is what bothers me personally. Still the acting and emphasis on the characters really win out.
I’ve always liked this film. Is it Fuller’s best? I’m not sure, but it’s a representative choice for the countdown. Excellent writing.
Nothing excellent about this piece but thanks for the compliment Frank. This is Fuller’s most representative noir based on my strict criteria. The happy ending that Tony dislikes is rather a curious way for the picture to end.
I’m with Frank on this one, love this film and pretty much all of Fuller’s output, all the films Tony mentions above (isn’t LA CONFIDENTIAL riffing on CRIMSON KIMONO?) and SHOCK CORRIDOR are genius (including this one) in my opinion. But I am the first to admit that I love him for intensely personal reasons, so I’m not bothered and can sympathize with those that don’t have much value for his films. I am happy that Maurizio decided that a Noir top 50 does need at least one Fuller.
I will say I initially loved his films for the gritty aesthetic (as a fan of exploitation films as a kid I saw his works as a clear precursor) then I read the essay in the first volume of that ‘Film Noir Reader’ that outlined how he used to write and construct his films on a chalk board with different colored chalks (red, blue, and yellow) with each color doing different things (red meant lines to evoke passion or emotion for example, blue used for plot development, etc.). He wouldn’t finish a scene and move on in the script until each scene was successfully meeting all the criteria. It brings a new light to his supposed ‘raw’, ‘quick’ aesthetic, reinstalling him as a master with a mathematicians sense of detail and drama. Just an absolute American auteur of the highest order, of the era in question only Nicholas Ray and perhaps Billy Wilder top.
If I made a Noir list I’m not sure how high I’d place this one either, though I would place it top 50. My reluctance would be just how many and what Fuller’s where included however. But love it or hate it, this film deserves mention in any serious film or film noir discussion for one simple reason: it planted a little seed in the mind of Robert Bresson to deliver one of the masterpieces of post-war European cinema. (How differently Bresson saw the story is quite interesting in and of itself, but that’s a discussion for another time)
“Just an absolute American auteur of the highest order, of the era in question only Nicholas Ray and perhaps Billy Wilder top. ”
Meant to end with ‘”..in my eyes”. as that’s an entirely subjective comment.
Ray and Wilder… I wonder if those guys will make the countdown.
to me ACE IN THE HOLE is the greatest Noir that’s ever graced the space in front of my eyes (with IN A LONELY PLACE somewhere on its heels). Whereas DOUBLE INDEMNITY is meh, whatever.
that’s how I rate those dudes.
I would love to reply more specifically but secrets are secrets. I will say both made other noirs… I wonder what your opinion on those are.
Ironically given the present general disregard for the Commie angle, Pickup has a somewhat exalted reputation today because of the one bit of supposed subversiveness that supposedly put Fuller and Darryl Zanuck at odds with J. Edgar Hoover — Skip’s resistance to having “the flag” waved at him by the Feds. However much Fuller himself inflated the significance of the scene afterward, it’s a valid component of Skip’s noirish overall alienation or self-marginalization. I like Pickup a lot but from Fuller in the Fifties I prefer the hard-boiled exotica of House of Bamboo for reasons that transcend its questionable categorization.
The best part of the Commie angle is what Fuller mentions below in Tony’s comment. The fact that Skip has no time to be patriotic because he has more important things to worry about….. eating. Only in noir can the hero (in 1953 conformist America) be so cynical as to not give a rat’s ass about his country’s problems. The realism of the downtrodden is rendered perfectly. I love that aspect and it makes me want to see this film again now.
I love Fuller, but I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t gotten to this. I think highly of “Shock Corridor” and “The Naked Kiss,” but I see you aren’t a fan of the latter.
Both Shock Corridor and Naked Kiss are in the *** to ***1/2 range for me Peter. It seems thats where most Fuller’s reside for me. Most of his prime films aren’t bad just not overly loved.
