Overview
A pickpocket's life takes a dangerous turn when he unwittingly steals a secret that could change everything.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Brutal
- hard boiled
- tense
- cynical
- classic noir night
- cold war movie marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly regard it as a dark, powerfully acted Cold War noir whose confident urban rhythm and performances overcome or outweigh its melodramatic elements.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Skip McCoy pickpockets Candy and unknowingly takes top-secret microfilm, driving the criminal and political plot.
Skip is a three-time-offender pickpocket who rejects ordinary respectability and initially treats political allegiance as irrelevant.
Subway movement, street life, seedy New York locations, and rapid bursts of violence establish the film's city-driven rhythm.
Communist espionage and government pursuit are refracted through a pickpocket, a police informer, and New York's underworld.
Films like Pickup on South Street, and why
The Narrow Margin
shared film noir atmosphere, morally ambiguous outsider protagonist, urban criminal underworld, and tense police conflict
The Big Heat
shared hard-boiled crime storytelling, black-and-white urban realism, and a protagonist drawn into a dangerous conspiracy
Pickpocket
shared pickpocket protagonist, criminal outsider psychology, and thematic overlap around theft, alienation, and intimacy
The Manchurian Candidate
shared cold war espionage, bleak noir tension, and morally compromised characters navigating political betrayal
Movie Details
- Director
- Samuel Fuller
- Release Date
- 1953-05-27
- Runtime
- 80 min
- Rating
- 7.4 / 10 (335)
Cast
- Richard Widmark
- Jean Peters
- Thelma Ritter
- Murvyn Vye
- Richard Kiley
- Willis Bouchey
- Milburn Stone
- Parley Baer
- Chet Brandenburg
- Frank Kumagai
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Philo, FlixFling
- Rent
- FlixFling
- Buy
- FlixFling
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Pickup on South Street about?
- A hard-bitten pickpocket accidentally steals Cold War microfilm and finds himself caught between spies, police, and a battered woman he cannot ignore.
- What is Pickup on South Street like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Pickup on South Street as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Pickup on South Street violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Pickup on South Street as brutal.
- What did critics think of Pickup on South Street?
- Critics broadly regard it as a dark, powerfully acted Cold War noir whose confident urban rhythm and performances overcome or outweigh its melodramatic elements.
- Which films are like Pickup on South Street?
- Films with a similar feel include The Narrow Margin, The Big Heat, Pickpocket, and The Manchurian Candidate.
- How long is Pickup on South Street?
- Pickup on South Street runs 80 minutes.
- Where can I watch Pickup on South Street?
- In United States, Pickup on South Street streams on Philo, FlixFling.
