The Thief (1952 film)

Last updated

The Thief
The Thief (1952 film) poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Russell Rouse
Screenplay by Clarence Greene
Russell Rouse
Produced byClarence Greene
Starring Ray Milland
Cinematography Sam Leavitt
Edited by Chester W. Schaeffer
Music by Herschel Burke Gilbert
Production
companies
Harry Popkin Productions
Fran Productions
Distributed by United Artists
Release dates
  • October 10, 1952 (1952-10-10)(United States)
  • October 15, 1952 (1952-10-15)(New York City)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited States
Box office$1 million [1]

The Thief is a 1952 American film noir crime film directed by Russell Rouse and starring Ray Milland. The film is noted for having no spoken dialogue; the only verbal communication present in the film is represented through closeup shots of two telegrams. [2]

Contents

Plot

Dr. Allan Fields is a nuclear physicist employed by the United States Atomic Energy Commission in Washington, D.C. He is also a spy, working for an unnamed foreign power.

Through elaborate tradecraft, Fields, as ordered by his case officer, photographs secret documents, using a Minox camera, and passes these through a network of couriers to New York City, and thereafter overseas to an enemy country. The latest canister of microfilm is intercepted by authorities after the courier is killed in a traffic accident in Manhattan, with the canister of undeveloped microfilm in his hand. The FBI develops the microfilm, analyzes its contents, and draws up a list of suspects within the AEC, one of whom is the custodian of the secret document, whom Fields observes being taken away for interrogation at FBI headquarters.

The custodian is apparently cleared of espionage charges, and the FBI moves its focus to his subordinates at AEC. Fields is one of the suspects. His case officer sends him a Western Union telegram, ordering him to destroy any evidence of his espionage and to move into a safe house in New York City.

Now scared and paranoid, Fields stays overnight in the safe house, a cheap hotel. Receiving a signal from his case officer on the hotel's hall phone, he proceeds to the Empire State Building, meeting his contact, Miss Philips, on the 86th-floor observation deck. An alert FBI agent spots Fields and pursues him, first to the 102nd-floor observation deck, and then to the spire. The two men fight, and the agent falls to his death. Fields returns to the hotel to collect a package of money and false identity documents which will get him out of the country. He proceeds to the docks, where passage has been arranged for him on board a ship bound for Egypt. But shaken by the death of the agent and full of remorse for his actions, he abandons the escape plan and gives himself up to the FBI.

Cast

Reaction

Critical response

When the film was released, A. W. Weiler, the film critic at The New York Times gave the film a good review, writing, "Clarence Greene and Russell Rouse, an enterprising pair of film artisans, are trying to prove that some movie yarns are better seen than heard. Their effort is a successful tour de force. For, generally speaking, theirs is a spy melodrama in which language would appear to be redundant ... aside from its novelty, The thief has its fair share of attributes. The fine photography of cinematographer Sam Leavitt, whose cameras have captured the lights of actual, and familiar, locations in Washington and New York, contributes strongly to the tensions of the hunt. The musical score by Herschel Gilbert is insidiously suggestive in creating atmosphere as well as indicating the emotions of the principals. And, above all, Russell Rouse, who also directed, has gotten a sensitive and towering performance from Ray Milland in the title role." [3]

The staff at Variety magazine reviewed the film positively. They wrote, "This has an offbeat approach to film story-telling (a complete absence of dialog), a good spy plot and a strong performance by Ray Milland. The film is not soundless. The busy hum of a city is a cacophonous note, a strident-sounding telephone bell plays an important part and, overall, there’s the topnotch musical score by Herschel Burke Gilbert, sometimes used almost too insistently to build a melodramatic mood and in other spots softly emphasizing and making clear the dumb action of the players." [4]

More recently, film critic Dennis Schwartz gave the film a mixed review. He wrote, "Russell Rouse ( The Oscar ) directs and co-writes this unique but tedious spy/Red Scare thriller set in New York City ... What we get is a tense mood piece through the excellent dark visuals delivered by cinematographer Sam Leavitt. It shows a lonely and alienated unsympathetic man on-the-run, who is trapped in a shadowy world of chaos but is not fleshed out in his character so we never become concerned with his plight as a human interest story." [5]

