User reviews

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.

The Big Steal is directed by Don Siegel and adapted by Gerald Drayson Adams & Daniel Mainwaring from the short story "The Road to Carmichael's" written by Richard Wormser. It stars Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, William Bendix, Patric Knowles & Ramon Novarro. Music is by Leigh Harline and the cinematographer is Harry J. Wild.

U.S. Army Lieutenant Duke Halliday (Mitchum) is robbed of a $300,000 payroll and pursues the man responsible into Mexico. But on his tail is Captain Vincent Blake (Bendix), who suspects him of being behind the robbery himself. Meeting up with Joan Graham (Greer), it turns out that she too has an agenda with the man Duke is after. Originally suspicious of each other, the duo form an uneasy alliance in the hope of achieving their aims.

At just 71 minutes in length The Big Steal is a briskly put together movie, one that is sharply scripted, acted accordingly and directed without fuss or filler. Lensed on location in and around Mexico City to add authenticity, it gets straight into its plot from the get go. This at first gives a slight feeling of confusion, but it's not before long when the narrative pulls together and the audience can sit back and lap up the various twists, turns and choice dialogue exchanges. More comedy crime caper than film noir stinger, The Big Steal is an enjoyable enough experience. 6.5/10

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.

This above average crime drama holds one's interest due to good writing, excellent cinematography, and Robert Mitchum. The film must have been subsidized by the Mexican Tourist Bureau, so fetching are the scenes of the Mexican countryside. Ramon Novarro is excellent as the craftily sly police chief, and Willima Bendix puts in a good turn. Worth watching.

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.

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.

Wonderful repartee between Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer in this chase caper. Absolutely delightful. Jane Greer and Mitchum at at their height of attractiveness, and work so well together. Lots of rapid fire dialogue, quips and double entendres in the script.

"The Big Steal" is sort of like a mini-version of "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World," film noir style.

Jim Fiske (Patric Knowles) stole money from Duke Halliday (Robert Mitchum) and Joan Graham (Jane Greer). Halliday and Graham take after Fiske to get it back. Meanwhile, Vincent Blake (William Bendix), the intended original recipient of the cash, is chasing Halliday, thinking he's the one who actually stole it. Much of the movie is comprised of a madcap car chase through the Mexican countryside and the attempts of all involved parties to slow or block the passage of the others. There's a sort of zany albeit inconsequential fun to be had from the whole thing, especially in the tough banter between Mitchum and Greer, even if the movie all told doesn't add up to very much.

Grade: B

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.

What a great film this is! Lighthearted and serious, romantic and thrilling, tense and humorous all at once. It's simply a joy to watch from the very first frame right to the end. There's never a dull moment, the performances are first-rate, and while, on the surface, it's one of those typical middle-of-the-road 40's quasi-noir films, it manages to transcend all that and become something truly special. It certainly doesn't have the greatness of something like The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon, and yet it's just as enjoyable, and in some ways, even more enjoyable than either of those. If movies are an escape, there is no world I would rather escape to than the one created by this film.

I had seen The Big Steal many years ago and saw it again this morning on TCM. It was shorter than most features were then and Robert Osborn told us why. It was a film started while Robert Mitchum was out on bail while his marijuana bust was pending, postponed while he was in the Los Angeles County Jail, and hurriedly finished to take advantage of the notoriety.

As opposed to the finely crafted noir that Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer starred in two years before, Out of the Past, The Big Steal sort of has that slapdash quality about it. But the stars are enjoyable.

Patric Knowles steals an army payroll that Captain Mitchum is blamed for. Knowles also runs out on fiancé Jane Greer and steals their honeymoon nest egg. Both combine to chase Knowles and Mitchum steals William Bendix's credentials as an army cop who's been trailing Mitchum.

For most of the film they're all in cars driving across Mexico, Knowles being chased by Mitchum/Greer and them being chased by Bendix. It's here where the film takes on a breezy air about it. Particularly funny are two ruses that Mitchum and Greer use to stall Bendix. You'll enjoy it, I promise you.

Also look for fine character actor John Qualen to play a role against type here.

Mitchum's stay in the slam didn't effect his box office any. Moviegoers in 1949 I'm sure enjoyed 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.

Tough guy, Robert Mitchum plays Lt. Duke Halliday on the trail of a payroll thief. Of course, Halliday himself is accused of the robbery. Enter Captain Blake, played by William Bendix, chasing Halliday. Cat and mouse chases plus fist fights; what else could you want? Jane Greer is Chiquita, a distraction for Halliday. This romp through Mexico also features Patric Knowles and Ramon Novarro. Directed by a master, Don Siegel.

The only thing wrong with this 'noir' is that it isn't a film noir at all. Still, it has Robert Mitchum, excellent as ever, paired as in 'Out of the Past' with, Jane Greer. Mitchum flirts and wisecracks throughout and it is just unfortunate as far as I am concerned that Greer is, for the most part, made to look so dowdy. Lots of chasing about the Mexican towns and villages and a particularly effective multiple car chase that takes up a good part of the film's running time. The support cast are also good and for once the Mexicans are not made to look stupid. Amusing and thrilling but without a femme fatale and those dark shadows and a real sense of menace perhaps not a film noir as such.

