Pickup on South Street

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Samuel Fuller's films are sometimes compared to the pulp novels of Mickey Spillane, though Fuller's dynamic style dwarfs Spillane. With films often crass but always provocative, Fuller described his mantra of filmmaking: "Film is like a battleground, with love, hate, action, violence, death ... in one word, emotion."

Considered by some as the archetypal Sam Fuller film and a nice summary of the main themes in his work, Pickup on South Street is a taut, Cold War thriller. The fast-paced plot follows a professional pickpocket who accidentally lifts some secret microfilm from his mark. Patriotism or profit? Soon, the thief is being pursued not only by the woman he stole from, but also by Communist spies and U.S. government agents. The film culminates in a landmark brutal subway-based fight scene.

It is arguably the classic anti-Communist film of the 1950s and a dazzling display of the seedy New York underlife. In particular, Thelma Ritter's excellent tough-yet-nuanced performance as Moe Williams stands out and earned her an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress, which was highly unusual for what was considered at the time a lurid and violent B-movie.

Pickup on South Street was added to the National Film Registry in 2018.

Tropes used in Pickup on South Street include:

Even Evil Has Standards:

Moe Williams: What's the matter with you? Playing footsie with the Commies!
Skip McCoy: You waving the flag, too?
Moe Williams: Listen, I knew you since you was a little kid. You was always a regular kind of crook. I never figured you for a louse.
Skip McCoy: Stop, you're breaking my heart.
Moe Williams: Even in our crummy line of business you gotta draw the line somewhere.