I really love Fuller, in fact he’s one of my favorite American directors. That said, his noirs are probably my least favorite of the various genres he dabbled in. I think his greatest in that respect is House of Bamboo, which is a masterpiece and one of his best movies. I have always enjoyed Pickup though for its acting (Widmark and Ritter are superb), as well as its anxious atmosphere and the typical visual flair Fuller brings to the table. I absolutely love Fuller’s shadow play in the climax as Richard Kiley’s character hides in the elevator shaft, it’s so sublimely noirish.
btw The Naked Kiss isn’t really noir
Your not alone in your love for Fuller Drew. Many people feel the same way. I guess you love his war films more. The Steel Helmet is great though I have never been a huge fan of The Big Red One…. *** stars for that one as well.
I do love his war films a ton, Maurizio. It’s funny, it seems The Steel Helmet is one even non-fans of Fuller have no problem getting on board with. I do love it, but probably prefer both The Big Red One and Fixed Bayonets! The latter is almost always lost in the shadow of The Steel Helmet (it came out the same year), but it’s tremendously haunting and easily one of my favorite movies of his, you should definitely seek it out.
THE BIG RED ONE can only be judged on the special Edition uncut version, that one is a masterpiece. I was always lukewarm on it (compared to the rest of his canon) but after Allan wrote about it for a countdown I sought out the uncut and saw the masterpiece that is most certainly is.
Maurizio and WitD readers!!!!
Check out Drew’s January 20, 2011 Samuel Fuller screen cap post at THE BLUE VIAL, titled “In the Shadows,” where he offers up some terrific validation of the visual artistry in PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET!
http://thebluevial.blogspot.com/2011/01/in-shadows.html
Thanks for the plug, Sam!
An extract from the Fuller interview in Film Noir Reader #3 is here: http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue10/features/fuller/
It was a Daryl Zanuck project, and it seems Fuller’s script had to work around the communist plot angle from the original story. He says:
“I got a kick out of the thought of the three main characters being a pickpocket, a hooker, and a stool pigeon/bag lady. These three, the lowest rungs on the social ladder, were in the front line of the cold war. It evolved from a courtroom drama that they wanted me to do. I told [Darryl] Zanuck I wanted to do a real story about a cannon, a professional thief, with authentic dialogue. In this story, crime pays. It’s a business. They aren’t criminals out of choice, because they always wanted to be; they do it because it’s the only way they can make a living. This character, McCoy, he lived alone, he was alone, in his own jungle, in a cocoon. Somebody penetrated that, took a beating for him. Nobody before would ever lift a finger to help him, let alone suffer physical injury for him. Then he saw red. It became personal.
We shot the picture in 20 days, making downtown L.A. look like New York City. We had a couple of sets–the subway where the guy gets pulled down and plays chopsticks on the stairs with his chin. Richard Kiley’s character is not a true true believer; he’s just another grifter being paid by the Commies. I really don’t care about ideologies. That’s all a yawn; but the people who believe, who work for, who kill for the ideologies, now those are characters that I can relate to. I played down the politics because that’s boring, and I had no interest in the political structure of the Communist Party in the U.S. or anywhere else. This is about espionage, a risk occupation just like lifting wallets–a grifter is a grifter after all whatever the grift. Even the American agents are left vague; they’re just government men. There was a guy in England, Fuchs I think, who got slammed around the time I was writing the script for being a double-agent, so I threw a reference in there: “You know about Fuchs (or whatever his name was). You know what he did and what’s going to happen to him.” Widmark’s answer is “Who cares about that?” I wanted the contrast between the political view, the Red Menace, all of that stuff, and the reality for a grifter: which is “who cares?” I’m down here two steps up from the gutter. Political motives are from the moon.”
Fascinating embellishment here!
“We shot the picture in 20 days, making downtown L.A. look like New York City.”
I bet that was no easy task for a few logistical reasons. The political admissions here are telling.
Holy cow Tony, you enrich every thread. The Fuller quotes you add here really are incredible. The man seems so real and genuine. Far far away from the plastic world of Hollywood at the time and most of the sugary fake people.
