I love this movie so much

An action-packed slog

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Everything about this film is first rate. Everything!The story is solid, the acting excellent, the direction spot-on, and the cinematography excellent.What a perfect paring; noir and spy-craft. Richard Widmark gives a convincing if not schizophrenic performance as a petty criminal in love with this mark. But the movie is stolen by Thelma Ritter in her final scene.Everything about this film says "dark film" without screaming it. Add to that, they "communist connection," and you have and update version of the original American film art-form.WARNING: There is a REMARKABLE amount of male on female violence for a Hayes Code film. Yes, even today, it's hard to watch.

This was the worst Samuel Fuller film I've ever seen, it was the fifth film I saw of this filmmaker. The film is very "forced" in many aspects, especially in the passion so fast and unreliable that happens between the two protagonists. Richard Widmark's performance in this kind of role, in "noir" film, did not convince me anything. Jean Peters and Thelma Ritter are way better than Widmark. The film is also very politically correct to my liking, with the Communists, as was convenient at the time, to be the bad guys on tape. Despite everything the film has some very well done scenes, as is the case of the opening scene with the robbery of the wallet of Jean Peters by Richard Widmark, is in fact a scene very well filmed.

Richard Widmark in his prime at his best as a pickpocket who does his job too well and picks a wallet with more than money in it, resulting in a chain reaction of awful events, turning a desperate man into a murderer with many casualties on the way both by bullets and fisticuffs. Thelma Ritter makes a deep impression as an old lady selling neckties. The thriller is very carefully filmed, the tempo is slow and a bit too detailed in close-ups and long shots, but you can endure it for the sake of the story. This is definitely Sam Fuller's best film and probably the only one that will be remembered. There are no flaws, nothing to criticise or find wrong with, and the logic is watertight, although the dialog is dreadful in its drawling vulgarity, and it's not a film for those who only want action if it is fast.

Pickup on South Street is about a petty thief, Skip McCoy, who gets caught up in a spy ring desperately trying to recover two strips of microfilm that the thief stole. The movie is set in New York City and includes exterior location shots. The cinematography creates a somber and sinister mood, with many scenes filmed using dim light. The urban landscape is generally seedy, which corresponds with the kind of characters that populate the story. The principal character, Skip McCoy, is a cross between Slip Mahoney from The Bowery Boys and Charles Tatum, the flamboyant newspaperman, except that Skip is neither funny nor particularly bright. The idea of a petty thief and three-time loser trying to shake down a Communist spy ring stretches plausibility to the limit. Trying to appeal to his sense of patriotism is a waste of time. The character is simply too shallow to be taken seriously. All he wants is money. He is a nobody existing in a shack under a bridge, away from society. The only reason why anybody wants anything to do with him is because he has something that somebody wants, and even after he realizes that what he stole is something serious, his thinking remains incredibly myopic. Then there is Candy, the woman who falls in love with Skip. She is unbelievable. First, she falls in love with Skip, the man who victimizes her, and then tries to use her as go-between with the "Commies." Later she clobbers Skip over the head with a bottle, leaving him sprawled on the floor. Then Candy insists that she is not a Communist, even though she is a courier for a Communist spy ring, has in her possession stolen documents, and her boyfriend is a Communist. Finally, she is physically abused, not by one man, but by two, yet remains loyal to both. Given her nasty, conniving nature, she would have been more believable as someone who shakes down the spies. Regarding the boyfriend, Joey, his behavior is hysterical. A spy by necessity has to keep a low profile and maintain self-control but not in this movie. Here the spy is running around with a gun shooting people and attracting a lot of attention. Also, he seems too apolitical to be a communist. Is he really a spy? Then there is Moe, the woman informant who fronts as a street vendor selling ties. To believe that this woman, who makes Skip McCoy look mainstream, would have any information worth paying for is a stretch. At first, it seems that Moe is in the story for comic relief, but then she goes from being brash and cynical to maudlin and melodramatic, and she is not the lead character. Why should anyone care what she thinks? Moe would have been more believable as a pickpocket. Despite these anomalies, what makes the movie watchable is the terrific acting. Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter and Richard Kiley deliver strong performances. Thelma Ritter is especially impressive. The stunt doubles are impressive too. The movie too has a campy quality, especially in its exaggerated theatrics that seem to parody more serious works in the crime and spy genres, such as The Maltese Falcon in which the lead character also possesses a valuable object, or Sunset Boulevard in which the lead character also craves money. But in those movies, these characters have depth, which adds richness to the plot and makes the stories compelling works of drama. Although entertaining, Pickup on South Street does not rise up to that level.