Pickup (1951 film)
Pickup is a 1951 American film noir starring Hugo Haas, Beverly Michaels, Allan Nixon and Howland Chamberlain. Written and directed by Haas, a Czech actor and filmmaker, it was his first American film. Haas, a refugee from German-occupied Europe, went on to make a series of gloomy noirs about doomed middle-aged men led astray by younger femmes fatales.[1][2]
| Pickup | |
|---|---|
_poster.jpg.webp) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Hugo Haas |
| Screenplay by | Hugo Haas Arnold Phillips |
| Based on | Guard No. 47 (novel) by Josef Kopta |
| Produced by | Hugo Haas |
| Starring | Beverly Michaels Hugo Haas Allan Nixon Howland Chamberlain Jo-Carroll Dennison |
| 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 |
The low-budget film was based on a 1926 novel Guard No. 47 by Josef Kopta, and has a plot that is similar to that of the 1946 film The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946).[2]
Plot
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
Production
The film has been described by Larry Langman as "a poor man's version" of the 1946 film The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), based on James M Cain's 1934 novel "The Postman Always Rings Twice".[2]
Release
It opened in New York on August 30, 1951.[5] Released only to secondary and independent theaters upon its 1951 release.
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.[6] More recently Filmfanatic.org called it "a tawdry, low-budget camp classic", criticising predictable elements but praising the dialog and some unexpected plot twists.[7] Fernando F. Croce remarked on its "unusually blunt masochism" and sympathetic treatment of the femme fatale (who makes it out alive).[8]
See also
- Guard No. 47 (2008)
References
- "Pickup (1951)". Film Noir of the Week. April 15, 2007. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
- 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.
- "Pickup (1951)". TCM. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
- "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.