samuel fuller pickup on south street be anomalous represent a red scare movie devoid of hysteria and in which the communist threat be nothing more than the mcguffin that ignite the plot . pickpocket richard widmark relieve loose woman jean peter of her wallet contain a strip of microfilm while unbeknownst to either of them and it harbor secret vital to the cold war . peter and a it happen and be under surveillance by fbi agent who be a nonplus by the theft a the man who run her and cowardly comsymp richard kiley . in try to retrieve the precious film and both side enlist the help of thelma ritter and a streetwise old jane who always on the earie and willing to sell what she hear . fuller draw from an opulent palette of tempo and tonality in tell the story and which become a race against the clock of escalate brutality . from the subway to the waterfront and his midsummer manhattan take on a sweaty sheen that almost pungent . the love scene between peter and widmark become an unstable mixture of the tumultuous and the tender and and theyre score to again and a song introduce by ida lupino in road house and also star widmark . the pace slacken for ritter beautifully write and play death scene among the most poignant vignette in all noir and and a kind of mirage oasis in a film parch of sentimentality . this be writer or director fuller only work in the strict confines of the noir cycle while his late exploration of american pathology ( the crimson kimono and the naked kiss and underworld u. s. a . ) never result in a synthesis as satisfying a pickup on south street .