Richard Widmark delivers this wry line to take the hot air out of the FBI man trying to appeal to Widmark's patriotism. Widmark picked a purse full of microfilm but is more interested in the payoff than stopping godless commies.
The FBI agent is nominally the ''good guy protecting America," like you'd see in any number of Cold War Era shorts, but is actually a bit of a bumbling bloviator who couldn't solve a crossword puzzle. ''I told you there was a difference between a pickpocket and a patriot," he tells the local cop late in the film. Har har. Doofus. Writer/director Fuller is laughing at you. No wonder the cross-dressing civil-liberties-hating head of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, went ballistic when he saw this film.
The guy who gets over is Widmark. First he slugs a broad. Then he caresses her face in a loving embrace. Take that, Hays Office prudes! Then he tosses her aside and names his price. What a performance. His lines are funnier than most comedies from the 50s.
The more I see of Widmark the more I love this guy. He could do it all. I'm waiting to stumble on to a movie where he tap dances and sings.
Jean Peters is a complete natural. It's too bad she married billionaire nutjob Howard Hughes and retired from acting. She is completely free of the stilted mannerisms and speech patterns you usually see from dames in this era.
As for Thelma Ritter, yah, I could see why she was nominated for an Oscar. I would have paid good coin to see this woman live on stage. She's riveting.
Throw in some interesting camera work and a conclusion that fits the story and you have a genuine, bona fide hidden gem.
Thank goodness for TCM, Eddie Muller and Noir Alley.
