Pickup on South Street

Film noir arose in the 1940's as a reaction against typical Hollywood storytelling. As such, it has certain inherent strengths. Noir films are realistic in the sense that they usually lack traditional heroes and villains; at best, the protagonist is willing to do some rather terrible things. Noir also frequently explores the seamier side of life, inspiring dramatic and effective lighting and camerawork.

Unfortunately, noir films also tend to feature hectic pacing, which can lead to slapdash filmmaking and ridiculous plot twists. The best noir explores the grittiness of its characters and settings without resorting to silliness.

"Pickup on South Street," written and directed by Samuel Fuller, is mostly successful in this regard. Skip McCoy is a skillful pickpocket who lifts a purse containing a film intended for delivery to Communists. Soon he finds both G-men and Communists on his trail. The momentum builds to some very energetic action sequences. Particularly effective is a scene involving a man hiding from the police on a dumbwaiter. Fuller knows how to film men throwing punches; small wonder that Martin Scorcese counts him among his influences.

Unfortunately, there are still some goofy little plot twists here. Candy, the owner of the purse Skip lifts, falls hard for him within minutes of meeting him: she's soon risking her life on his behalf. Noir frequently features such sudden swoons; it adds to the drama, by giving the characters new motivations, but it also seems especially unlikely for individuals who are supposed to be hardboiled.

Still, Fuller manages to use his characters to make a couple of points. First, the criminals respect one another; even when being double crossed, Skip recognizes that it's just business. They even manage to assist one another on occasion. Second, they have no use for politics. Skip will help the commies or the cops, whichever will get him cash and keep him out of the clink.

One other gift the film offers is the terrific performance of Thelma Ritter. Playing a stoolie at least twenty years older than her actual age, Ritter received one of her six Academy Award nominations in twelve years for the film, though she never won. Like her character in "Pickup," Ritter didn't get much attention, but she was terrific at her craft.