Pick-up

A cabbie took in a woman he knew nothing about then fell in love with her. The same cabbie wanted to buy his own garage so he could quit taxiing. What does that sound like? Ah yeah, "Virtue" (1932). It had the same plot.

In "Virtue" Carole Lombard played a prostitute who was picked up by a rather gruff cabbie while she was on the run from the law. They were adversarial at first then they fell for each other. It was anything but romantic. The cabbie found out about her past life, but by that time he was in love. He wanted to buy a service station so that he could quit driving cabs, and Carole Lombard did her best to help him.

In "Pick Up" Sylvia Sidney plays Mary Richards, an ex-con (i.e. Woman with a past). A kind yet gruff cabbie named Harry Glynn (George Raft) gave her a place to stay and helped her get on her feet. The two fell for each other and it was anything but romantic. He wanted to buy a garage of his own so he could quit driving cabs and she did her best to help him.

Unlike in the movie "Virtue," Babyface Mary never told Harry who she really was. In fact, because of the sheer amount of animus he had for the woman named Mary Richards, she gave him the name Molly Fuller. You knew it was only a matter of time before he found out the truth, especially since we were reminded every so often that she was still married to James 'Jim' Richards (William Harrigan) who was still in prison.

If "Pick Up" were to play out like all the other romances, Mary Richards' name and past wouldn't make a difference to Harry if he loved her enough.

There were two things going against this movie: 1.) it was too similar to "Virtue" and 2.) George Raft and Sylvia Sidney had zero chemistry. George Raft was a terrible actor with seemingly only one mode of talking, and Sylvia looked like a schoolgirl. The role of a streetwise ex-con didn't suit her at all. I think the same movie with a different cast may have been at least satisfactory.

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