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Sylvia Sidney had the unique ability to present herself as both vulnerable and tough as brass, and never more so than here. She is such a sympathetic character from the very first scene. Her Mary/Molly is no nonsense yet idealistic.

Happily paired with George Raft as Harry, she is touching and involving throughout. Harry is an underachieving cab driver who is "satisfied" with the his low-rent life. It is amusing to watch her shove him up the ladder of success even when he does not necessarily see what she's doing.

Because Mary is still married to a con she's afraid to divorce, she and Harry must live together, allowing others to assume they are married. The script does not blanch at this, nor at the heavy sexual aggressiveness of the rich gal who goes after Harry.

Raft, of course, is gorgeous as usual, but here plays rather less worldly and more gullible than is usual for him. Harry's been around the block a few times, but can always get suckered.

Well worth watching, and a nice warm-up for Raft and Sydney's later hookup "You and Me."

I love Sylvia Sidney. She was easily one of the greatest and most underappreciated actresses Hollywood ever had. She should have easily won multiple oscars but supposedly she was hard to work with and the academy looked the other way. Then the studio didnt help her much,as great an actress as he was she was given mediocre scripts and she never made a huge popular movie. She was mostly cast with second rate leading actors and was expected to carry the movie alone. In this one she is paired with second rate leading man George who manages not to ruin this movie which is an acomplishment in itself. The story is likable and so are the characters. This rather obscure little movie is easily one of the best Sylvia Sidney ever did.

When the story begins, Mary (Sylvia Sidney) is getting out of prison. It seems her husband led her astray and she's determined not to make that mistake again and live the straight and narrow. During a rain storm, she meets Harry (George Raft) and things are looking up for her. But her ex- isn't about to let go of her...and while he's in prison, he's making plans for the two of them

In the meantime, Mary wants to see Harry make more of himself and thinks that he's just settling with his job. Harry is happy to just be a cab driver. Well, Mary is determined to help him be more...and manipulates him nicely to get him to work his way up in life. But without a marriage....how long can she hold on to him...especially when another woman seems very interested in him? And, what's next for this unusual couple?

This film is a good example of a Pre-Code film. For example, early in the film, Mary needs a place to stay and Harry lets her stay with him in his apartment...something you just wouldn't have seen after the tough Production Code was implemented in mid-1934. Additionally, later the two live as husband and wife, as she tells him she's married but isn't planning on getting a divorce...again, something they wouldn't have allowed in this film had it been made a year later. And, finally, there is a woman who is trying to take Harry away from Mary...and Murial isn't afraid to chase after Harry and is very aggressive..describing herself as 'wicked'! Again, something you probably wouldn't have seen during the Code era. In the Code era, women were NOT supposed to be so aggressive nor enjoy a little hanky-panky! This lady clearly enjoys having a good time and has no interest in marriage!

So is that any good? Yes. Sidney in particular is quite charming and does a nice job here. As for Raft, he's not the same sort of guy you'd see in later films....his character is less sure of himself and a bit dim compared to his other movies. As for the plot, well, it's a bit tough to believe where all this goes...but it IS very entertaining and never dull.

Pick up is a truly great Pre-Code movie. The actors make you care about the characters and the story keeps you interested and engaged. I'm presently collecting all of Sylvia Sidney's movies from the 1930's and in my opinion this is one of her finest. Sylvia Sidney's beautiful kind face will make you love her and care about what she is facing.Check it out if you love Pre-Code.

Gary Cooper was supposed to do Pick-up with Sylvia Sidney, but Paramount had lent him to MGM for a film and shooting ran over. So George Raft got the part and I think it worked out better. Not sure if Coop's Montana accent would have worked as well as Raft's most urban persona.

Sidney and husband William Harrigan both went to jail after a badger game con cost the mark his life. Sidney got 2 years and is being released Harrigan has 3 more years to serve.

Sidney got a lot of notoriety and has trouble finding work and that's when she meets Raft who's a cabdriver with ambition. It's the usual boy meets girl stuff with Sidney not confessing she has a husband in stir and Raft gets picked up by spoiled society girl Lillian Bond.

This one is Sylvia's picture though Raft gets his innings in. The climax is in a courtroom and it's a wild one.

Pick-up still holds up well.