clanciai Richard Widmark in his prime at his best as a pickpocket who does his job too well and picks a wallet with more than money in it, resulting in a chain reaction of awful events, turning a desperate man into a murderer with many casualties on the way both by bullets and fisticuffs. Thelma Ritter makes a deep impression as an old lady selling neckties. The thriller is very carefully filmed, the tempo is slow and a bit too detailed in close-ups and long shots, but you can endure it for the sake of the story. This is definitely Sam Fuller's best film and probably the only one that will be remembered. There are no flaws, nothing to criticise or find wrong with, and the logic is watertight, although the dialog is dreadful in its drawling vulgarity, and it's not a film for those who only want action if it is fast.

Claudio Carvalho In New York, the pickpocket Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark) steals a wallet in the purse of a woman named Candy (Jean Peters) in the subway. His action is witnessed by FBI Agent Zara (Willis B. Bouchey) but Skip escapes from the wagon with the wallet. When Candy discovers that she was stolen, she returns to the house of her former lover Joey (Richard Kiley) that is worried about the incident. Meanwhile Zara goes to the police station and asks Captain Dan Tiger (Williams Murvyn Vye) to identify the pickpockets in that area. He explains that he was following Candy that would deliver a microfilm to the chief of a communist spy ring. Captain Tiger summons the old informer Moe (Thelma Ritter) that sells the identity and address of Skip. Candy also seeks out Moe trying to find the pickpocket that stole her wallet. Meanwhile Skip finds the microfilm and learns how valuable it is to the communists. Candy also discovers that Joey is communist and is using her in a treason act and she falls in love with Skip. Soon a cat and mouse game among Skip, the police department and the spies begins. "Pickup on South Street" is a dated film-noir with a espionage story directed by Samuel Fuller. Richard Widmark is perfect in the role of a scum and shows a wonderful chemistry with Jean Peters. The choreography of the fight between Skip and Joey is amazing. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Anjo do Mal" ("Evil Angel")

Sergeant_Tibbs Samuel Fuller is one of those directors who's rough around the edges but always has a great drive to the story, even if it can sometimes lack a certain satisfying point. Here, in his film-noir, Pickup On South Street, it's a sharp, small scale and dense film, drenched in the noir atmosphere but with an even darker smirk than the classic Bogart noirs. It's highlight is the great network of characters, each very developed and dimensional, with suitably radiant performances, especially from the deservedly Oscar nominated Thelma Ritter. Each character has their flaws and qualities in equal measure and it's a joy to watch them interact. However, it does abuse its MacGuffin (a Communist film strip) for political purposes rather than using it to scale the small story into something wider and contrivances, annoyances and lack of relatable characters as well as an anti-climax after plenty of potential for something sophisticated knock it down a notch. It's still a great film that's worth watching.7/10

RResende This is not groundbreaking and it will not change you in any fundamental way. But it is deeply noir, and that is something always worth seeing.We have a story centered on a character who is, among every character, the one who knows less about what's going on. He is the only one totally outside the juicy plot he gets sucked into, and yet the only one that everybody (police and communists) believe to be in control of everything. Everything happens to him, he fights to control the events, but ends up being swept by them. Notice this: he literally gets into the story by randomly picking a girls' pocket, and steeling some very important film. He doesn't have a clue about the importance and value of what he has, and acts accordingly. In the meanwhile he tries to outplay both the police and the communists, using the girl as his arrow girl, as a shield. He ends up loosing control both of the story (but not quite), as he falls in love with the girl. So here we have a cute sense of chaos in the story, agitated narrative where we find ourselves lost, as much as our surrogate detective, in this case the pickpocket. Fuller has a great sense of pace and mood, and this film has a very special extra thing: the floating shack where many of the fundamental twists in the narrative happen. That is one great set that I will have with me for a long time. As an explored space it is good enough, in studio context. As a metaphor for the unstable mood of the whole narrative it works fine. In the end, this space becomes the odd center of the bizarre noir world of the film, and to root a film so strongly in a place is something I always appreciate.My opinion: 4/5http://www.7eyes.wordpress.com