Double Feature: PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET, 1953, UNDERWORLD U.S.A., 1961, August 25, 2012

Saturday, August 25 – 7:30 PM
Double Feature: PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET, 1953, 20th Century Fox, 80 min. Pickpocket Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark) lifts a stolen military microfilm from the mistress of a Communist spy. Next thing the lowlife wharf rat knows, he’s the hottest thing in the Big Apple, with the Commies and the feds all trying to kill him. A former New York crime reporter, director Sam Fuller knows how to make a backlot feel like the real thing; in his sweaty subways, skid row tenements and waterfront dives, the heroes aren’t the do-gooder feds, but nervy grifters more interested in their own survival than affairs of state. In Fuller’s world, loyalty vies with self-interest, and tenderness battles brutality to a standstill every step of the way. With Jean Peters, Richard Kiley and an Oscar-nominated Thelma Ritter. [35mm]
Trailer
UNDERWORLD U.S.A., 1961, Sony Repertory, 99 min. Dir. Samuel Fuller. One of Fuller’s toughest pictures, this is a crime thriller that feels more like a war movie. Released from prison, career crook Tolly Devlin (Cliff Robertson) vows revenge on the three hoods who years earlier beat his father to death. To enact his vengeance, Tolly works both sides of the law, a lone wolf playing his own angles in the battle between the mob and the FBI. One of Fuller’s most airtight scripts provides the blueprint for this unrelenting masterpiece. Spot-on performances from Beatrice Kay, Dolores Dorn, Roger Ehmhardt and Richard Rust. [35mm] Introduction by Sam Fuller’s widow, Christa Fuller.
Trailer

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