Pickup (1951 film): Difference between revisions
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'''''Pickup''''' is a 1951 American low-budget [[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 [[femme fatale|femmes fatales]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Pickup (1951)|url=http://www.noiroftheweek.com/2007/04/pickup-1951.html|work=Film Noir of the Week|access-date= September 27, 2012|date=April 15, 2007}}</ref><ref name=langman/> |
'''''Pickup''''' is a 1951 American low-budget [[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 behind the camera. 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 [[femme fatale|femmes fatales]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Pickup (1951)|url=http://www.noiroftheweek.com/2007/04/pickup-1951.html|work=Film Noir of the Week|access-date= September 27, 2012|date=April 15, 2007}}</ref><ref name=langman/> |
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The low-budget film was based on a 1926 novel ''Guard No. 47'' by [[Josef Kopta]], and it has a plot similar to the 1946 film ''[[The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946 film)|The Postman Always Rings Twice]]'' (1946).<ref name=langman>{{cite book|last=Langman|first=Larry|title=Destination Hollywood: The Influence of Europeans on American Filmmaking|year=2000|publisher=McFarland|pages=23|isbn=9780786406814|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fAXRKZOA8CUC&q=pickup+haas+film&pg=PA23}}</ref> |
The low-budget film was based on a 1926 novel ''Guard No. 47'' by [[Josef Kopta]], and it has a plot similar to the 1946 film ''[[The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946 film)|The Postman Always Rings Twice]]'' (1946).<ref name=langman>{{cite book|last=Langman|first=Larry|title=Destination Hollywood: The Influence of Europeans on American Filmmaking|year=2000|publisher=McFarland|pages=23|isbn=9780786406814|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fAXRKZOA8CUC&q=pickup+haas+film&pg=PA23}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 21:42, 7 January 2024
| Pickup | |
|---|---|
_poster.jpg) 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 |
Pickup is a 1951 American low-budget 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 behind the camera. 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]
The low-budget film was based on a 1926 novel Guard No. 47 by Josef Kopta, and it has a plot similar to the 1946 film The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946).[2]
Plot
Jan "Hunky" Horak, a middle-aged railroad dispatcher who lives in a poor neighborhood by the railroad tracks, is seduced by a much younger Betty, who is after his money. They get married. Afterward, Jan loses his hearing.
Jan is reassigned to a remote post with only one co-worker, Steve, a younger man. When Jan is knocked down by a car, he regains his hearing, but keeps this development to himself. Steve and Betty are attracted to each other, and Betty talks openly about her love for Steve and contempt for her husband in front of Jan.
Betty finds out that divorce would leave her penniless. She tries to get Jan to move his savings into a joint account. When that fails, Betty tries to persuade Steve to shove her husband off a cliff during a rail inspection, falsely claiming that Jan has beaten her, but he cannot bring himself to commit murder. Disgusted, Betty packs up and leaves.
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, based on James M. Cain's 1934 novel The Postman Always Rings Twice.[2]
Release
It opened in New York on August 30, 1951.[3] It was released only to secondary and independent theaters.
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.[4] More recently Filmfanatic.org called it "a tawdry, low-budget camp classic", criticising predictable elements but praising the dialog and some unexpected plot twists.[5] Fernando F. Croce remarked on its "unusually blunt masochism" and sympathetic treatment of the femme fatale (who makes it out alive).[6]
See also
- Guard No. 47 (2008)
References
- ^ "Pickup (1951)". Film Noir of the Week. April 15, 2007. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
- ^ a b c Langman, Larry (2000). Destination Hollywood: The Influence of Europeans on American Filmmaking. McFarland. p. 23. ISBN 9780786406814.
- ^ "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.
