Pickup on South Street.

Review #2541: Pickup on South Street.

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), Vic Perry (Lightning Louie a.k.a. "Godkin"), Harry Carter (Detective Dietrich), George E. Stone (Willie, police desk clerk), George Eldredge (Fenton), and John Gallaudet (Detective Lieutenant Campion) Directed by Samuel Fuller (#1790 - Park Row, #2234 - The Steel Helmet, #2400 - The Baron of Arizona)

Review: 

"People living on the edge of society don't give a damn about politics. I wanted my film to be told through the eyes of the powerless. Cold war paranoia? Hell, these crooks were more interested in just getting by."

Sure, it's time again to encounter a Samuel Fuller movie. Pickup on South Street was his sixth feature as a director. With the finishing of Park Row, Fuller, under contract with Darryl F. Zanuck at 20th Century Fox, was approached with a script called "Blaze of Glory" by Dwight Taylor (a former reporter for The New Yorker before becoming a writer with films such as When Tomorrow Comes [1939] and I Wake Up Screaming [1941]) about a woman lawyer falling in love with her criminal client in a murder trial. He liked it, but as a newspaper man in his old days, he knew those cases take time to play out, so he instead wanted to do a film about an outlaw and their gal but on the scale of small-time thieves. Alluding to hot button issues of the time such as fears of communists and secrets being sold (such as the mostly recent case of Klaus Fuchs), Fuller stated later that he wanted to "take a poke at the idiocy of the cold war climate of the fifties". Incidentally, the working title was "Pick-pocket", but executives thought it sounded too "European", so it eventually landed on a title that was inspired by Fuller's special memories of South Street in New York (in 1959, French filmmaker Robert Bresson directed a movie, called, well, Pickpocket). He soon did research on pickpockets through NYPD Detective Dan Campion, who he based the character Tiger on*. Fuller was given credit for the screenplay while Taylor was credited with the story. Despite grumblings from FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover about the nature of the film (which never refers to the FBI at any point), the movie breezed through to release without a hitch, which saw it make double its budget of $780,000 back with audiences. In 1967, 20th Century Fox released The Cape Town Affair, a film shot in South Africa that basically was a remake (with Fuller being co-credited for the screenplay with "Harold Medford") that had James Brolin and Jacqueline Bissett cast in the lead roles alongside Claire Trevor.

All Fuller cared about was making a thriller about people on the margins, and he sure got it here with a satisfying feature that has a dark streak in people that wanted to get by with what they had. Even in a movie filmed on a set, you still have the feeling of seeing a tremendous city of strange seediness. It's a noir movie that is both rich and lean enough for all to enjoy for 80 minutes. It all rides on the cool nature of Widmark (who worked with Fuller once more with Hell and High Water [1954]), who is the usual cocksure self that is easy enough to like for what he does in the long run of tricks and guile. He doesn't care for flag-waving or people trying to get one over on him because if anybody is going to be the conman (physically or emotionally), it's going to be him. Fuller wanted an "average-looking woman" for the lead, which namely meant not wanting Ava Gardner or Betty Grable (contemporary articles apparently stated Grable rejected it, while Fuller's autobiography claimed otherwise) and landed on the bow-legged walking of Peters, who I guess is the kind of person who could make a guy like Widmark try to walk a semi-straight and narrow path, even if they have some offbeat scenes together; at one point, trying to confront someone breaking into his little shabby place. Widmark socks the first thing he sees, which happens to be Peters. Ritter (in an award nominated role) makes for quality support as a stoolie that still has a semblance of charm that shines right through to her final scene, an informant of the streets with standards right to the bitter end. The adversaries are the usual type of crook to lie within the lines of noir (really it could be anybody besides Commies), even if at a certain point you know where it's going to go. With a cast like this, it's got something for everyone with the type of people that show up every now and then. As a whole, if you like the hard touches of Fuller in tabloid narratives and being straight to the point, you'll have plenty to appreciate here. 

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Song of the day!

*Daniel J. Campion served 27 years on the force, which saw him serve as a detective on the pickpocket squad beginning in 1929. He retired in 1954, and died in 1958 at the age of 54. 

Pillow Talk.

Review #1401: Pillow Talk.

Cast: 
Rock Hudson (Brad Allen), Doris Day (Jan Morrow), Tony Randall (Jonathan Forbes), Thelma Ritter (Alma), Nick Adams (Tony Walters), Karen Norris (Miss Dickenson), Julia Meade (Marie), Allen Jenkins (Harry), Marcel Dalio (Mr. Pierot), Lee Patrick (Mrs. Walters), Mary McCarty (Nurse Resnick), and Alex Gerry (Dr. Maxwell) Directed by Michael Gordon.

Review: 
"Comedy is the most serious tragedy in the world. Play it that way and you can't go wrong. If you ever think of yourself as funny, you haven't got a chance."

Sometimes the best way to talk about a film is to just say it is nice and leave it that. This is a decent comedy for its time, a fair highlight for its stars and director to take pride in. Michael Gordon went from being a student of the Yale Drama School and member of the Group Theatre to working in films and stage, where he would go from crafting low-budget b-movies in the early 1940s to noirs and dramas by the end of the decade, with Cyrano de Bergerac (1950) serving as a highlight. His career was interrupted the following year due to blacklisting; he would do stage productions for the next eight years until successes in that field led to Universal-International wanting to bring him back into directing with this film, which would be the first in a string of eight comedies he would do for the rest of his career, which ended with How Do I Love Thee? (1970). As for Day and Hudson, both were established stars in their own right, with the former having success in musicals, comedies, and thrillers that went with a prolific singing career and the latter was a leading man for adventures and melodramas since the early 1950s. The two would collaborate on two further films together over the next five years, and they became lifelong friends.

