PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET

This obscure film from 1953 was a real discovery.

It has an intriguing setup to kick things off: a pickpocket by the name of Skip purloins a young woman’s wallet which unbeknownst to both of them contains an important microfilm which the Soviets are keen to get their hands on.

She, Candy, is delivering the microfilm on behalf of her ex-boyfriend Joey whose has told her that it merely contains a trade secret which he is selling to a rival company.  There is no indication that Joey is ideologically wedded to the Soviets, he’s simply betraying his country for money, and he’s definitely the villain of this tale.  

The fourth major character, and a memorable one at that, is Moe, a woman of advanced years who makes money from selling information, usually to the police, so as to save up enough to avoid a pauper’s burial.  

She’s played by Thelma Ritter who normally had comedic roles so it was good to see her tackle a meaty dramatic role.  She is excellent as always, especially in the scene where she tells Joey she’d rather die than be a traitor.  Quite rightly she earned an Oscar nomination, one of six unsuccessful ones she received as a supporting actress, a record.

The story that develops is quite an intricate one with Skip determined to sell the microfilm to the highest bidder, even if that means selling out his country, and Joey using Candy to try to retrieve the microfilm one way or another.

I enjoyed how the relationship between Skip and Candy evolves over the course of the film.  It is implied early on that she might have been a prostitute in the past, and to begin with she certainly tries using her feminine charms on Skip, which he pretends to respond to.  Gradually she develops feelings for him but he’s happy to string her along until late in the film when the situation he is in starts to get real, beginning with the murder of Moe.

Richard Widmark is fine as Skip but the real standout performance is Jean Peters as Candy. She had already impressed me in a small role in ‘Broken Lance’ and here she really gets to shine.  Director Sam Fuller cast her in the role instead of more glamorous actresses such as Marilyn Monroe and Ava Gardner because he judged (correctly) that Peters would be better able to portray someone who’s streetwise.

Fuller himself directs the film with flair, especially in a visceral scene when Joey beats up Candy before shooting her.  Fuller also wrote the screenplay which to my mind is good enough to have warranted an Oscar nomination.

It got mixed reviews (predictably the influential Bosley Crowther didn't like the violence) but it is now recognised as a noir classic.