sam fuller excellent pick up on south street be the pick of the bunch from a number of early 50 cold war influence low budget noir vehicle . with a run length of under 80 minute and pick up on south street be tough and gritty and explosive and endlessly entertaining . widmark star a pickpocket skip mccoy and who have already be pick up three time . yet mccoy can not keep his wander finger out of trouble and trouble be exactly what he slide into when he grifts the wallet of gangster moll candy ( jean peter ) . candy wallet contain a roll of microfilm invaluable to the communist movement and and it her last job for ex boyfriend richard kiley to make the delivery . however and when widmark lift it and peter must do whatever it take to re claim the film she ( initially ) know nothing about . it a tasty set up and with widmark character and while not the psycho of kiss of death and a real live wire and unpredictable and tough and yet curiously charm . when bogart or mitchum step into a film noir role you know what you be go to get represent a lone anti hero maintain his moral integrity and win out in the end ( bogart ) and or an overly laconic guy who allow himself to be draw into a trap ( mitchum ) . with widmark you just do not know what you be go to get and and with his incredibly modern act style ( his film always hold up well ) he be amazing to watch . here he be torn between make a big score for himself by sell the film and or hand it over to the police and fight the commie on the right side of the law . and he still have to pretend he never pickpocketed peter to avoid the fatal fourth rap on his sheet . peter get her best role a the moll with a heart of gold candy . widmark unpredictability be perhaps best express in his scene with peter while the gorgeous tramp quickly ( and rather unbelievably the romance angle be rather rush ) fall under widmark spell and yet widmark alternate between kiss her or slap her around . peter hard edge beauty and yet lack of over lacquered hollywood glamour ( lana turner would never have work well in this role ) and be a major asset to the film . candy be not innocent and yet she very vulnerable and constantly be pass between and slap around by men . widmark knock her cold on first meeting and wake her by pour beer over her face and yet by the final act he a lot more tender to her ( after she cop one hell of a go over from kiley ) . the scene in the hospital with peter and widmark shouldn not work and but it do . thelma ritter be brilliant a stoolie moe and well deserving of her oscar nomination . ritter performance and like everything else in the film and be gritty and real and heartbreakingly honest . her death scene be stun . fuller camera movement and location setting be particularly interesting . fuller love a good close up and and pick up on south street be full of uncomfortable and cloister tight shot that only enhance the tension of the plot . fuller isn not afraid to let the camera linger on a shot for long than standard old hollywood really allow and yet stunningly pull away from ritter death scene to give the audience maximum impact . the urban locale and unusual and confront camera angle give pick up on south street and a bold and uncompromisingly modern look . positive .