(1953) 88% (A) (24) NYT Critics' Pick http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F00EEDA143EE53BBC4052DFB0668388649EDE * * * * "See my profile for the key to this code" * * * * SYNOPSIS: "This film noir classic plays on America's paranoia about a Communist takeover in the 1950s. Petty crook Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark) has his eye set on the big score. When the three-time convict picks the pocketbook of unsuspecting Candy (Jean Peters), he finds a haul bigger than he ever could have imagined: a strip of microfilm bearing confidential U.S. secrets. Tailed by the Feds and the unwitting courier's Communist puppeteers, Skip and Candy find themselves in a precarious gambit that pits greed against redemption." CONSENSUS: "80 minutes of breathless genre fun infused with pure, uninhibited passion" MOTIVATION FOR ME TO SEE: Richard Widmark died recently. I've always enjoyed his acting. Teaming him up with director Sam Fuller makes this a must see. MY THOUGHTS: Great supplements! The film itself is great, but the interview with Fuller (who reminds me of Studs Terkel) makes this selection: "write with your camera, and make a symphony of it" - Fuller's recounting of the meeting of producer Darryl F. Zanuck, Fuller, and J. Edgar Hoover - "I go by hunch...if a thing smells right, I go with it..." - "you must be able to pinpoint visual emotion...and not bore anybody..." (Criterion Collection)

posted Jul 3, 2009 at 7:25PM

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