Once again, Tony has fueled a superlative comment thread with some invaluable additions, but Samuel Wilson, Drew McIntosh and Jamie are absolutely superb as well in support of an outstanding review by Maurizio of a Fuller film I’ve always been fond of. The vivid settings, the high contrast photography of Joe McDonald, and the diverse stylists are notable, and there’s an astonishing balance of violence and compassion. I always though if ever a supporting actress award was deserved, it would be one that didn’t go to Thelma Ritter, who is absolutely exraordinary in this role. Once again Richard Widmark is superlative as the pickpocket. Fuller also makes excellent use of close-ups in the film. \
Your modesty Maurizio is noble, but this is a superb review. And yes, Fuller’s reputation is on the rise in movie circles.
Yeah Sam everyone has been bringing their A game with the comments. The best part of WITD…
I love Thelma Ritter. Just one of many great character actors toiling away in the classic studio system. I wish she did more classic noir in her career.
I love that Fuller cast her for the role because she walked ‘slightly bowlegged like a prostitute’. (the studio wanted Marilyn Monroe and a host of others)
Fantastic.
Monroe as the bag-lady? The mind boggles 😉
Jean Peters right? I think she almost steals the picture. She is great in The Asphalt Jungle too!
Oh right, I read it quickly… a funny mistake as you point out.
Monroe as bag lady would be the ultimate against type casting ever!!!
Fuller is a subversive, and noir is if anything subversive. Fuller’s pulp melodramas are guerrilla attacks on established certainties.
Andrew Spicer says of Fuller in his book, Film Noir, when reviewing the course of noir post-Touch of Evil: “…there was an ‘underground’ culture that retained film noir as a critical cultural form. This underground tradition included… b-film-maker Samuel Fuller with Underworld USA (1961), Shock Corridor (1963) and the Naked Kiss (1964) [that]… attacked the beneficence of American capitalism and the sanctity of the suburban family, keeping alive a habit of irony, scepticism, absurdity and dark existentialism.”
Mark Cousins refers to Fuller only once in his The Story of Film, and then only when introducing 1920s cinema: “The primitive film-making of the early 1910s with its simple shots, raw frontal acting and rapid action, un-moderated by the expectations of the middle classes, was disappearing. Like a humpback whale it went deep underwater. There would be rumours of sightings in 1950s America in melodramas such as Johnny Guitar (1953), and in the films of Samuel Fuller.”
Hi! Maurizio Roca…
Once again, nice review…I must admit that the “jury” is still out when it comes to my opinion about Fuller’s Pick-Up On South Street.
Thanks, for sharing!
DeeDee 😉
I have a few noirs like that as well Dee Dee. Not sure if I completely like them, so I leave the door open…
Tony said,”Jean Peters right? I think she almost steals the picture. She is great in The Asphalt Jungle too!
Hi! Tony
No, that is actress Jean Hagen, “methinks” as “Doll” that is great in Huston’s (1950) film noir “The Asphalt Jungle” and another film noir that I liked Miss Hagen, in is Mann’s (1950) “Side Street” with actor Farley Granger and Cathy O’ Donnell.
Hagen’s role is very small, but memorable too!
DeeDee 😉
Poetic justice…
I’ve seen this film only once, and that was in about 1963 when it aired on television. I really don’t remember the plot, but I remember the film making an impact on me at the time. The fact that it has stuck in my mind all these years must mean something.
I THINK PICK UP IS ONE OF THE BEST FILM NOIRS EVER FILMED. FULLER DID A SUPERB JOB ON IT, AND I DIN’T MIND THE COMMUNIST ANGLE; MAINLY BECAUSE IT’S THREE LOW LIFE CHARACTERS THAT ACTUALLY ARE AGAINST IT. THE SCRIPT IS FRESH, INNOVATIVE. I ALSO AGREE THAT JEAN PETERS ALMOST STEALS THE MOVIE. THE LONG SCENE WHEN HER EX-LOVER BEATS HER UP WAS FILMED FULL ANGLE -WITHOUT A CUT. TO ME SHE WAS A TOP ACTRESS. ALL THE ACTORS IN THIS FILM, IN FACT, ARE SUPERB. THE THREE MAIN CHARACTERS SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED FOR OSCARS. PETERS, WIDMARK AND RITTER (WHO ACTUALLY WAS BUT DIDN’T WIN). BEST FILM NOIR -IN MY OPINION.