For the time, this surely proved a fun daring time for enjoyment. The film was written by Stanley Shapiro and Maurice Richlin that was based on a story by Russell Rouse and Clarence Greene, who had done the script in the 1940s that was bought and sold numerous times without being produced (each would receive an Academy Award for their work in the category of Best Original Screenplay, beating out noted films such as The 400 Blows and North by Northwest). This was a time where even the title of the film had to go through wrangling with the Production Code before giving in (imagine if it had gone with the alternate choice of Any Way the Wind Blows). Party lines are (mostly) a thing of the past now, but they were quite prevalent for most of the 20th century as a way to provide service for cities both rural and urban through a shared local loop circuit. At any rate, there certainly is enough room for some clever moments with Day and Hudson with this scenario, particularly with the use of split-screens in certain sequences that make for some humor and passion. They click together in ways that seem instant, natural at inspiring curiosity and charm in their respective manners with class in romance, with Day being quite passionate and Hudson being subtle in charming humor. Randall (who would appear with Day and Hudson twice more) does well as a fussy foil while Ritter rounds out the cast with deadpan stupor. While one will know what they are in for pretty early in its 104 minute run-time, the film maintains itself with careful vigor that doesn't lead to impatience or a lack of meaningful interest in where the film wants to go to drive some laughs and passion, doing a relatively fine job in making appealing entertainment that has kept most of its luster through six decades of time.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

All About Eve.

Review #750: All About Eve.

Cast
Bette Davis (Margo Channing), Anne Baxter (Eve Harrington), George Sanders (Addison DeWitt), Celeste Holm (Karen Richards), Gary Merrill (Bill Sampson), Hugh Marlowe (Lloyd Richards), Thelma Ritter (Birdie), Gregory Ratoff (Max Fabian), Marilyn Monroe (Miss Casswell), and Barbara Bates (Phoebe) Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.

Review
Based off "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, All About Eve is a movie that held the record for most Oscar nominations (14) until Titanic tied it over four decades later, with five actors receiving nominations, and one (Sanders) winning. In fact, Joseph L. Mankiewicz won two Oscars for the movie (Best Director and Adapted Screenplay). 65 years later, the movie is heralded as a classic. And why not? It is great. It's interesting that the big highlight in a movie all about Eve is not Eve herself, but Bette Davis and her tremendous screen presence. She is always interesting to watch and always entertaining, especially when interacting with the cast. Baxter is effective in making her character come off as innocent and helpful...for a while, anyway. Her scene with Holm in which she would will be willing to use Karen's deep friendship with Margo as leverage just to get a part shows the extent of Eve's manipulation. But while her ambition got her out of one problem along with getting her this far, it may have gotten her into another situation...but the movie ends on a different character, named Phoebe. The final scene, with her taking the award and imagining herself winning one is certainly fitting. Sanders manages to ingrain his character into the narrative. He may be snide. but his way with words is much more devastating. His scene with Baxter at the end, is especially well-done, as the movie comes full-circle. The movie begins with Eve winning an award for her performance in a play...but maybe in a way she hasn't won. She won the award, but perhaps at the cost of her heart, in a sense. One actress who also is in the movie, though brief, is Marilyn Monroe, whose character also plays a role in regards to Eve's rise. Monroe doesn't get much to do, but she is interesting to watch, especially when being guided by Sanders in his attempts to give her a career. The movie certainly looks well in both fashion and just in general, with the Costume Designers (Edith Head and Charles LeMaire) winning an Oscar for it. Bottom line, the movie is interesting to watch, especially if you love big performances and love big classical drama.

Thank you for reading this 750th Review. I hope you enjoyed it.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.

For all of the appreciation over the past 750 reviews, I made a collage detailing from the first big landmark (and the number before it is, as customary)...all the way up to now. Thank you. Enjoy.

Movie Night: Rear Window.

Review #455: Rear Window.

Cast
James Stewart (L.B. Jefferies), Grace Kelly (Lisa Fremont), Wendell Corey (Thomas J. Doyle), Thelma Ritter (Stella), Raymond Burr (Lars Thorwald), Judith Evelyn (Miss Lonelyhearts), Ross Bagdasarian (the Songwriter), and Georgine Darcy (Miss Torso) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock (#219 - Rope, #223 - North by Northwest, #446 - Spellbound, #447 - Psycho, and #450 - Vertigo)

Review

Rear Window reminds me of Rope in some ways, not using too many sets, but the film manages to transcend that with its more than unique premise. James Stewart (In his second of the four films he would do with Hitchcock) does a fine job, as always, pleasant but engaging. Grace Kelly is stunning and she does a fine job, along with Thelma Ritter, who provides a supporting hand into the foray. Raymond Burr doesn't speak too much until about the end, but he's an effective villain because while we don't her him much, we see him, we see him and the progression of his character, that's what the film feels like, watching Stewart watching the events unfold, with subplots along the way, and this is a film that doesn't drag on, it's an effective thriller.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: The Misfits.

Review #094: The Misfits.

Cast
Clark Gable (Gay Langland), Marilyn Monroe (Roslyn Tabor), Montgomery Clift (Perce Howland), Thelma Ritter (Isabelle Steers), and Eli Wallach (Guido) Directed by John Huston.

Review
This is an eery film, when you think about it. This was Monroe and Gable's last roles, and Clift was getting to his last few as well. It's well acted with an allright script from Arthur Miller (The Crucible, Death of a Salesman) as it does its script justice. It's ending is a little sad considering this again was the two's last roles. The film is sad, dramatic, and all around an allright film for what it's worth. We are close to 100 Reviews. Countdown: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6...

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.