Pickup on South Street (1953) (Criterion Collection)

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Petty crook Skip McCoy has his eyes fixed on the big score. When the cocky three-time convict picks the pocketbook of unsuspecting Candy, he finds a haul bigger than he could have imagined: a strip of microfilm bearing confidential U.S. secrets. Tailed by manipulative Feds and the unwitting courier's Communist puppeteers, Skip and Candy find themselves in a precarious gambit that pits greed against redemption, Right versus Red, and passion against self-preservation. With its dazzling cast and director Samuel Fuller's signature raw energy and hardboiled repartee, Pickup on South Street is a true film noir classic by one of America's most passionate cinematic craftsmen.