Sun 17 Aug 2014
A Movie Review by Jonathan Lewis: THE BIG STEAL (1949).
Posted by Steve under Crime Films , Reviews[7] Comments
THE BIG STEAL. RKO Radio Pictures, 1949. Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, William Bendix, Patric Knowles, Ramon Novarro, Don Alvarado, John Qualen. Screenplay: Daniel Mainwaring (as Geoffrey Homes) & Gerald Drayson Adams, based on the story “The Road to Carmichael’s” by Richard Wormser (The Saturday Evening Post, 19 September 1942). Director: Don Siegel.
The Big Steal is an action-packed crime film starring Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer, the duo best known for their work together in Jacques Tourneur’s Out of the Past. Although it’s not as nearly as artistic as the better-known Tourneur film, The Big Steal is very much a solid piece of filmmaking. It benefits from not only from its strong cast, but also by its excellent pacing.
Directed by Don Siegel, whose great crime film, The Lineup, I reviewed here, The Big Steal defies easy categorization. It’s not so much a film noir as it is a hard-boiled crime film, replete with terse dialogue, witty and sarcastic banter between the two leads. Shifting allegiances also figure prominently. Plus, there’s a thrilling car chase sequence that predates Anthony Mann’s well-known car chase through a visually claustrophobic Manhattan in Side Street.
There’s something of light comedic aspect to The Big Steal, making it a bit less hard-boiled and more of a good old-fashioned, south of the border caper. Did I mention there’s a shootout between Mitchum’s character and some Mexican hired thugs that’s more reminiscent of a Western than anything out of what’s typically thought of as film noir?
The plot basics are as follows. Duke Halliday (Mitchum) arrives in Mexico in pursuit of Army payroll cash that he alleges was stolen by Jim Fiske (Patric Knowles). He teams up with Joan Graham (Greer), who was cheated out of a comparatively meager sum of cash by Fiske, with whom she was having some sort of romantic liaison back in the States.
The two attempt to track down Fiske, all the while being pursued by the haplessly ineffectually U.S. Army Captain Vincent Blake (William Bendix). Adding to the cat-and-mouse aspect is a Mexican law enforcement officer by the name of Ortega (Ramon Novarro) who is eager to let Halliday and Graham lead him to Fiske. All the while, Ortega has time to practice his English and ogle pretty Mexican girls poolside. John Qualen rounds out the cast as Seton, the film’s quirky, art collecting arch-villain.
With the notable exception of the final showdown, The Big Steal isn’t a particularly moody film. It’s not much of a psychological study, either. It’s simply a significantly above average late 1940s crime film with a coterie of colorful characters, all chasing one another up and down Mexican streets. It may not be one of Mitchum’s iconic roles, but he’s really quite good here.
There’s one scene in which he sits backward in a chair, smirking at his rival. It’s a pretty much perfect moment in a film that overall works very well. As for Greer, she’s no femme fatale in this. She’s just a gal along for the ride. All told, it’s a pretty entertaining one.
August 18th, 2014 at 1:16 am
Never seen the film, although I’m sure that I remember an anecdote about the making. Apparently Mitchum and Knowles decided to get Bendix drunk, and gave him a ‘local drink’ which was basically a mixture of every alcohol that they could get their hands on. By the time that they all went bowling, Bendix was thoroughly sloshed, and the evening ended with Bendix unable to let go of the bowling ball, and hurtling down the bowling aisle still holding on the the ball.
August 18th, 2014 at 2:00 pm
A couple of interesting things here, aside from Greer and Mitchum this has another tie to OUT OF THE PAST in that the screenplay is by Daniel Mainwaring, who as Geoffrey Homes wrote BUILD MY GALLOWS HIGH, the source for OOTP.
Mitchum and Bendix teamed in MACAO as well, this time with Bendix as good guy.
Jonathan,
I agree this is primarily a good crime film with a light touch, and only noir by the broadest definition of the word. Mitchum and Greer are the most nourish elements of the film.
That said, I like this one much more than many more important films of the era. It’s a big slightly shaggy likable movie, the dialogue sharp, the plot interesting, and everyone involved at their best.
There is something to be said for just entertaining without exploring any deep angst. HIS KIND OF WOMAN is like this in many ways, it’s noir because there isn’t anything else to call it and because there are noir elements (more in HKOW).
A few though would argue that Mitchum and Greer’s presence was enough to make this noir.
August 18th, 2014 at 2:45 pm
I just watched this again a couple of weeks ago and I think it is a little gem. Not of the rank of Out Of The Past of course but quite enjoyable. Just a nice fun movie, I guess I missed it in 1949 because I was only seven at the time.
August 18th, 2014 at 4:42 pm
MACAO is an RKO radio film I would like to see. Haven’t yet
August 19th, 2014 at 1:32 am
David: At this point in his career Mitchum was really the King of Noir, to the extent that when you see a romantic or comedy role he did from this period you’re almost waiting for a murder to happen. Mitchum had just done a stint in prison for possession of drugs and the time inside had actully done his career no harm, which I still think is pretty extraordinary. An interesting comparison to HIS KIND OF WOMAN which is a favourite of mine. I tend to like movies that refuse to be stuck within one single genre, as the cross-fertilisation can produce some fascinating results.
August 19th, 2014 at 2:57 pm
Mitchum had just done time in gaol for possessing marijuana and was only around for part of the shoot. That’s why there are so many scenes in close-up, especially driving a car with back-projection (they could hold his script up so he could read it out aloud), and in long-shot (a body-double), and comparatively few medium-range shots. A further directorial feat when you know about it!
August 22nd, 2014 at 5:42 pm
Mitchum was sort of the Charlie Sheen of his time in that people expected him to get in trouble the way they expected Errol Flynn or John Barrymore to.
Even at the height of Hollywood morality certain performers got away with murder based on their persona on and off screen.
Rory Calhoun did time before his film career and Paul Kelly served time for murder (everyone in Hollywood wanted to kill the man he killed) Frequent femme fatale Joan Bennett survived a scandal as well though not without some problems.
In Mitchum’s case he went from popular to legendary with the help of that famous picture of him in jail.