El gran robo

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.

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.

'The Big Steal' sees Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer team up again after their earlier Noir classic 'Out Of The Past', which is still one of the greatest Film Noirs ever made. 'The Big Steal' isn't as good, that's a fact, but it's a very different kind of movie, and comparing the two is a bit unfair. It's much lighter in tone and approach. Still Mitchum and Greer make a great team and it's a pity they didn't work together more. Director Don Siegel went on to make 'Invasion Of The Body Snatchers', 'The Killers' and 'Dirty Harry', all great favourites of mine, but 'The Big Steal' is just as good and is not to be overlooked. It's a great piece of entertainment and also features a very good performance by William Bendix, who I also really enjoyed in Hitchcock's underrated 'Lifeboat'. Forget about 'Out Of The Past' and just enjoy 'The Big Steal' for what it is, a thriller that is a great fun film.

The Big Steal (1949)

You can't go totally wrong with Robet Mitchum, and he is with Jane Greer, who was his sometimes girlfriend in Jacques Tourneur's fabulous Out of the Past (1947). This fast, chase chase chase movie is a lot of fun, and it careens through Mexico in a slightly insensitive but slightly exotic way.

Slightly. It sometimes seems like a quickie movie, for sure, but hey, this is about a love affair trying to bud amidst the chaos of crime, and there's nothing wrong with that. And one very nice thing is the Spanish is clean and honest. Even Greer's Spanish is very good, and there is no pandering to the audience too much (no subtitles, and when it switches to English it's natural).

Director Don Siegel has two legendary movies to his name, which is more than many greater directors can say: Dirty Harry (1971) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), as well as the highly regarded The Shootist (1976). I say all this partly to show he's got something special happening, and even a flawed effort like The Big Steal is going to have things to love, and to watch for.

So what to watch for? For one, even more that Mitchum who is always likable and convincing, is Greer. She brings a confident, brave, not quite hardened edge to her character and it's bracing. She never coys it up, never becomes the femme fatale of more stereotypical films. Mithcum is a good match for her, and as the race through the landscape, we get a continuation of the chemistry they started in Tourneur's film (which was set in California).

William Bendix is always a treat, even if a little bit easy to caricature, and he is cardboard here, for sure. But what the heck, he's just the one chasing, and if he become too interesting the film would start to look like fine art, which it isn't. In fact, if there is one thing that Siegel avoids it's high minded goals. He has something more pithy and immediate in mind, and gets it, and gets you, in the gut, and with an exhilaration that's really fine, really well done, not a cheap thrill at all.

Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer co-star in this film about a wrongfully accused man being chased by the bad guy, while chasing the other bad guy. Mitchum and Greer are both charming and warm, Mitchum with his cool demeanor and lazy eyes, Greer with her charismatic presence and radiant smile. William Bendix offers a terrific performance as the bad guy chasing down Mitchum. Fast, fun and not to be missed.