The Big Steal

As a team, Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer are pretty well-known, at least to classic film fans, for their pairing in "Out Of The Past," but I thought they were a lot more fun to watch in this particular film noir.

This movie, still not available on tape or disc for some reason, is almost one long chase scene, with people in three vehicles all on the move....with a neat twist at the end.

There is the typical 1940s budding romance in which the two parties do nothing with insult each other until the end. Sometimes that gets really old but in here it isn't, maybe because Greer has so many good lines.

It's also fun to see the old cars racing around hairpin curves, although the special effects are really dated. The fight scenes didn't look too realistic, either. Hey, I didn't say it was technically a great movie.....just a fun one to watch. Equally entertaining were two of the other people in on the chases: William Bendix and Patric Knowles.

There's really not much to this film, basically just a car chase and a double cross concerning money. But Don Siegel delivers the action with humor and élan. Jane Greer was not the first choice to play Robert Mitchum's buddy. Several others were not permitted by their studios to work with Mitchum because of his recent pot bust. "The Big Steal" would have died on the vine had Greer not gladly stepped in. The spark between the two is essential and what repartee. The clever dialog causes the film to glide along like a soft summer breeze south of the border.

Mitchum and Greer get the needed support from the rest of the cast. William Bendix was a versatile and talented actor. He could play comedy as well as the best comedians of the day. In "Who Done It?" Bendix out clowned Lou Costello--no easy task. He was so funny that Lou refused to work with him again because he was stealing the show. He could also play the dumb but tough thug as he did so well in "Dark Corner." He could play straight drama as in "Lifeboat," "The Hairy Ape," and "The Time of Your Life." He could play a psycho as in "The Blue Dahlia" as well as Tony Perkins. Why, he even played Babe Ruth and made people believe it. He made "The Life of Riley" come to life on early TV. He plays Capt. Vincent Blake in "The Big Steal," who is chasing Duke Halliday (Mitchum) who is chasing Jim Fiske (Patric Knowles) who is trying to keep a rendezvous with Hulius Seton (John Qualen), the fence for the stolen money. One of the funniest scenes in the movie involve William Bendix and a mob (not a herd) of sheep. Watch for it. Silent movie star Ramon Novarro plays Col. Ortega, who is content to sit back and let the bad guys eliminate each other. He is also trying to learn English from Lt. Ruiz but has a few problems with American slang. Also look for Mitchum's wife, Dorothy, as one of the tourists.

It's easy to see shades of Dirty Harry in the action sequences, a sign of good things to come. Because of Don Siegel's direction and a well-written script, "The Big Steal" will steal you away.

A rogue's runaway with the cash, a payroll, there's quite a backlash, Duke Halliday's on the hook, accusations that he took, ran away with the wages in a flash. There's Joan who's been conned by Jim Fiske, a fiancé she thought had no risk, but he's off with her cash, her hard earned saved stash, his escape is increasingly brisk. Captain Blake's on the tail of them all, along tracks, along trails he trawls, a man on a mission, with a mean disposition, intent on recovering the haul.

I's entertaining fayre, with a chase around the highways and byways of Mexico, with the delightful Jane Greer stealing the show.

Jane and Duke meet in Vera Cruz, where they have both come to find Jim Friske – Jane because she is missing $2000, Duke because Friske has stolen hundreds of thousands that Duke has been accused of stealing. Duke himself is being pursued by Captain Blake to get the money back and bring him to justice. Duke gives Blake the slip but Friske gets away from all of them; believing Jane to know more than she is letting on Duke limpets to her to get to Friske, only for both of them to get pulled in front of the local Inspector General Ortega. All these players dance around one another as each tries to get what they want while also protecting themselves from the others.

Opening with a couple of sudden slaps and punches I assumed this was going to be a very rough pot-boiler but in fact it turned out to be not only tough but also pretty amusing and slick. The basic plot is a bit contrived and requires all the characters to be able to move around one another without getting an easy solution. This does produce some amusing interactions as the story stays quite tight on the way to a nicely twisty conclusion. It isn't dark enough or strong enough to be classed as a serious crime thriller or noir (which it absurdly is listed as by this site) but it is certainly entertaining and tough enough to be worth checking out.

The cast really help and seem to "get" the tone of the material. Mitchum is tough but has a good humour about him that sets up the rest of the film; he has judged it well and his easy charm gives him chemistry with Greer. She is also good – light and sassy without straying too much outside of the role of needy female. Bendix is tough and flustered in a good way while Knowles makes for quite a nice relaxed thief that sits well with the playing that the script requires him and the other characters to do. Novarro is a fun addition and he works well as the observer in the background.

Overall this is not a tough gritty noir that it may appear to be from the period and those involved but it is still a fun crime drama. It is occasionally quite rough while also having a slight caper feel to it but the overall impact is one of quite a slick and enjoyable film that makes up for in fun what it loses in grit.

Wow--talk about a strange but likable combination. This film is sort of like a mixture of film noir, and adventure film, a comedy and it's all set in Mexico. While this unusual melange might seem to make no sense, it actually works very well and it supremely watchable. Much of the reason for this was the excellent script that provided enough twists to keep a simple idea humming and another were the likable leads, Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer.

The film begins with Robert Mitchum being confronted by William Bendix on a cruise ship. Bendix has a gun on Mitchum and you aren't sure what the context is for this. Who is the good guy and who is the bad and what has happened up until this time? Instead of making this clear, the film deliberately keeps this all rather vague--a very good choice in hindsight. Since Mitchum is the studly male lead, you aren't particularly surprised when he manages to overpower Bendix and escape.

Once Mitchum escapes, he goes looking for a man (Patric Knowles) and apparently Jane Greer is also looking for the same con man. However, again and again, Knowles slips through their hands and the film consists of a road trip across Mexico to get their hands on Knowles. He evidently stole something--but what? And what about Bendix? Tune in and find out for yourself.

As I mentioned above, the story works well due to the writing and acting. Greer and Mitchum are a good pair and their dialog is actually quite snappy and funny. I also appreciated how the Mexicans were portrayed--they were normal folks--something unusual for 1940s Hollywood.

Overall, an exciting and fun film from start to finish and a next followup from their last film together, OUT OF THE PAST. However, according to the accompanying featurette (a DVD extra), Greer was not the first choice but Lizbeth Scott refused to star in the film with Mitchum following his arrest for marijuana possession.