from the opening scene aboard a crowd train where a ruthless pickpocket be at work ( richard widmark ) steal from a woman purse ( jean peter ) and pickup on south street be relentlessly fascinating to watch . partly it because the acting be uniformly strong from the entire cast and the b and w photography be crisp and add to the starkness of the story and character and and because samuel fuller direction put him in the same league with the biggies like john ( asphalt jungle ) huston . in fact and it have the same urgency a the huston film about a heist that go wrong but the payoff be not quite a strong . jean peter be excellent a the hard edge girl whom widmark describes a be knock around a lot . she give a lot of raw energy and sex appeal to her role of the not too bright woman carry a micro film in her purse for her boyfriend ( richard kiley ) and something the fbi already know about . theyre on her trail when the theft occur . thelma ritter add realism to her portrait of a woman call moe who buy and sell anything to make a profit and end up pay for it with her life . she particularly touch in her final scene with kiley . this one be guarantee to hold your attention through it one hour and twenty minute run time . good noir from fox and notable for the performance of widmark and peter and ritter .