On the New York subway, a pickpocket steals a young woman's wallet, and with it a valuable piece of microfilm she is unknowingly carrying from one Communist agent to another. So begins a Cold War spy thriller that is really a gangster film noir, pitting underworld pickpockets and two-bit whores against agents provocateurs in a seedy New York waterfront setting. Richard Widmark stars as the gritty pickpocket and Thelma Ritter is unforgettable as Moe, a tough and tender underworld character. Considered by many to be Samuel Fuller's best film, Pickup on South Street combines the director's political stance (intense nationalism) with his crime-reporter sensibility. The result reflects a kind of anarchic pessimism more than pure anti-Communism.