Pickup on South Street

[KY Gentleman]

I just watched a great movie, "Pickup on South Street" starring Richard Widmark. The attire was awesome- fedoras with MANY assorted creases/ bashes and the clothing was great. Top that off with a top notch plot.
Classic film noir. Plus it was a Criterion DVD with a lot of special features I haven't even begun to check out.
This film was one I haven't heard of until reading a couple of "cult film" articles. Do you all have any other great "unheardof" flicks we should know about?

 

[RBH]

This sound good, I love a great 'hat' movie.

 

[Feraud]

Pickup is a good one.

Do you all have any other great "unheardof" flicks we should know about?

The list of great lesser known flicks can be endless..

Here are a few -
The Setup
D.O.A.
The Stranger
Green for Danger
A Double Life
Witness for the Prosecution

 

[skyvue]

I've never thought of PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET as unheard of -- it's widely considered a noir classic -- but it's certainly a great picture. Thelma Ritter is terrific in it, too.

I attended a Richard Widmark retrospective at the Walter Reade Theatre in Lincoln Center some years back, and Mr. Widmark himself was in attendance. He's 94 now, so he'd have been in his late eighties then, and he looked great. He was still sharp as a tack, too. He did have a little trouble hearing some of the audience's questions, but that was the only limitation age seemed to have imposed upon him at the time.

If you liked PoSS, you'll want to check out KISS OF DEATH (his film debut), PANIC IN THE STREETS, ROAD HOUSE, and NIGHT AND THE CITY, too.

 

[Miss Roulette]

'Pick Up on South Street' is a fantastic film. I really enjoyed it. Another film we got at the same time was 'The Dark Corner' which is a great thriller with Lucille Ball who has rather a good wardrobe.

'Green for Danger' is also excellent and stars the wonderful Sally Gray, who was also in 'Obsession', a thriller about a jealous husband and a flirtatious wife.

 

[Naphtali]

"Pickup of South Street" was remade, location being moved to South Africa. Not bad, but not nearly as entertaining as the original.

Since you specified neither genre nor time period, here is a selection of good entertainment. "The D.I." will be the most difficult to appreciate -- for women and those who have not served in a combat arm. Those of us who have been to boot camp or any OCS should find it a hoot.

I may be the only person, not on its creation, who actually saw "The Last Time I Saw Archie" in a theater. I found this droll comedy very entertaining. It was in theater release for about two weeks.

"The Reivers" is one of the finest motion pictures made.
***
"Shack Out on 101" (1955) - Lee Marvin, Keenan Wynn, Frank Lovejoy, Terry Moore. Spy; comedy.

"Soldier in the Rain" (1963) - Steve McQueen, Jackie Gleason. Drama; comedy.

"Chan is Missing" (1982) - ultra low budget. Nobody you'd know, but directed by Wayne Wang. Mystery.

"Tao of Steve" (2000) - Donal Logue. Drama; comedy; romance.

"The Verdict" (1946) - Peter Lorre, Sidney Greenstreet. Mystery.

"The D.I." (1957) - Jack Webb. Comedy.

"The Last Time I Saw Archie" (1961) - Robert Mitchum, Jack Webb. Comedy.

"The Reivers" (1969) - Steve McQueen, Rupert Crosse, Will Geer. Comedy; drama; slice of life.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Yay! I saw Chan is Missing in three different theatres! My brother and I had a little joke we would play that we can't do with the video; there was a longish scene in the film in Cantonese with no subtitles and we would laugh as if we knew what was funny. Yes, a very little joke. (He mis-remembered it as being in Mandarin.) One of my pugs is named Chan is Missing.
To the excellent list I would add:
Born to Kill
Black Angel
Too Late for Tears
The Bigamist

 

[Naphtali]

I tend to prefer humor to a wrenched gut. I tend to prefer droll humor to slapstick -- "The In-Laws" being an exception.

Here are some entertaining movies I omitted.

"The Pink Jungle" (1968) - James Garner, George Kennedy, Nigel Green. Comedy; Adventure.

"Mystery, Alaska" (1999) - Russell Crowe, Burt Reynolds, Hank Azaria, Lolita Davidovich. Comedy; drama.

"Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round" (1966) - James Coburn, Camilla Sparv, Aldo Ray. Comedy; caper.

"A Shock to the System" (1990) - Michael Caine, Elizabeth McGovern, Peter Riegert. Comedy; thriller.

"The Italian Job" (1969) - Michael Caine, Noel Coward. Caper; comedy. This is the original version. I have not seen the remake.

"The In-Laws" (1979) - Peter Falk, Alan Arkin. Comedy. This is the original. Avoid the remake if you do nothing else in life.

"The Man Who Would Be King" (1975) - Sean Connery, Michael Caine. Adventure.

"A Fine Madness" (1966) - Sean Connery, Jean Seberg, Joanne Woodward. Drama; comedy.

"No Way to Treat a Lady" (1968) - Rod Steiger, George Segal, Lee Remick. Thriller; comedy.

"The Quiller Memorandum" (1966) - Max von Sydow, George Segal, Senta Berger, Alec Guiness. Spy; thriller.

"The Southern Star" (1969) - Orson Welles, George Sanders, Ursula Andress, Ian Hendry. Adventure; comedy.

"Last Holiday" (1950) Alec Guiness, Kay Walsh. Drama; comedy.

"The Captain's Paradise" (1953) - Alec Guiness, Yvonne De Carlo. Comedy.

"Damn the Defiant!" (1962) - Alec Guiness, Dirk Bogarde. Drama; historical; war.

"A Coming-Out Party" (1961) - James Robertson Justice, Leslie Phillips. Comedy; war.

"Local Hero" (1983) - Peter Riegert, Burt Lancaster. Drama. I have no idea why I enjoy this movie -- but I do. It defies easy classification.