Accolades

YearAward/CategoryRecipientResult
Academy Awards
1953Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy PictureHerschel Burke GilbertNominated [6]
Golden Globe Awards [7]
1953Best Cinematography - Black and WhiteSam LeavittNominated
1953Best Motion Picture - DramaNominated
1953Best Motion Picture Actor - DramaRay MillandNominated
1953Best ScreenplayClarence Greene, Russell RouseNominated
1953Most Promising Newcomer - FemaleRita GamNominated

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Milland</span> Welsh-American actor and film director (1907–1986)

Ray Milland was a Welsh-American actor and film director. He is often remembered for his portrayal of an alcoholic writer in Billy Wilder's The Lost Weekend (1945), which won him Best Actor at Cannes, a Golden Globe Award, and ultimately an Academy Award—the first such accolades for any Welsh actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Hanssen</span> American double agent spy (1944–2023)

Robert Philip Hanssen was an American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent who spied for Soviet and Russian intelligence services against the United States from 1979 to 2001. His espionage was described by the U.S. Department of Justice as "possibly the worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rudolf Abel</span> Soviet intelligence officer (1903–1971)

Rudolf Ivanovich Abel is the alias of William August Fisher, a Soviet intelligence officer, created to alert his Soviet KGB handlers when Fisher was arrested in the USA on charges of espionage by the FBI in 1957.

<i>Pickup on South Street</i> 1953 film by Samuel Fuller

Pickup on South Street is a 1953 American spy film noir written and directed by Samuel Fuller, and starring Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, and Thelma Ritter. Widmark plays a pickpocket who unwittingly steals a covert microfilm sought by foreign agents. The film combines elements of the traditional crime film noir with Cold War-era espionage drama. It was released by 20th Century-Fox.

<i>The House on 92nd Street</i> 1945 film by Henry Hathaway

The House on 92nd Street is a 1945 black-and-white American spy film directed by Henry Hathaway. The movie, shot mostly in New York City, was released shortly after the end of World War II. The House on 92nd Street was made with the full cooperation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), whose director, J. Edgar Hoover, appears during the introductory montage. The FBI agents shown in Washington, D.C. were played by actual agents. The film's semidocumentary style inspired other films, including The Naked City and Boomerang.

<i>Ministry of Fear</i> 1944 film by Fritz Lang

Ministry of Fear is a 1944 American spy thriller film noir directed by Fritz Lang, and starring Ray Milland and Marjorie Reynolds. Based on the 1943 novel by Graham Greene, the film tells the story of a man just released from a mental asylum who finds himself caught up in an international spy ring and pursued by Nazi agents after inadvertently receiving something they want. The original music for the film was composed by Victor Young.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollow Nickel Case</span> FBI investigation concerning Russian espionage

The Hollow Nickel Case was the FBI investigation that grew out of the discovery of a container disguised as a U.S. coin and containing a coded message, eventually found to concern the espionage activities of William August Fisher on behalf of the Soviet Union.

Clarence Greene was an American screenwriter and film producer who is noted for the "offbeat creativity and originality of his screenplays and for films noir and television episodes produced in the 1950s.

The 10th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film for 1952 films, were held on February 26, 1953, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.

<i>Moon Pilot</i> 1962 film by James Neilson

Moon Pilot is a 1962 American Technicolor science fiction comedy film from Walt Disney Productions, released through Buena Vista Distribution, directed by James Neilson, and starring Tom Tryon, Brian Keith, Edmond O'Brien, Dany Saval, and Tommy Kirk. The film is based on Robert Buckner's 1960 novel Starfire, and reflects Disney's interest in America's space program during John F. Kennedy's presidential era in the early 1960s.

