As The Red Scare infiltrated American culture and consciousness in the 1940s and 1950s, few prominent players in the Hollywood film industry dared to challenge the House Committee on United Nations Activities (HUAC) allegations; the fear of losing credibility and being blacklisted even ruffled the feathers of Bogey, arguably one of the most powerful presences on and off the screen of that era. But it was Sam Fuller's courageous 1953 crime film, Pickup on South Street, that took on the challenge of McCarthyism: through the tough, independent and wise character of Skip McCoy, Fuller not only questions the motivations of these patriots and criminals who point the finger. their communist sympathizing opponents, but also calls into question the very notions of dogmatic faith. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In Pickup on South Street, Fuller's Skip McCoy quickly establishes himself as a social outcast: in addition to being a pickpocket recently released by the city, he "lives in a (newly) converted tackle and bait shack overlooking the river . It is connected to the mainland [only] by a long plank” (Shadoian 222). Instead of having a bed, Skip sleeps in a hammock hung above the unfurnished floor and the walls decorated with only a few small pictures of movie stars like Marilyn Monroe. “Skip's house is a symbol of his independence” (Shadoian 222), and Fuller makes it clear that he has no ties or loyalty to anyone but himself. Appearing perfectly content in his isolated rig and bait shack while drinking beer from his makeshift refrigerator in the "drink," Skip is immediately thrust from his quiet life in the shadows to bright center stage. After stealing the unsuspecting Candy's wallet while on the subway, the accidental acquisition of the communist's microfilm places the outcast directly in the crosshairs of both the communists and the U.S. government. With both parties after the microfilm, it is FBI agent Zara with the help of Captain Tiger who reaches Skip first. While Tiger seems simply concerned with incarcerating Skip for life on petty charges, the FBI's Zara seems more interested in seizing the microfilm. But to humor the FBI agent and perhaps even further his career by imprisoning Skip once and for all, Tiger indulges Zara's desire to help her country. Much like Senator McCarthy who pretended to seek out the "reds" for the security of the United States (but really only to further his political office), Tiger's performance as a patriot willing to put aside his feelings of hatred for Skip it is just an act in an attempt to eliminate his opposition. But when Skip refuses to admit he has the film, realizing both Tiger's insincerity and its possible monetary value, the true patriot Zara interjects, “Don't you see how important this is? If you refuse to cooperate you will be as guilty as the traitors who gave Stalin the atomic bomb." Skip quickly responds first to Zara, then to Tiger, saying, “Are you waving a flag at me? I know you pinched me three times, (to Tiger), you're trying so hard with all this patriotic eye drops. At this point in Fuller's film, Skip is unaware of the contents of the microfilm, but he knows that it contains information of extreme importance to the United States government. This is made clear by Zara's question (to Skip), "Do you know what betrayal means?" with Skip replying, "Who cares!" Even after Skip goes to the New York Public Library and discovers the contents of the microfilm, it does not change his actions oropinions in helping his country. Thanks to the help and employment of the unsuspecting Candy, the Communists are the next to find Skip in his shack. After being knocked out by Skip during her first visit, Candy later returns with $500 given to her by Joey who hopes to buy the film back. When Candy offers Skip the $500, he jumps up and violently pushes her away, saying, “Tell that communist I want a great soundtrack for that movie…so you're a Red, who cares? Your money is as good as anyone else's!” Fuller not only uses Skip's individuality to distinguish him from American "flag-wavers" (as Skip calls them), but also from communists. Skip does not care about what is at stake politically for either side: he “ridicules abstract concepts of politics and patriotism” (Shadoian 223), and is simply concerned with getting the highest price from the highest bidder regardless of his ideologies. In this sense, “by living outside of convention, he avoided becoming a machine” (Shadoian 223). Skip's independence and refusal to believe in these dogmatic principles do not paint him as "colorless, disgusting, or mocked" like the police and communists (Shadoian 223), but Fuller instead presents this pickpocket as the true hero of the film: the only person capable of resisting the alarmism perpetrated by both sides. “One expects him to eventually see the light” (Shadoian 223) and come to defend his country, but this never materializes, even after his meeting with Moe at the bar. Sitting at a long counter, Moe asks Skip, "What's up with you, playing footsie with communists?" to which Skip replies, "Do you wave a flag too?" While Moe may be the only character Skip respects due to their similar situations, even after she tells him that the line "has to be drawn somewhere... even in our crummy business," Skip still refuses to accept Moe's anti-communism. ideology, “which is highlighted as ignorant. She knows nothing about communists, she only knows that she doesn't like them” (Shadoian 224). And Fuller suggests that his character's refusal to wave the American flag is perfectly acceptable, that his rejection of these paranoia-inducing machines is what actually keeps him human (Shadoian 224). Fuller presents both American patriotism and communism alike as having “a similar contempt for human values ​​and for human beings who have accidentally become entangled in their political shenanigans” (Shadoian 227). The only humanism or saving grace left in Pickup is produced by the developing relationship between Skip and Candy. When Candy reveals to Skip that she's in the hospital because she refused to tell Joey where the tackle and bait shack were, Skip gets his high. moment of realization. In this moment, for the first time in the film we see Skip move away from being an outcast as he enters society, falling in love with Candy. The light that Skip sees is not that he must defend his country, but that he must defend the woman who protected him. As Skip and Candy's love bonds with their kiss in the hospital bed, the “human connection” (Shadoian 225) that Moe previously tried to sell through his bonds is finally achieved. Skip avenges Joey's beating of Candy, and Fuller never reveals what happens to the microfilm. For Fuller, what happens to the microfilm is insignificant because “the world goes on as before” (Shadoian 226): Americans and Communists will continue with their pointless rivalry and continue to strike fear in the hearts of their enthusiastic supporters. film released during the Red Scare, one would expect its overall message to be patriotic and anti-communist, but "Fuller is not against communism as such, but against.