Pickup on South Street (1953)

In Samuel Fuller’s New York noir, the FBI pressures a pickpocket to help them track down Communist spies.
Fuller’s film about a pickpocket (Widmark) pressurised by the FBI to help them hunt down Communist spies is characteristic in its blending of a pacy, punchy generic narrative, an unapologetically forthright approach to political issues, and vividly drawn characters driven by none-too-lofty motives.
1953 USA
Directed by
Samuel Fuller
Produced by
Jules Schermer
Written by
Samuel Fuller
Featuring
Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter