Pickup On South Street
I have yet to see a vast number of Fuller films, but the best one I’ve encountered thus far is Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street, which was a German-financed TV movie. It’s totally nuts: part satire, part noir, entirely psychotic, it’s difficult to describe in words. The movie opens with a shootout in a maternity ward and it’s a downhill slope from there into sheer madness.
40 Guns is Sam Fuller’s great Western noir. A Western like no other.
Speaking of Forty Guns, does anyone know where to get the two Jidge Carroll songs from the film? High Ridin’ Woman and God Has His Arms Around Me are awesome. You rarely see such perfect placement of songs in a film; except (of course) in Quintin Tarentino flicks. I’d bet he is a big Sam Fuller fan too!
So far, House of Bamboo and Pickup on South Street, but honestly I love all that I’ve seen so far, except maybe his adaptation of David Goodis’ “Street of No Return”.
widmark is so great in pickup on south street
underworld usa is streaming on crackle for anyone interested
http://crackle.com/c/Underworld_U.S.A./Underworld_U_S_A/2480265
I love most of Fuller’s films, but my top 5 are:
The Naked Kiss
The Big Red One (Reconstruction)
Pickup On South Street
Underworld, U.S.A.
White Dog
I share the puzzlement some have expressed over the vaunted status of ‘Shock Corridor’. I found it to be one of his least visually assured films, and thought the inmates were disappointingly predictable “types” from a director who was usually anything but. While I appreciate it’s stab at social criticism, it lacks the poignancy and power of his greater films like White Dog and The Naked Kiss.
This thread has inspired me to add White Dog to my list of films I want to watch soon.
Pickup on South Street
I’ve seen the Baron of Arizona, and as much a fan of Price as I am, I just thought it was ok, not great. I didn’t like what I saw of The Big Red One, but Steel Helmet is a must see film.
I like “Park Row” the most. There’s hardly any breathers in that film, for Fuller has too much to say with too little time to say it to even think about resting for a moment. It really is the ultimate Fuller picture in that it is a war film about newspapers; hot-iron type takes the place of bullet fire and the clanks of heavy print machines take the place of bomb explosions—that is until, as is always the case with Fuller, conflict literally turns into a microcosm of World War II.
“Pickup on South Street” is every bit as graceful in its own way as Bresson’s “Pickpocket.” “Underworld U.S.A.” is a lot of fun, and too often neglected. “The Naked Kiss” hits you on the head with a purse from the get-go and never ceases. “White Dog” is a heartbreaker and undoubtedly a masterpiece—finally, in the wake of last year’s Criterion make-over, people are beginning to admit that much.
Good God.
Why isn’t PARK ROW out on DVD yet? RUN OF THE ARROW I can deal without, but….
I haven’t seen anything by Fuller. Where should I start?
Shock Corridor would be the popular starting point and The Naked Kiss after that.
But I love Park Row, The Steel Helmet, Underworld USA and the Crimson Kimono as well.
And the reconstructed The Big Red One is great too.
start with the very first I SHOT JESSE JAMES and go chronologically - there is logic in FULLER’s madness
Not an easy question…..my favorite changes….I get on these kicks with a couple of the films at a time. I’d have to say PICK UP ON SOUTH STREET is high on my list. Used to watch SHOCK CORRIDOR a lot….certainly have a tremendous love for NAKED KISS, STEEL HELMET, and UNDERWORLD USA and FORTY GUNS is so ahead of it’s time and Stanwyk is so damn stunning. Still haven’t seen RUN OF THE ARROW. Been trying to find it for years. Haven’t seen PARK ROW in a decade or more….as of the last couple years, I can’t stop watching WHITE DOG, DEAD PIDGEON ON BEETHOVEN STREET, CRIMSON KIMONO and THE BIG RED ONE.
If WHITE DOG were released today, it would by far be the best American film of the year. It’s was very Kubrickian in the sense that it was TOO far ahead of it’s time and the public’s comfort zone. It’s a shame. The impact that film could have had is one that is much needed today.
I adore Sam Fuller’s films.
Turner Classic Movies
Saturday, June 26
10PM EST
Shock Corridor
Hopefully, there will also be some bio about Fuller.
It’s been a long time since I’ve watched any Fuller films. I believe I’ve seen them all except for SHARK, which he disavowed, and the two he made in France after WHITE DOG.
I liked most if not all of them. If I had to pick the ones I liked the best, they’d be THE STEEL HELMET and SHOCK CORRIDOR, with MERRILL’S MARAUDERS, CHINA GATE, FORTY GUNS and RUN OF THE ARROW right behind. Maybe when I get around to seeing the restored BIG RED ONE (I have it on DVD), I might add that to the list.
But I really need to see them again.
And THE STEEL HELMET was the first. It was in the pre-VCR era and I had to set my alarm clock and wake up at 4:00 in the morning to watch it on “The Late Show” on Channel 2 (the local CBS affiliate). It was well worth it. After that, I made a point of catching all his films when I could. Luckily, there were plenty of Sam Fuller retrospectives in New York around that time (early ’70s), so I was able to catch most of them on the big screen.
@FILMFLAM
If you want a good Fuller bio, you should track down his autobiography, A Third Face. It is quite possibly the most interesting book about a filmmaker ever to be written. It is every bit as Spellbinding as his films.
I was blown away by Underworld USA, and i can honestly consider it one of my all-time favorite films.
however, The Naked Kiss wasn’t that much of a worthwhile experience for me.
and those are the only two films i’ve seen by Fuller so far. i’ll be checking out House of Bamboo and Forty Guns next.
I’ve only seen Pickup on South Street so far, which I thought was very good but I’d like to see it again. I have a feeling I would love his films.
Before that, I began watching the first few minutes of Shock Corridor but I was put off by the acting. Are there any particular ones that anyone would recommend next? The Baron of Arizona looked pretty good when I caught some of it on T.V. and I’ve wanted to see The Big Red One and White Dog.
@FILMFLAM
I have to back Ransom up on the bio, A Third Face. I’ve read it several times and will certainly read it again. My favorite non-fiction book of all time. Not just a great story about a filmmaker, but a WWII vet who was there from beginning to end, a writer, a reporter, husband and father, and a breed of man that is unlikely to ever be seen again.
Pickup on South Street, also Underworld USA and The Big Red One (depends on the day).
Cinematic Cteve
Shock Corridor.
That film is about as insane as the world it purportedly depicts. Compulsively watchable. Unintentionally hilarious. At all times fascinating.
That, Titicutt Follies, Lilith and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest would make a helluva mini-festival on tinfoil-chewing madness.