Pickup on South Street

"How the law took a chance on a B-girl … and won!"

Jul 3 1953 Approved 1h 20m
Crime, Film-Noir, Thriller

In New York City, an insolent pickpocket, Skip McCoy, inadvertently sets off a chain of events when he targets ex-prostitute Candy and steals her wallet. Unaware that she has been making deliveries of highly classified information to the communists, Candy, who has been trailed by FBI agents for months in hopes of nabbing the spy ringleader, is sent by her ex-boyfriend, Joey, to find Skip and retrieve the valuable microfilm he now holds.

Plot

On a crowded subway, Skip McCoy picks the purse of Candy. Among his take, although he does not know it at the time, is a piece of top-secret microfilm that was being passed by Candy's consort, a Communist agent. Candy discovers the whereabouts of the film through Moe Williams, a police informer. She attempts to seduce McCoy to recover the film. She fails to get back the film and falls in love with him. The desperate agent exterminates Moe and savagely beats Candy. McCoy, now goaded into action, confronts the agent in a particularly brutal fight in a subway.

Written by

Samuel Fuller, Dwight Taylor

Directed by

Samuel Fuller

Cast

Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter

Crew

View crew

Production Countries

United States of America

Production Companies

20th Century Fox

Languages

English

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 2 wins & 3 nominations total

Trailers
Pickup On South Street (1953) trailer
Featurettes
Sam Hamm on PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET
Scores
# of Votes
16,802
Average Rating
7.6 out of 10
Metascore
NA
Popularity
NA