Pickup on South Street = Pick up on South Street

United States, 1953

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Iconic film noir set in New York about a pickpocket who lifts microfilm bearing US secrets from the handbag of the former mistress of a Communist spy. Sam Fuller combines brisk pacing with sizzling dialogue to create a masterful political thriller that plays upon the over-ripe fears of Communism, espionage and political conspiracy. Richard Windmark plays a wonderfully amoral Skip McCoy, a freshly sprung jailbird, trying to play for all best angles, in an increasingly dangerous game he barely comprehends. Also stars the peerless Thelma Ritter as a street-wise grifter and Jean Peters as the louche femme fatale.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

director

Samuel Fuller

producer

Jules Schermer

production company

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Duration

01:20:00:00

Production places

United States

Production dates

1953

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

319117

Languages

English

Audience classification

Subject categories

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → New York (N.Y.)

Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → Cold War

Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers

Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers → Film noir

Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers → Spy films

Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers → Thrillers

Crime, Espionage, Justice, Police & Prisons → Conspiracy

Crime, Espionage, Justice, Police & Prisons → Espionage

Crime, Espionage, Justice, Police & Prisons → Swindlers and swindling

Crime, Espionage, Justice, Police & Prisons → United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Communism

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Communism - United States

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Conspiracy

Feature films

Feature films → Feature films - United States

History → Communism - United States

Places → New York (N.Y.)

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Black and White

Holdings

DVD; Access Print (Section 1)

Wikidata

Q1311296

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

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If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/95072/ |title=Pickup on South Street = Pick up on South Street |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=18 May 2024 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}