Fiction doesn't get much pulpier than in the films of Samuel Fuller. In classic film noir tradition, this 1953 gem subverts our cinematic notions of heroes and villains so that our rooting interest lies not with the feds or police who are tracking a Communist stooge, but with Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark), a “three-time loser” ex-con who unwittingly pickpockets a strip of illicit microfilm containing a secret U.S. chemical formula. Jean Peters costars as Candy, the picked-pocket dupe who sides with Skip, and Thelma Ritter gives a heartbreaking, Oscar-nominated performance as McCoy's mother figure, a street vendor and stoolie stashing away money for the fancy funeral she will never receive. For a B-movie, the Criterion folk have given this disc the “A” treatment, with a new high definition digital transfer, two entertaining interview segments that capture the crusty Fuller at his irascible best, and an illuminating 29-page booklet with comments from Martin Scorsese and an excerpt from Fuller's memoir. Highly recommended. (D. Liebenson)
[Blu-ray Review—June 28, 2021—Criterion, 80 min., not rated, Blu-ray: $39.95—Bowing on Blu-ray with a luminous 4K digital transfer, Pickup on South Street (1953) features extras including a new interview with critic Imogen Sara Smith, a 1989 interview with director Samuel Fuller (conducted by film critic Richard Schickel), the 1982 French TV program “Cinéma cinémas: Fuller” (with the director discussing the film), and a booklet with an essay by critic Angelica Jade Bastién and a chapter from Fuller’s posthumously published 2002 autobiography, A Third Face: My Tale of Writing, Fighting, and Filmmaking. Bottom line: Fuller’s film noir classic sparkles on Blu-ray.] (R.Pitman)