U.S. Army lieutenant Duke Halliday (Robert Mitchum) is robbed of a $300,000 payroll by Jim Fiske (Patric Knowles). When Halliday's superior, Captain Vincent Blake (William Bendix), suspects him of having taken part in the theft, Halliday pursues Fiske into Mexico. Along the way, he runs into Joan Graham (Jane Greer), who is also after Fiske, she for $2000 loaned to her now ex-boyfriend. The two join forces, tentatively at first, as they are not sure if they can trust each other.
Fiske stays one step ahead of the couple as they chase him near the length of Mexico, pursued all the while with equal ardour by Blake. When Halliday is knocked down trying to stop Fiske from getting away, he comes to the attention of Police Inspector General Ortega (Ramon Novarro). Halliday claims to be Blake, using identification he took from the captain after a brawl. Ortega lets him go after Fiske, but keeps an eye on him. His suspicions towards Halliday are confirmed when the real Blake shows up at his office seeking help.
Halliday and Graham ultimately track Fiske to a safehouse in the desert, where a fence, Seton (John Qualen), offers him $150,000 in untraceable bills in exchange for the payroll. After a shootout, the couple are captured by Seton's henchmen. When Blake shows up, Halliday is initially relieved to be rescued, until Blake reveals that he is actually the brains behind the crime.
Fiske turns squeamish at the prospect of Graham being murdered and dumped in the desert along with Halliday, and proposes taking her with him. Blake, who is calling all the shots, rejects the idea, and in an act that shocks everyone shoots Fiske in the back when he goes to leave. Revealing just how ruthless he is, he then calmly explains to the others that his cover story will be that his late ex-partner, “apparently still at large”, will take the blame for the missing payroll. Seeking to twist Blake’s confession back on him, Halliday then points out to Seton that if Blake gets rid of him too, he can cover his tracks with the army by giving the stolen money back to it and keep the $150,000 for himself.
Alarmed, and taking no chances, Seton pulls a gun on everyone, and disarms Blake. Graham then creates a distraction for Halliday to jump Blake, whom he bests in a bruising fistfight, while she accidentally wounds Seaton during a successful struggle over his gun. Ortega is called to come make the arrests.
Cleared by Ortega of all wrongdoing, Halliday is free to return to the army. When he indicates to a waiting Graham there is nothing to do in Mexico to keep him there any longer, she points his attention to a passing Mexican couple parading their seven children. He gets her drift as she smiles coyly.
Robert Mitchum's arrest for possession of marijuana on September 1, 1948, and his subsequent conviction and incarceration, had a large impact on the production of The Big Steal. RKO head Howard Hughes saw Mitchum's notoriety surrounding the arrest (the actor already seen as a 'bad boy' in Hollywood) as a positive that would boost attention for a rather low-rent - but hopefully profitable - production.
George Raft was originally cast, but was replaced by Mitchum after the arrest.[5]Lizabeth Scott was slated for the female lead but quit three weeks prior to filming due to the arrest, and was replaced by Jane Greer (Mitchum and Greer had been earlier paired in the successful 1947 noir Out of the Past). Hughes had been keeping Greer, a former girlfriend, from appearing in any RKO films in an attempt to ruin her career, but finally conceded when no other actress would take the part.[6]
Filming
Filming (Los Angeles and Tehuacán, Puebla, Mexico) was rushed in order to capitalize on the publicity generated by Mitchum's drug charges and incarceration, with some scenes shot while Mitchum was serving his sentence. Seigel commented upon the effect of Mitchum's absence upon a scene in which William Bendix pursues Mitchum through a forest, shot three months apart:
Mitchum in the picture would come running into a sequence and the trees would be green, and Bendix would be right on his heels and the tree would be bare.[7]
Jane Greer's pregnancy ensured that the schedule was kept tight. This was part of the reason for the film's relatively short 71 minute runtime.[8] Despite this Siegel said the film came in under budget.[2]
The screenwriters Gerald Drayson Adams and Daniel Mainwaring (nom de plume Geoffrey Homes), were undecided as to Mitchum's film characterization, and according to film critic Judith M. Kass, viewers may be “confused about Mitchum’s motives until the final chase and denouement.”[7]
Release
Capitalizing on Michum's headlines was a proven scheme for Hughes, who immediately following the arrest had pushed for another of Mitchum's pictures, Rachel and the Stranger, to be released sooner than planned. Rachel was released on September 18, 1948, and became one of the year's biggest hits.[5]
Home media
The U.K. Region 2 DVD from 2008 (in a box set with 8 other film noir thrillers) is a colourised version, produced by Turner Entertainment, copyrighted 1991.
The U.S (multi region) DVD from 2007 is the black and white version and is on a double bill with 1955’s Illegal (1955 film) starring Edward G. Robinson.
