Pickup on South Street (1953)
Richard Widmark is just about as sexy as it gets in Pickup on South Street. I can’t believe he didn’t become the biggest heartthrob of the 1950s after this movie was released. Audiences never got over him playing such a villain in Kiss of Death, I suppose. But if you never saw that movie, or you took it with a grain of salt, you’ll probably fall in love with him in this movie. He plays a pickpocket who specializes in thefts on the subway. He takes Jean Peters’s purse one afternoon, but it wasn’t just an innocent pickup. She was carrying a dangerous microfilm for her boyfriend, Richard Kiley, and now that Widmark has it, the bad guys will be after him.
So much of the movie has a great professional feel to it, from the pace of the dialogue to Samuel Fuller’s dark noir direction. Dick and Jean have sizzling chemistry in this noir that’s so intense, it makes you hope (in vain) that something happened between them off the screen. Jean Peters didn’t make many movies, but every time she did, she became a completely different character. When you see her in this, it’s hard to believe she could play anyone else besides the perpetually sweaty, gum-chewing, low-class broad oozing with sex appeal. But then, when you see her as the innocent honeymooner in Niagara, it’s hard to believe she could even act sexy. Richard Kiley plays a terrible bad guy, frightening and without a conscience. In fact, the next time I saw him, I didn’t even recognize him. “That’s Richard Kiley?” I asked while watching The Little Prince, since he’d played such a convincing villain twenty years earlier.
Thelma Ritter won a Rag award for Best Supporting Actress for her heartbreaking role as the police’s stoolie. Limping around in constant pain, she saves every bit of money she gets from her police tips so she can have a big funeral when she dies. She lives in squalor and knows everything that goes on in the streets, which is why she’s such a good squealer to the cops. Composer Leigh Harline also won a Rag for the film. His complex title theme had a distinctly Asian theme to coincide with the setting of South Street in Chinatown. From start to finish, this movie makes you feel excited, frightened, and unsure as to whether or not anyone will make it to the finish line. Rent it for a great date night, since you’ll both have someone nice to look at.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "Juhi Thaker" for posting!
More Thelma Ritter movies here!
More Richard Widmark movies here!
So much of the movie has a great professional feel to it, from the pace of the dialogue to Samuel Fuller’s dark noir direction. Dick and Jean have sizzling chemistry in this noir that’s so intense, it makes you hope (in vain) that something happened between them off the screen. Jean Peters didn’t make many movies, but every time she did, she became a completely different character. When you see her in this, it’s hard to believe she could play anyone else besides the perpetually sweaty, gum-chewing, low-class broad oozing with sex appeal. But then, when you see her as the innocent honeymooner in Niagara, it’s hard to believe she could even act sexy. Richard Kiley plays a terrible bad guy, frightening and without a conscience. In fact, the next time I saw him, I didn’t even recognize him. “That’s Richard Kiley?” I asked while watching The Little Prince, since he’d played such a convincing villain twenty years earlier.
Thelma Ritter won a Rag award for Best Supporting Actress for her heartbreaking role as the police’s stoolie. Limping around in constant pain, she saves every bit of money she gets from her police tips so she can have a big funeral when she dies. She lives in squalor and knows everything that goes on in the streets, which is why she’s such a good squealer to the cops. Composer Leigh Harline also won a Rag for the film. His complex title theme had a distinctly Asian theme to coincide with the setting of South Street in Chinatown. From start to finish, this movie makes you feel excited, frightened, and unsure as to whether or not anyone will make it to the finish line. Rent it for a great date night, since you’ll both have someone nice to look at.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "Juhi Thaker" for posting!
More Thelma Ritter movies here!
More Richard Widmark movies here!
Hot Toasty Rag Awards:
Best Supporting Actress of 1953: Thelma Ritter
Best Musical Score: Leigh Harline
Hot Toasty Rag Nominations:
Best Picture
Best Director: Samuel Fuller
Best Actress: Jean Peters