Samuel Fuller (1911-1997) brought his background as a former crime reporter, pulp-fiction writer and decorated war hero to his gritty, compelling films. "The heat of the story is what I'm interested in," Fuller tells film historian Richard Schickel in their interview. Although most of Fuller's films were considered "B" action movies at the time, he lent them such a daring and distinctive stamp that many have since become cult favorites.

In The Men Who Made the Movies: Sam Fuller (2002), the director discusses his philosophy about filmmaking, life experiences, specific films and key scenes in his movies. Included in the documentary are clips from The Steel Helmet (1951), a timely and hard-hitting study of the Korean War, which was the first movie on the subject and was made while that war was still being fought; The Naked Kiss (1964), starring Constance Towers as a strong-willed prostitute fighting hypocrisy in her struggle to go straight (it's an example of Fuller's raw, tabloid-influenced style), and Pickup on South Street (1953).

Writer/Director: Richard Schickel
BW & C-55m. Closed captioning.

by Roger Fristoe