Reception
Critical response
Channel 4 film reviews describes the movie as "Sparkling dialogues, fast-paced chases and the occasional twist make this an at first somewhat confusing but ultimately hugely entertaining film."[9][failed verification]
Hal Erickson writing for AllMovie calls the film "tautly directed by Don Siegel, who manages to pack plenty of twists and turns into the film's crowded 71 minutes."[10][failed verification]
In a review posted at Allmovie.com in 2024, Craig Butler writes:
“For a film noir, The Big Steal is surprisingly light. Unlike noirs such as The Big Sleep, which lace the darker proceedings with plenty of humor, Steal is fairly amusing all the way through. The setup and the stakes are serious, but the execution, even at its most action-packed, is handled with a sense of humor. Those looking for typical noir existentialism will be disappointed, but most will find themselves drawn in by Steal's charm…If The Big Steal falls short of classic status, it's because it's ultimately a caper film without a lot of depth to it; but if it's little more than one long chase, it's still an entertaining ride.” [11]
Critic Judith M. Kass, writing in The Hollywood Professionals, Volume 4 (1976), singles out Jane Greer's performance for special mention: “The real support for Mitchum comes from Greer, who is fast-talking, quick-thinking and light on her feet as any masculine lead…”[12]
Out of the Past is a 1947 American film noir directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas. The film was adapted by Daniel Mainwaring from his 1946 novel Build My Gallows High, with uncredited revisions by Frank Fenton and James M. Cain.
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American actor. He is known for his antihero roles and film noir appearances. He received nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1984 and the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1992. Mitchum is rated number 23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male stars of classic American cinema.
The Narrow Margin is a 1952 American film noir starring Charles McGraw and Marie Windsor. Directed by Richard Fleischer, the RKO picture was written by Earl Felton, based on an unpublished story written by Martin Goldsmith and Jack Leonard. The screenplay by Earl Felton was nominated for an Academy Award.
Jane Greer was an American film and television actress best known for her role as femme fatale Kathie Moffat in the 1947 film noir Out of the Past. In 2009, The Guardian named her one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination.
Macao is a 1952 American adventure film noir directed by Josef von Sternberg and Nicholas Ray and starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, William Bendix, and Gloria Grahame. Shot in black-and-white, it was distributed by RKO Pictures.
Private Hell 36 is a 1954 American crime film noir directed by Don Siegel starring Ida Lupino, Steve Cochran, Howard Duff, Dean Jagger and Dorothy Malone.
Holiday Affair is a 1949 American romantic comedy film directed and produced by Don Hartman and starring Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh and Wendell Corey. It was based on the story Christmas Gift by John D. Weaver, which was also the film's working title. The film allowed Mitchum to briefly depart from his typical roles in film noir, Western films and war films, and his casting was intended to help rehabilitate his image following a notorious marijuana bust.
His Kind of Woman is a 1951 film noir starring Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell. The film features supporting performances by Vincent Price, Raymond Burr and Charles McGraw. The direction of the film, which was based on the unpublished story "Star Sapphire" by Gerald Drayson, is credited to John Farrow.
The Locket is a 1946 American psychological thriller film noir directed by John Brahm, starring Laraine Day, Brian Aherne, Robert Mitchum, and Gene Raymond, and released by RKO Pictures. The film is based on a screenplay by Sheridan Gibney, adapted from "What Nancy Wanted" by Norma Barzman, wife of later-blacklisted writer Ben Barzman. It is noted for its complex and confusing use of layered flashbacks within flashbacks to give psychological depth to the narrative.
The Verdict is a 1946 American film noir mystery drama film directed by Don Siegel and written by Peter Milne, loosely based on Israel Zangwill's 1892 novel The Big Bow Mystery. It stars Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre in one of their nine film pairings, as well as Joan Lorring and George Coulouris. The Verdict was Siegel's first full-length feature film.
Constantin Bakaleinikoff was a Russian-American composer.
James Warren was an American film actor and artist.
Run for the Sun is a 1956 American Technicolor thriller adventure film released by United Artists, the third film to officially be based on Richard Connell's classic 1924 suspense story, "The Most Dangerous Game", after both RKO's The Most Dangerous Game (1932), and their remake, A Game of Death (1945). This version stars Richard Widmark, Trevor Howard, and Jane Greer, and was directed by Ray Boulting from a script written by Boulting and Dudley Nichols. Connell was credited for his short story.
Baby Face Nelson is a 1957 American film noir crime film based on the real-life 1930s gangster, directed by Don Siegel, co-written by Daniel Mainwaring—who also wrote the screenplay for Siegel's 1956 sci-fi thriller Invasion of the Body Snatchers—and starring Mickey Rooney, Carolyn Jones, Cedric Hardwicke, Leo Gordon as Dillinger, Anthony Caruso, Jack Elam, John Hoyt and Elisha Cook Jr.
A Dangerous Profession is a 1949 American film noir directed by Ted Tetzlaff, written by Warren Duff and Martin Rackin, and starring George Raft, Ella Raines, and Pat O'Brien. The supporting cast features Jim Backus.
The Duel at Silver Creek is a 1952 American Western film directed by Don Siegel; his first film in the Western genre. It starred Stephen McNally, Audie Murphy and Faith Domergue. It was the first time Murphy had appeared in a film where he played a character who was good throughout the movie. The working titles of the film were Claim Jumpers and Hair Trigger Kid.
My Forbidden Past is a 1951 American historical film noir directed by Robert Stevenson and starring Robert Mitchum and Ava Gardner. Adapted by Leopold Atlas from Polan Banks' novel Carriage Entrance.
Calcutta is a 1947 American film noir crime film directed by John Farrow, and written and produced by Seton I. Miller. The drama features Alan Ladd, Gail Russell and William Bendix.
Johnny Allegro is a 1949 American film noir directed by Ted Tetzlaff and starring George Raft. An ex-gangster (Raft), temporarily working as a federal agent, runs afoul of a counterfeiting crime lord (Macready) who enjoys hunting. It was one of several thrillers Raft made in the late 1940s.
Gambling House is a 1951 American film noir crime film directed by Ted Tetzlaff and starring Victor Mature, Terry Moore and William Bendix.
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