A large number of movies in the last few years have stated by portraying life in the open world and have ended tragically by moving the actors to a different set, that of a prison. "Pick Up" reverses the procedure. Yet as the curtain is to be drawn, it gets, into a predicament which is also banal; a melodramatic and implausible trial scene.

Sylvia Sidney is first seen preparing to leave jail, ready to forget her dishonest husband who implicated her in the old badger game. She is free, with five dollars in her pocketbook. Three dollars and sixty-five cents for train fare and a few days in the big city. Broke, A rainy night. Into a taxicab for shelter. The driver takes her to his room. But he does not trust pick-ups. Takes his money out of the bureau ready to go to a friend's room for the night. Takes another look at her. Thinks she is pretty nice. Heavy rain drops tattoo the window panes.

A typical Delmar character, the cab driver, George Raft, and the pick-up fall in love. He becomes a garage owner, and they live happily in the suburbs until a hard-boiled society girl overcomes Mr. Raft. At the same time Sylvia Sidney's jealous husband breaks out of jail and goes to the house in the suburbs prepared to kill his wife's paramour. Here matters become complicated but the mud sinks to the bottom of the vortex, and Sylvia Sidney and George Raft miraculously emerge, triumphant.

At one point George Raft exposed his hairy chest. Half of the audience chortled loudly; from a very small minority were heard subdued sighs; the rest gasped. The point is small, but any director who believes that unnecessary scenes, in which women or men undress, will make the movie more popular is hopelessly deluded. The objection is not based on prudery or smugness. But superfluous scenes break the continuity of a story and spoil the effect of those following for some time.

George Raft is not too successful as the cab driver. He was like a puppet guided by an inexpert amateur. Especially in the scenes with the society siren did he show his lack of versatility in acting. A pleasant contrast to the poor interpretation of Mr. Raft was the almost flawless acting of Miss Sidney. She has remarkable reserve in depicting sentimentally emotional scenes which Helen Hayes, who has been so highly praised, lacks. Without a flood of tears, with the slightest modulation in voice, which paradoxically should be the reaction of the opposite emotion, she can show her consternation. Her acting, delicately sensual and at the same time intelligent, makes the film worthwhile.