Samuel Fuller is one of the under sung directors from the 20th century. He was a war journalist and newspaper crime reporter who wrote pulp fiction crime novels... and he made some ballsy films for the time. His trademark was allowing the actors to be 'of the moment'. He didn't micromanage them or demand they read the script word for word, like so many other directors did. Instead he gave his actors a lot of leeway when shooting scenes, resulting in believable raw emotions and balanced nuances out of his leads. Fuller is also known for the way he shot action/fight sequences, he believed in shooting wide as possible versus the usual tight shots done by other directors.
What's special to me about
Pickup On South Street is Samuel Fuller is an auteur film maker. He wrote it, cast it and directed it. It's full of human expressions and details that other directors don't always bother to show. It's those little real moments that drive the movie and develop character and world building.
Here's an example of 'method acting' from Jean Peters. She's not just giving a dramatic reading of her lines, she actually becomes her character. Watch this 1 minute clip
(it's not a trailer, no spoilers). You can see and feel her emotions at work. I love the way she instantly responds in character when she is impromptu bumped in the face with the chop sticks. Indeed I love the whole usage of chop sticks in this scene. The actor who plays Lighting Louie (Vic Perry) is pretty great too.
What I loved about
Pickup on South Street is the brutal realism of Richard Widmark's character. The scene where Widmark is hiding behind his waterfront shack door, trying to get the 'drop' on some bad guys. The door opens and he punches the person in the face....only it's not a bad guy, it's Jean Peters and she's knocked cold to the floor. What Widmark does next defines his character and the movie as one of the great noirs. In any other Hollywood film, a romantic music score would have played, he would have bent down and gently tried to wake her up...Not Widmark, he rolls Jean Peters over with his foot, like a sack of potatoes and then revives her by poring cold beer in her face! Which is true to his characters form. That moment defines Widmark and the movie.
Then there's this brutal scene where Jean Peters is beat up and pushed around the room by her ex boyfriend played by Richard Kiley. I watched that scene several times. It's a long camera shot, which Fuller said he liked for fight scenes as it adds more believability....It was Jean Peters doing the entire scene herself! She must have ended up with some bad bruises after that, geez!
Thelma Ritter's performance as Moe, the old lady informer with a heart of gold and a head for money, is amazing. The scene were a gunman enters who room demanding information that she won't give out is one of the great moments of film. The emotions she voices about growing old and weary of life were chilling and quite sad. Thelma was Oscar nominated for best supporting actress. She deserved to win.
The bulk of the credit for this fine film goes to director/writer Samuel Fuller. He populates his movie with rich scenes and well though out details that makes what we're watching so rewarding.
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