After humanity has inflicted horrendous atrocities to each other during the world wars, it’s no wonder that there was a lingering distrust that led to the current state of politics today. It’s this suspicion that drives the mystery of Pickup on South Street, the city-sleek crime film that bridged the 40s noir with Cold War-era espionage drama through a misplaced microfilm holding critical information for a communist spy ring. Through an outstanding opening act, writer-director Samuel Fuller captured the anxiety of the milieu– the train sequence where every player, knowing or unknowing, only uses their eyes and gaze to gauge each other and their succeeding moves. It effectively sets the film into motion, but it also questioned the state-sanctioned surveillance in the name of patriotism despite the real domestic hardships some of its citizens have faced, including the two leads hustling in the underground for their own survival. It’s this nuance that made Pickup on South Street a film noir classic.