Pickup on South Street (1953)

'Pickup on South Street' is an exciting film noir, made in 1953, directed and written by Samuel Fuller and starring Richard Widmark, Jean Peters and Thelma Ritter. It is unusual for a film noir in that the subject matter relates to Cold War espionage as well as the more usual detectives and seedy underworld figures. Thelma Ritter, as Moe, was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award.

Plot

The action takes place in New York and centres round a small time pickpocket or "cannon" called Skip McCoy who inadvertently finds himself in the middle of an espionage tug of war when, on the subway, he takes a wallet from the handbag of Candy, played by Jean Peters. The .wallet contains microfilm with secret government information which Candy was to deliver to her boyfriend, Communist spy Joey, played by Richard Kiley.

The police had been following Candy and they discover the identity and address of the pickpocket from their underworld contacts, namely Moe, played by Thelma Ritter. There is more than a sprinkling of violence in the events which follow, but there is also a love interest as romance develops between Candy and Skip.

Production

The movie's story is based on a story called 'Blaze Of Glory' by playwright and screenwriter, Dwight Taylor. Samuel Fuller liked the basic storyline and adapted and extended it with a heavy political bias.
Casting
Several actresses were considered for the key role of Candy including Shelley Winters and Betty Grable. The choice finally was between Jean Peters and Marilyn Monroe. Peters was chosen by director, Sam Fuller as she appeared more street savvy than Monroe. Peters enjoyed shooting the film but did not like playing a sex symbol character and refused to have her hair bleached.
Screenplay
Two versions of the screenplay were rejected due to excessive physical brutality. Even so the finished article contains some jaw-dropping physical violence, particularly perpetrated on Candy in separate scenes by Skip and Joey.
French Release
For its release in France the movie was doctored completely and retitled 'Le Port de la Drogue'. The story was changed and the dialogue dubbed to make the story about drug smugglers, not Communists, in order to avoid giving offence to the French Communist party which was highly influential at the time.