| |  | DVD : Pickup on South Street - Criterion Collection |  | | | | | | | | | |
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9781559409483
ISBN: 1559409487
Label: Criterion
Manufacturer: Criterion
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Criterion
Region Code: 1
Release Date: February 17, 2004
Running Time: 80 minutes
Sales Rank: 21589
Studio: Criterion
Theatrical Release Date: June 17, 1953
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Editorial Review:
Description:
Petty crook Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark) has his eyes fixed on thebig score, but when he picks the purse of unsuspecting Candy (Jean Peters) he finds ahaul 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 Candyfind themselves in a precarious gambit that pits greed against redemption, Right versusRed, and passion against self preservation. A dazzling cast, hardboiled repartee anddirector Samuel Fuller's signature raw energy combine to create a true film noir classic.
Amazon.com:
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
Customer Reviews Average Rating: 
Rating:  - SAMUEL FULLER, OPUS 6
***** 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.
Rating:  - Au Revoir, Richard...thanks for this great one among many!
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.
Rating:  - More Anti-Commie than Noir
SPOILERS: As a noir, the movie is a little disappointing. It has an agenda to satisfy a McCarthyite anti-communist litmus test above the demands of narrative. The main communist character, for example, is too nervous cowardly to meet with Widmark in the first reel and then shifts into homicidal mania to kill the sick, older lady in her bed. It looks good, though, and Widmark is great the role. Great dialog, too.
Rating: - No 'isms' need apply
The people who don't like this fine film are usu. caught up in some political 'ism'.Fuller said "What bull****! I had no intention of making a political statement in Pickup,none whatsoever.My yarn is a noir thriller about marginal people,nothing more, nothing less."For Fuller fans,the Criterion Eclipse Series has his first three films - out recently.Fuller's splendid autobiography is also a must read.
Rating: - Few better openings than in that sweaty subway car, with Skip's fingers sliding into Candy's open purse
Samuel Fuller is hardly one of America's great directors. I'm not sure he qualifies as one of Hollywood's great craftsmen. But he certainly ranks up there with the best of Hollywood's true professionals who were willing to march to their own music. During the time he worked for Hollywood studios, he knew how to take an assignment, shape the middling material handed to him and then turn it quickly and efficiently into something usually better than its parts...on time and on budget. Pickup on South ... Read More
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