Product: Pickup on South Street (The Criterion Collection) (1953)
Rating: 4.0
Kiss, Slap, Bang!
I've reviewed many Noir films from the 40's and 50's, "Maltese Falcon" to the B film "Detour," and loved them all, and don't get me wrong, POSS held me all the way through; the problem with this film is it's ugly misogamy, which unfortunately lives on to some extent in the film industry.Sure, Noir films demand hardboiled punks and bimbo's of loose morals, but how many times is poor Jean Peter's, an okay doll, get punched in the face or shot in the belly. Come on, that's over-female-kill. That last scene after all the mayhem is just laughable.Okay, I know, the story in "Detour" didn't make any sense either. These films are vehicles for an American mythology. The men are tough, able to take a punch and give it back too. Yeah, that's an urban John Wayne for you. The women are essentially ladies of the evening in a cocktail dress with a heart of gold, not marriage material, so you can er, kiss `em or beat `em up if ya want depending on the hour. Can't lay a hand on mother material I guess.Richard Widmark is ludicrously cocky in his role of the pickpocket with brains. If his old man hadn't beat him to a pulp every day after reform school, things would have been different; he's smart enough to go to Harvard, but as it is, he enjoys cracking wise in the cop house. Ya got ta love a lug like that.