Pickup (1951 film)
| Pickup | |
|---|---|
| File:Pickup (film) poster.jpg Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Hugo Haas |
| Screenplay by | Hugo Haas Arnold Phillips |
| Based on | Josef Kopta (Based on a Novel by) |
| Produced by | Hugo Haas |
| Starring | Hugo Haas Beverly Michaels Allan Nixon Howland Chamberlain |
| Cinematography | Paul Ivano |
| Edited by | W. L. Bagier |
| Music by | Harold Byrns |
| Color process | Black and white |
Production company | Forum Productions |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 78 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
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Pickup is a 1951 American film noir written and directed by Czech actor and filmmaker Hugo Haas. It was the first American film by Haas, a refugee from German-occupied Europe, who went on to make a series of gloomy noirs about doomed middle-aged men led astray by younger femmes fatales.[1][2] Haas also starred in the film, alongside Beverly Michaels, Allan Nixon and Howland Chamberlain.
Plot
Low-budget, and showing it, Pickup contains a plot that is similar to that of the 1946 filmThe Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), based on James M Cain's 1934 novel of the same name, but according to Larry Langman, "a poor man's version".[2]
Haas plays Jan "Hunky" Horak, a hard-of-hearing railroad dispatcher who lives in a poor neighborhood by the railroad tracks and is seduced by Betty (Michaels), who is after his money. After they marry, Betty and her lover Steve Kowalski (Nixon) scheme to murder him. But in a chance accident, Jan regains his hearing and discovers their plot. Steve has a last-minute change of heart and Betty leaves, disgusted with Steve's inaction.[3][4]
Cast
- Hugo Haas as Jan Horak
- Beverly Michaels as Betty
- Allan Nixon as Steve
- Howland Chamberlain as Professor
- Jo-Carroll Dennison as Irma
- Mark Lowell as Waiter
- Marjorie Beckett as Secretary Doctor
- Art Lewis as Driver
- Jack Daley as Company Doctor
- Bernard Gorcey as Joe
Reception
Time magazine praised Haas as "Hollywood's most promising new moviemaker" since Stanley Kramer, calling the film "a fascinating game of cat & mouse, played for pathos as well as suspense", and noted how its sense of character, acceptance of human frailty, and seedy, impoverished setting made it far from the usual Hollywood film.[5] More recently Filmfanatic.org called it "a tawdry, low-budget camp classic", criticising predictable elements but praising the dialog and some unexpected plot twists.[6] Fernando F Croce remarked on its "unusually blunt masochism" and sympathetic treatment of the femme fatale (who makes it out alive).[7]
Release
It opened in New York on August 30, 1951.[8] Released only to secondary and independent theaters upon its 1951 release.
See also
- Guard No. 47 (2008)
References
- ^ "Pickup (1951)". Film Noir of the Week. April 15, 2007. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
- ^ a b Langman, Larry (2000). Destination Hollywood: The Influence of Europeans on American Filmmaking. McFarland. p. 23. ISBN 9780786406814.
- ^ Beatty, Josh (2005). Heritage Vintage Movie Poster Signature Auction 2005 Catalog #624. Heritage Capital Corporation. p. 63. ISBN 9781599670041.
- ^ Lyons, Arthur (2000). Death On The Cheap: The Lost B Movies Of Film Noir. Da Capo. p. 126. ISBN 9780306817069.
- ^ "The New Pictures". Time, 0040781X, 8/27/1951, Vol. 58, Issue 9
- ^ "Pickup (1951)". Filmfanatic.org.
- ^ Croce, Fernando F. "Pickup". CinePassion. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
- ^ "Pickup (1951)". TCM. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
External links
- Articles with short description
- 1951 films
- Template film date with 1 release date
- IMDb ID not in Wikidata
- 1951 drama films
- American drama films
- American black-and-white films
- Films directed by Hugo Haas
- Columbia Pictures films
- Film noir
- American remakes of foreign films
- Films based on Czech novels
- 1950s English-language films
- 1950s American films