I Was a Shoplifter

When the daughter of a judge is caught shoplifting, she has to sign a confession in order to go free. "Faye" (Mona Freeman) is not the only one in the shop who's been apprehended in this annual $100m scam - "Jeff" (Scott Brady) has also been arrested and he is determined to befriend his new rookie friend. She works in the library and receives a visitor summoning her to a bar where she meets up with the manipulative "Ina" (Andrea King) and now she finds herself involved in a blackmail plot to ensure she continues to lift goods to order for the gang. Luckily for all, "Jeff" isn't quite what he seems and what now ensues is a decently enough paced drama that illustrates just how easy it is to steal and just how lucrative a business it is for the perpetrators. There's a strangely miscast, and rather weedy, Tony Curtis aboard here as the rather un-menacing enforcer "Pepe" and at times it adopts a slightly documentary approach to the polling techniques used to ensnare these criminals, but there's enough chemistry between Brady and Freeman and King reminds me of a baddie from a Rathbone/Bruce "Sherlock Holmes" film. The ending is a bit rushed, but it's still worth a watch if you want to know how easy it is to sell-on a dodgy three-blade electric razor!

Mona Freeman is the daughter of a judge. She's caught shoplifting, and is made to sign a confession by store detective Larry Keating, in return for not prosecuting... this time. It's standard procedure. What's not standard procedure is she's contacted by a gang of shoplifters who have access to that confession, and who say they will destroy it if she does a few jobs for them.

It's one of those Universal programmers that they produced by the hundreds, played for a few years, and then were forgotten. It's competently directed by Charles Lamont, competently shot by Irving Glasberg, and competent played by the cast. Andrea King is catlike as the manager of the gang, even though it's quite clear from the set-up and a well- focused shot who actually is in charge. Tony Curtis plays a Mexican-American hood in a good-sized role, Rock Hudson a store detective in a blink-and-you'll-miss-him role. Scott Brady and Charles Drake fill out the top of the credit card, and it's another decent time-waster.

Universal released this weak crime movie, very low on entertainment content. It's portrayed as one of those "true stories", as phony as any random Hollywood product.

Mona Freeman stars as the winsome kleptomaniac, whose dad is a judge. She gets caught shoplifting and then gets blackmailed by sleazy criminals led by Andrea King, okay as a femme fatale.

Nearly all the roles are stereotypes, including Scott Brady in the lead role posing as a professional shoplifter. From the Universal stable of young talent, Tony Curtis is prominently featured as Pepe, a one-dimensional lady's man and creep. The Rock Hudson bit part is just that, a nothing assignment.

Directed by untalented comedy director Charles Lamont, whose career dated back to Silent Era short films and ended up with the "Mickey Mouse Club".

How about, "I became a Hollywood has been in five films or less."

Andrea King and Scott Brady were up and coming stars after World War II. By 1950, Brady was on the booze and it showed. No more A features for him. I don't think Hollywood knew what to do with Andrea King. She ended up on Dragnet 1969 in a turban.

Mona Freeman did nothing but play put upon whiners. When she is listed among the cast you know it is going to be a Stinker.

You are never clear about how their racket is run and you stop caring.

Look out for small roles by Tony Curtis and Rock Hudson during their Universal International starlet days paying their dues on the casting chair.

Or at least the only film noir in movie history speaking of shoplifting and not bank robbers, drug traffic, racketeers., pimps. The story itself is very easy and predictable to follow, not that unusual on the scheme itself. It is a rare film to catch and directed by Charles Lamont, not used to crime, film noirs, or some lousy ones in the thirties, but more comedy movies, light hearted dramas, such as the Abott and Costello series, or ven FRANCIS the talking mule. Useless to say that Charles Lamont was not a great director, but a prolific one, providing rare gems, which some are available on you tube. Not a bad little movie, I repeat, because of the shoplifting element. It could have been question of folks stealing gasoline in car tanks on parking lots. Why not? Another cute crime film speaking of shoplifting before Andrew Stone's CONFIDENCE GIRL.