Pickup on South Street

thumb Pickup on South Street is a 1953 American film noir about a pickpocket who unwittingly lifts a message destined for enemy agents and becomes a target for a Communist spy ring. Directed and written by Samuel Fuller. How the law took a chance on a B-girl... and won! Skip McCoy [after first kiss with Candy] Sometimes you look for oil, you hit a gusher. I know you pinched me three times and got me convicted three times and made me a three time loser. And I know you took an oath to put me away for life. Well you're trying awful hard with all this patriotic eye-wash, but get this: I didn't grift that film and you can't prove I did! And if I said I did, you'd slap that fourth rap across my teeth no matter what promises you made! So you're a Red, who cares? Your money's as good as anybody else's. [to Capt. Tiger] You're sittin' on a hot rock. I'd like to see you jump! Moe Williams Listen, Mister. When I come in here tonight, you seen an old clock runnin' down. I'm tired. I'm through. Happens to everybody sometime. It'll happen to you too, someday. With me it's a little bit of everything. Backaches and headaches. I can't sleep nights. It's so hard to get up in the morning, and get dressed and walk the streets. Climb the stairs. I go right on doin' it! Well, what am I gonna do, knock it? I have to go on makin' a livin'... so I can die. But even a fancy funeral ain't worth waitin' fer if I gotta do bus'ness with crumbs like you. Ask a silly question, you get a dopey look. Other Capt. Dan Tiger: You'll always be a two-bit cannon. And when they pick you up in the gutter dead, you're hand'll be in a drunk's pocket. Dialogue Moe Williams: You got any Happy Money? Candy: Happy Money? Moe Williams: Yeah, money that's gonna make me happy. Moe Williams: What's the matter with you? Playing footsie with the Commies! Skip McCoy: You waving the flag, too? Moe Williams: Listen, I knew you since you was a little kid. You was always a regular kind of crook. I never figured you for a louse. Skip McCoy: Stop, you're breaking my heart. Moe Williams: Even in our crummy line of business you gotta draw the line somewhere. Skip McCoy: You boys are talking to the wrong corner. I'm just a guy keeping my hands in my own pockets. FBI Agent Zara: If you refuse to cooperate you'll be as guilty as the traitors who gave Stalin the A-bomb. Skip McCoy: Are you waving the flag at me? Skip McCoy: Pack up the pitch with the charge or drive me back to my shack. Capt. Dan Tiger: I'll drive you back in a hearse if you don't get the kink out of your mouth! Candy: You've been recommended as the best pickpocket stoolie in the business. Moe Williams: What kind of talk is that, calling me a stoolie? I was brought up to report any injustice to the police authority. I call that being a solid citizen. Candy: But you get paid for it. Moe Williams: You gonna knock it? Moe Williams: I've got almost enough to buy both the stone and the plot. Capt. Dan Tiger: If you lost that kitty, it's Potter's Field. Moe Williams: This I do not think is a very funny joke, Captain Tiger! Capt. Dan Tiger: I just meant you ought to be careful how you carry your bankroll. Moe Williams: Look, Tiger, if I was to be buried in Potter's Field, it would just about kill me. Joey: You'd sell anybody for buttons. Moe Williams: Yeah, but not to you, Mister! Cast Richard Widmark - Skip McCoy Jean Peters - Candy Thelma Ritter - Moe Williams Murvyn Vye - Captain Dan Tiger Richard Kiley - Joey Willis Bouchey - Zara Milburn Stone - Winoki Parley Baer - Headquarters Communist in Chair George E. Stone - Willie - Police Desk Clerk Stuart Randall - Detective External links 0046187 Pickup on South Street 38080 Pickup on South Street Category:Film noir Category:Films set in New York City Category:1953 American films Category:1953 English-language films Category:American spy thriller films