Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Artivels Undescribable Perfection

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

hrkepler Arrogant smart aleck pickpocket Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark) really picks on the wrong purse when he snatches a wallet from Candy (Jean Peters). Both of them had no idea that the wallet consisted a microfilm with top-secret government secrets meant for communist spies.Screenplay is masterfully written, right on the point stuff without too much unnecessary fat, characters are well developed, story flows so naturally that none of the twists and turns take too much focus on one singular moment. I guess Samuel Fuller's journalist background has something to do with it. Smooth and detailed direction with nice nuances and touches almost unnoticeable - scene where Candy discovers that her wallet is gone from the purse, an alarm goes off in the background.Richard Widmark is in his usual top form as arrogant pickpocket with heart at right place and Jean Peters is wonderfully natural as punching bag, but never just as damsel in distress. Thelma Ritter gives warm and interesting performance as street stoolie Moe (no wonder she received six Academy Award nominations including one for this role). Rest of the supporting cast deserves high recognition also without pointing anyone particular.With 'Pickup on South Street' Samuel Fuller's potential and craftsmanship as a director really came together and the result is well written, masterfully directed and magnificently acted smooth film-noir.

gavin6942 A pickpocket (Richard Widmark) unwittingly lifts a message destined for enemy agents and becomes a target for a Communist spy ring.In August 1952, the script was deemed unacceptable by the Production Code, by reasons of "excessive brutality and sadistic beatings, of both men and women." The committee also expressed disdain for the vicious beating of the character "Candy", on the part of "Joey." Apparently we had slid backwards in the 1950s, as such things would have been fine a decade earlier.The French release of the movie removed any reference to spies and microfilm in the translation. They called the movie "Le Port de la Drogue" (Carrying Drugs). The managers of 20th Century Fox thought that the theme of communist spies was too controversial in a country where the Communist Party was an influential and legitimate part of public life. This is fascinating.The whole concept is clever because it blends film noir and spy thriller. The two do not seem to overlap, but in this world they go together just fine. I prefer noir over spies, and I think that was executed well.

romanorum1 At film's beginning we see a NY subway so crowded that the neurosis of claustrophobia oppresses us. Folks keep piling on, but no one disembarks. A pickpocket (we soon learn is Skip McCoy = Richard Widmark), a three-time loser, skillfully removes a woman's wallet from her purse. The pickpocket is seen by FBI agent Zara (Willis B. Bouchery), but McCoy nevertheless gets away. It seems that the woman, Candy (Jean Peters), was being tailed by Zara all along. Her wallet contains a valuable microfilm (describing a chemical formula) wanted by the Communists. Candy was passing it on to her sleazy boyfriend Joey (Richard Kiley), a Communist sympathizer. Candy does not know final destination of the microfilm. McCoy knows nothing about the microfilm; he just wants to make a quick buck.Zara consults with Captain Dan Tiger (Murvyn Vye), who in turn relies on Moe Williams (Thelma Ritter), a street peddler who sells ties. Moe is a police paid informer who has a price for keeping keeps tabs on underworld figures in the neighborhood. She lives in a shabby tenement, but is saving enough cash for a fancy funeral. She tells Capt. Tiger, "I've got almost enough to buy both the stone and the plot." With new information the lawmen go to McCoy's bare-bones waterfront shack without electricity (but note how he stores stuff) on the East River. One of cops is Detective Winoki, played by Milburn Stone, later to star as Doc Adams in the very long-running and successful TV series, "Gunsmoke." The cops demand the microfilm. As Skip balks, he is summarily taken down to the precinct. Tiger tells McCoy, "If you refuse to co-operate, you will be just as guilty as the traitors who gave Stalin the A-bomb!" McCoy boldly retorts, "Are you waving the flag at me?" Candy eventually helps the authorities, and even Moe hinders the bad Commies. Likewise, McCoy changes his tune, but for a reason different than that of the feds. There is a climax involving a terrific fist fight between two antagonists on the subway tracks. Richard Widmark as the cocky hood is good as always. The line of the movie is delivered by Thelma Ritter, in a marvelous performance as Moe. "If I was to be buried in Potter's Field, it'd just about kill me." Ritter lost out to Donna Reed ("From Here to Eternity") for the Oscar as Best Supporting Actress. Joe MacDonald shoots this one in tight close-up, especially the wallet snatch. Watch how Lightning Louie (Vic Perry) gobbles his noodles from the bowl close to his mouth and how he fetches Candy's $20 bills. The contiguous shot effect (often without extraneous dialog) brings out the tension sustained by each character: note the furrows, the sweat, and the quivering lips. See how well MacDonald captures the overcrowded subway, the shots of New York City, Moe's tenement, the bait shop along the waterfront. Cigar-smoking director Sam Fuller has at least three films elected to the American National Film Registry, "Shock Corridor," "The Big Red One" (the nickname for the 1st infantry division where he served in World War II) and "VE + 1." The latter is a short about the liberation of Falkenau concentration camp.

Claudio Carvalho In New York, the pickpocket Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark) steals a wallet in the purse of a woman named Candy (Jean Peters) in the subway. His action is witnessed by FBI Agent Zara (Willis B. Bouchey) but Skip escapes from the wagon with the wallet. When Candy discovers that she was stolen, she returns to the house of her former lover Joey (Richard Kiley) that is worried about the incident. Meanwhile Zara goes to the police station and asks Captain Dan Tiger (Williams Murvyn Vye) to identify the pickpockets in that area. He explains that he was following Candy that would deliver a microfilm to the chief of a communist spy ring. Captain Tiger summons the old informer Moe (Thelma Ritter) that sells the identity and address of Skip. Candy also seeks out Moe trying to find the pickpocket that stole her wallet. Meanwhile Skip finds the microfilm and learns how valuable it is to the communists. Candy also discovers that Joey is communist and is using her in a treason act and she falls in love with Skip. Soon a cat and mouse game among Skip, the police department and the spies begins. "Pickup on South Street" is a dated film-noir with a espionage story directed by Samuel Fuller. Richard Widmark is perfect in the role of a scum and shows a wonderful chemistry with Jean Peters. The choreography of the fight between Skip and Joey is amazing. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Anjo do Mal" ("Evil Angel")