A pickpocket unwittingly lifts a message destined for enemy agents and becomes a target for a Communist spy ring.A pickpocket unwittingly lifts a message destined for enemy agents and becomes a target for a Communist spy ring.A pickpocket unwittingly lifts a message destined for enemy agents and becomes a target for a Communist spy ring.
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
15K
YOUR RATING
- Samuel Fuller(screenplay)
- Dwight Taylor(story)
- Stars
Willis Bouchey
- Zara
- (as Willis B. Bouchey)
Parley Baer
- Headquarters Communist in Chair
- (uncredited)
George Berkeley
- Undetermined Secondary Role
- (uncredited)
Chet Brandenburg
- Fight Spectator
- (uncredited)
Virginia Carroll
- Nurse
- (uncredited)
Harry Carter
- Detective Dietrich
- (uncredited)
Heinie Conklin
- Subway Passenger
- (uncredited)
Clancy Cooper
- Detective Eddie
- (uncredited)
George Eldredge
- Fenton
- (uncredited)
John Gallaudet
- Detective Lt. Campion
- (uncredited)
Robert Haines
- Library Worker
- (uncredited)
Frank Kumagai
- Lum
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe last of four films in four successive years that Thelma Ritter was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. This film follows nominations for All About Eve (1950), The Mating Season (1951) and With a Song in My Heart (1952).
- GoofsWhen Joey leaves the basement after assaulting the police officer, he walks out of the shot, then a cat is obviously thrown into the frame.
- Quotes
Moe Williams: Listen, Mister. When I come in here tonight, you seen an old clock runnin' down. I'm tired. I'm through. Happens to everybody sometime. It'll happen to you too, someday. With me it's a little bit of everything. Backaches and headaches. I can't sleep nights. It's so hard to get up in the morning, and get dressed and walk the streets. Climb the stairs. I go right on doin' it! Well, what am I gonna do, knock it? I have to go on makin' a livin'... so I can die. But even a fancy funeral ain't worth waitin' fer if I gotta do bus'ness with crumbs like you.
- Alternate versionsWhen the movie was released in France, the French dubbing replaced the communists spying with drug dealing to avoid political controversy. No English print with subtitles went in circulation. The French title "Le port de la drogue" could be translated by "Pier of Drug". The original version was released several years after.
- ConnectionsEdited into American Cinema: Film Noir (1995)
Review
Featured review
Tough and compelling
This is yet another gritty and compelling film directed by Sam Fuller in the early 1950s. This minimalist and fast-working director has something unusual for his earlier films--a cast with some stars. Richard Widmark, Jean Peters and Richard Kiley star in this film about a group of Communist agents who are trying to sneak secrets out of America--and they'll stop at nothing to succeed.
The film starts with Peters on a subway car being watched by federal agents. They know she is a link in a long espionage chain. Unknown to everyone is the wild card in the equation--a small-time pickpocket (Widmark) is also on the train and he manages to steal the secrets that Peters is carrying. Widmark thinks it's just another purse he's ransacked--only later does he realize the seriousness of what he's stolen. Now it's Widmark on his own--with Commies and the FBI hot on his trail.
Widmark and the rest are exceptional and the film is gripping from start to finish. Although she didn't get top billing, a special mention should be made of Thelma Ritter. This supporting actress had perhaps the performance of her lifetime as a stool pigeon. Seldom was she given this much of a chance to act and I was impressed by her ability to play a broken down and sad old lady.
As far as the script and directing go, they are very good--but with one small exception. At first, I loved the way Widmark and Peters interacted. It's one of the few times on film you'll see a woman punched square in the mouth! Now THAT'S tough. Later, inexplicably, they become amazingly close--too close to be believable. Still, with so much great drama and such an effective Noir-like film, this can be overlooked. See this film.
The film starts with Peters on a subway car being watched by federal agents. They know she is a link in a long espionage chain. Unknown to everyone is the wild card in the equation--a small-time pickpocket (Widmark) is also on the train and he manages to steal the secrets that Peters is carrying. Widmark thinks it's just another purse he's ransacked--only later does he realize the seriousness of what he's stolen. Now it's Widmark on his own--with Commies and the FBI hot on his trail.
Widmark and the rest are exceptional and the film is gripping from start to finish. Although she didn't get top billing, a special mention should be made of Thelma Ritter. This supporting actress had perhaps the performance of her lifetime as a stool pigeon. Seldom was she given this much of a chance to act and I was impressed by her ability to play a broken down and sad old lady.
As far as the script and directing go, they are very good--but with one small exception. At first, I loved the way Widmark and Peters interacted. It's one of the few times on film you'll see a woman punched square in the mouth! Now THAT'S tough. Later, inexplicably, they become amazingly close--too close to be believable. Still, with so much great drama and such an effective Noir-like film, this can be overlooked. See this film.
helpful•195
- planktonrules
- Jan 2, 2009
Details
Box office
- 1 hour 20 minutes
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By what name was Pickup on South Street (1953) officially released in India in English?
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