Director
Samuel Fuller
Leading Actors/Actresses
Richard Widmark, Jean Peters
Supporting Actors/Actresses
Thelma Ritter, Murvyn Vye
Genre
Crime, Film-Noir, Thriller
Language
English
Awards
Nominated for 1 Oscar: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Date of Release
1953
Producer
Jules Shermer
Setting and Context
New York during the beginning of the Cold War
Narrator and Point of View
POV is that of Candy and Skip
Tone and Mood
Dramatic, Serious, Film-Noir
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonists are Candy and Skip. Antagonist is Joey.
Major Conflict
Skip pickpockets a microfilm containing a chemical equation that was going to be sold to Communists.
Climax
Skip stops Joey from selling the microfilm after Joey killed Moe and shot Candy.
Foreshadowing
Skip being caught pick pocketing foreshadows that there is a bigger game at play here.
Understatement
It's understated how far Joey is willing to go, that he is a killer.
Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques
N/A
Allusions
The film is an allusion the Red Scare during the beginning of the Cold War.
Paradox
Candy is upset that Skip calls her a Commy, paradoxically she doesn't know that she is working with them.
Parallelism
The Captain telling Skip he's a two-bit pickpocket at the end of the film parallels his earlier statements of belief about the man in the beginning of the film.