<i>Breach</i> (2007 film) 2007 film by Billy Ray

Breach is a 2007 American spy thriller film directed by Billy Ray, who wrote the screenplay with Adam Mazer and William Rotko. The film is based on the true story of Robert Hanssen, an FBI agent convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and later Russia for more than two decades. It stars Chris Cooper as Hanssen and Ryan Phillippe as Eric O'Neill, the FBI Investigator who helped bring about his downfall. The film received generally positive reviews and grossed $41 million on a $23 million budget.

<i>Scorpio</i> (film) 1973 film by Michael Winner

Scorpio is a 1973 American spy film directed by Michael Winner and written by David W. Rintels and Gerald Wilson. It stars Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, and Paul Scofield. Delon plays the title character, a hitman hired by the CIA to assassinate his mentor (Lancaster), a former agent suspected of treason. The film's score was composed by Jerry Fielding.

<i>The Ministry of Fear</i> 1943 novel by Graham Greene

The Ministry of Fear is a 1943 novel written by Graham Greene. It was first published in Britain by William Heinemann. It was made into the 1944 film Ministry of Fear, directed by Fritz Lang and starring Ray Milland.

Russell Rouse was an American screenwriter, director, and producer who is noted for the "offbeat creativity and originality" of his screenplays and for film noir movies and television episodes produced in the 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pumpkin Papers</span> US government documents stolen in 1938

The Pumpkin Papers are a set of typewritten and handwritten documents, stolen from the US federal government by members of the Ware Group and other Soviet spy networks in Washington, DC, during 1937–1938, withheld by courier Whittaker Chambers from delivery to the Soviets as protection when he defected. They featured frequently in criminal proceedings against Alger Hiss from August 1948 to January 1950. The term quickly became shorthand for the complete set of handwritten, typewritten, and camera film documents in newspapers.

<i>Diplomatic Courier</i> 1952 American film by Henry Hathaway

Diplomatic Courier is a 1952 American spy film noir directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Tyrone Power, Patricia Neal and Stephen McNally. The nightclub scene in the film features actor Arthur Blake, famous for his female impersonations, impersonating Carmen Miranda, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Bette Davis. The plot was loosely adapted from the 1945 novel Sinister Errand by British writer Peter Cheyney.

<i>Passport to Suez</i> 1943 film by André de Toth

Passport to Suez is the 20th film featuring the Lone Wolf character. It was the eleventh of fifteen in the Columbia Pictures series, and the last to star Warren William as the lead character, a jewel thief turned private detective. The Lone Wolf battles Nazi spies in Egypt in World War II. The character's next film was The Notorious Lone Wolf.

<i>Bugles in the Afternoon</i> 1952 film by Roy Rowland

Bugles in the Afternoon is a 1952 American Western film produced by William Cagney, directed by Roy Rowland and starring Ray Milland, Helena Carter, Hugh Marlowe and Forrest Tucker, based on the 1943 novel by Ernest Haycox. The story features the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

<i>Jamaica Run</i> 1953 adventure-drama film by Lewis R. Foster

Jamaica Run is a 1953 American Technicolor adventure drama film directed by Lewis R. Foster and starred Ray Milland, Arlene Dahl and Wendell Corey. Much of the personnel in this movie worked on the previous year's Caribbean Gold. The plot concernsownership of an old estate set on the island in the Caribbean.

<i>The Lady Has Plans</i> 1942 film by Sidney Lanfield

The Lady Has Plans is a 1942 American comedy film spy thriller film directed by Sidney Lanfield and starring Ray Milland, Paulette Goddard and Roland Young. It was produced ad distributed by Paramount Pictures as a World War II espionage film set in neutral Portugal.

References

  1. 'Top Box-Office Hits of 1952', Variety, January 7, 1953
  2. The Thief at the TCM Movie Database.
  3. Weiler, A.W. The New York Times , film review, October 16, 1952. Accessed: July 15, 2013.
  4. Variety film review, 1952. Accessed: July 15, 2013.
  5. Schwartz, Dennis. Ozus' World Movie Reviews, film review, February 24, 2005. Accessed: July 15, 2013.
  6. The 25th Academy Awards|1953
  7. Golden Globes