Almost perfect.
Pickup on South Street (1953)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:25
Fresh:22
Rotten:3
Average Rating:7.6/10
Runtime: 81 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: This film noir classic plays on America's paranoia about a Communist takeover in the 1950s. Dwelling in a neon-lit nightscape are: a pickpocket, Skip McCoy; an abused dame, Candy; a... This film noir classic plays on America's paranoia about a Communist takeover in the 1950s. Dwelling in a neon-lit nightscape are: a pickpocket, Skip McCoy; an abused dame, Candy; a seen-it-all stoolie, Moe; Joey, Candy's violent boyfriend and Communist plotter; shifty G-Men; cynical cops; and a whole nest of vipers in fedoras and trenchcoats. Joey forces Candy to deliver a secret package for him. Then Skip snatches Candy's purse and inadvertently takes a cryptic film that some underground Reds have stolen. A pair of Feds tracking the film's whereabouts witness the pickpocket and close in on him. But Skip first considers cutting a deal with the Communists. Then he realizes that several parties are interested in the film -- and some are even willing to kill for it! [More]
Starring: Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter, Richard Kiley
Starring: Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter, Richard Kiley, Murvyn Vye, Willis Bouchey, Milburn Stone, Jerry O'Sullivan, Harry Carter
Director: Samuel Fuller
Director: Samuel Fuller
Screenwriter: Samuel Fuller
Producer: Jules Schermer
Composer: Leigh Harline
Get This Movie
Reviews for Pickup on South Street
Both Widmark and Peters are superb, but it is Ritter, as the seedy but much-loved Moe, who gives the film its emotional punch.
Pickup for the most part falls flat on its face and borders on presumably unintended, comedy.
Sam Fuller, who wrote it and directed, appears to have been more concerned with firing a barrage of sensations than with telling a story to be believed.
Perhaps finally flawed by its overt political assumptions, but the film remains a desperate kind of masterpiece.
80 minutes of breathless genre fun infused with pure, uninhibited passion.
Engagingly captures the hysteria over Reds and the underworld scene of the early 1950s.
The 1953 picture does a nice job capturing the mentality of the Cold War United States.
Fuller [took] genuine chances, [creating] moments of power unequaled by many more respectable directors.
One of Fuller's few studio-financed pictures, this bruising, brutal movie still manages to emanate waves of B-movie street cred at every juncture.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 40% 40% | Surrogates |
| 83% 83% | Whip It |
| 29% 29% | Gamer |
| 97% 97% | The Hurt Locker |
| 81% 81% | Michael Jackson's This… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 87% 87% | A Serious Man |
| 37% 37% | The Time Traveler's Wife |
| 78% 78% | Bronson |
| 11% 11% | The Stepfather |
RT On Current TV
DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
CloseSponsored Links
Around The Network
- Pickup on South Street at Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh Links
Featured

Check out PopEater's collection of childhood photos of celebs, from Tom Cruise to Kim Kardashian.

TIME's Richard Corliss pores over the Oscar noms for the major awards and offers his take on who will win.

For a different take, the AV Club delves into why awards season is terrible.

Moviefone has put together a list of the actors with the most Razzie noms ever.

Hollywood.com makes a case for a big screen adaptation of popular game Mass Effect.
Promos

Download it from iTunes and get Tomatometer scores straight to your iPhone!



Top Critic
