On a crowded subway, Skip McCoy picks the purse of Candy. Among his take, although he does not know it at the time, is a piece of top-secret microfilm that was being passed by Candy's consort, a Communist agent. Candy discovers the whereabouts of the film through Moe Williams, a police informer. She attempts to seduce McCoy to recover the film. She fails to get back the film and falls in love with him. The desperate agent exterminates Moe and savagely beats Candy. McCoy, now goaded into action, confronts the agent in a particularly brutal fight in a subway.
Shot in 20 days, Pickup on South Street makes it a point that there is nothing really wrong with pickpockets, even when they are given to violence, as long as they don’t side with Communist spies. The film’s assets are partly the photography, which creates an occasional tense atmosphere, and partly the performance of Thelma Ritter.
The screenplay was initially rejected twice by the Production Code Office for “excessive brutality and sadistic beatings” of both male and female characters, and one scene had to be reshot to minimize what could have been mistaken as adult groping.
After seeing a preview of the film, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover demanded a meeting with studio boss Darryl Zanuck and the film’s director/writer Samuel Fuller. He objected to the unpatriotic nature of Skip, even when he realizes he’s dealing with communists. Zanuck refused to make any changes to the film, backing Fuller. This ended the studio's close relationship with the FBI and all references to the agency were removed from the film's advertising, posters, and lobby cards.
Culturally significant? Yes. Entertaining film noir? A must-see.