Robert Mitchum reunites with his Out of the Past co-star, Jane Greer, as the two chase thief Patric Knowles through Mexico. While Mitchum's busy chasing Knowles, William Bendix is chasing Mitchum. Often cited as a film noir, I can't really see that at all. Sometimes it seems as though every movie involving crime from the early '40s through the mid '50s is labeled as film noir. Personally I don't go along with that. Film noir to me is a very specific genre with a certain kind of style. The Big Steal is too light and upbeat to be noir. In fact, it's much more of a romantic comedy than a noir crime drama. Whatever you want to call it, I'm sure you will enjoy it. The cast is great, the script is fun, the pace is smooth. The short runtime helps, too. Apparently Lizabeth Scott was originally supposed to play Jane Greer's role. I'm very happy that didn't happen as Scott is one of my least favorite actresses.

Here's a crime caper not as dark as OUT OF THE PAST, but again giving the starring leads to ROBERT MITCHUM and JANE GREER, both of whom are adept at delivering the crackling dialog with ease.

Indeed, if it weren't for the chemistry between Mitchum and Greer, there's not that much more to the thin storyline that has both of them on the run from a determined police captain (WILLIAM BENDIX) who chases them all over Mexican highways and dirt roads while they keep one step ahead of the law.

There are few surprises, except for a nice twist toward the end. PATRIC KNOWLES is excellent as the film-flam man with a yen for Greer who realizes he's a no good heel.

But make no mistake about it, it's one of ROBERT MITCHUM's most confident, easy performances as the man wrongly accused of stealing a huge amount of money from the government, who must prove his innocence.

He and JANE GREER handle their dialog with professional ease and their chemistry is sizzling.

Summing up: Highly enjoyable romp is too light to be called film noir but it comes close.

I got this movie in a supposed film noir collection, but besides being the colourised version, it's also a long way away from the mean streets and boulevards of broken dreams of the hard-boiled men and femme-fatales of my experience. What it is though, is a road caper or even a buddy movie, with the twist being that the couple who are simultaneously chasing and being chased are indeed a couple, namely Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer.

Set in Mexico, in happily realistic-looking exterior locations, the film is essentially one long car chase and as such, necessarily episodic as the flung-together twosome habitually get out of one scrape only to fall into another. There's some agreeable grown-up humour between the two, plenty of good fight scenes, where you actually see the protagonists sweat and bleed, an early example of an extended car chase and a decent twist at the end; as you can tell, it certainly packs a lot into its brief 71 minute running time.

Mitchum and Greer are great together, William Bendix offers his usual solid support and the young Don Siegel directs with verve and energy.

This is a great little movie, highly entertaining and so recommended.

Jane Greer and Robert Mitchum make a delightful pair in this short and snappy B film, originally made to keep Mitchum from having to serve time for marijuana use. The ploy didn't work; the judge sent him anyway. Greer, pregnant at the time and in difficult contract negotiations with Howard Hughes, volunteered to make the movie after Lizabeth Scott was withdrawn by Hal Wallis due to Mitchum's negative publicity, and everyone else was suddenly unavailable. If any of that happened today, every actress in Hollywood would want a crack at the role.

In the beginning of the film, Mitchum knocks out a man named Blake (played by William Bendix) and steals his wallet. The exposition doesn't come until later, when Mitchum and Greer are already chasing through Mexico after Greer's ex-boyfriend, played by Patric Knowles. He has money that Mitchum wants as well as money that he borrowed from Greer. We subsequently learn that Mitchum has been accused of stealing army payroll, when it was really Knowles. Blake is an army captain after Mitchum.

The dialogue and relationship between Greer and Mitchum is great, and there is an excellent performance by Ramon Navarro. The film is basically a car chase through Mexico, but there is lots of scenery, humor, and great chemistry between the leads. And boy, was Mitchum sexy.

Despite this being a film noir piece, it's a very sunny movie in appearance, regardless of how unlikely that may sound. Multiple chases, great interplay between Mitchum & Greer, and fast-paced direction by Siegel make this a fun little film that can be enjoyed more than once.

THE BIG STEAL is a rip-roaring crime adventure yarn which sees the dogged army lieutenant Robert Mitchum travelling through Mexico where he's hot on the trail of a robber escaping with a stash of loot. Along the way, Mitchum teams up with the fraudster's fiancé, and is pursued by an army captain who thinks he's the real robber.

That's the plot in a nutshell, and the film ends up writing itself thanks to the action-laden premise. And THE BIG STEAL offers massive entertainment value indeed, not least to the direction of Don Siegel, working early on in his career and bringing the same verve and vitality to this as he would to the likes of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and DIRTY HARRY.

Mitchum is on top form as the likable lead and he's given great support by the alluring Jane Greer and the increasingly exasperated William Bendix. The structure of the narrative allows for plenty of near escapes and car chases, along with two-fisted fight scenes and some light comedy and romance thrown into the mix. It's one of those films with a little bit of everything and I found myself really enjoying it.

Robert Mitchum (Duke Halliday) is chasing Patric Knowles (Fiske) who stole an army payroll of $300,000.00 from him. In turn, William Bendix (Captain Blake) is hot on the heels of Mitchum whom he believes has taken off with the money himself. Knowles has also stolen $2,000.00 from girlfriend Jane Greer (Joan) who has caught up with him and wants her money back. Everyone arrives in Mexico and the chase is on.

This film is basically one long car chase and the cast all play their parts just fine. Mitchum was arrested in a drugs bust and spent some time in jail during this film and so it's understandable that he wants to get his hands back on the loot so that he can make a nice investment in some Mexican marijuana.

The version that I watched was, alarmingly, a colourized version. This was simple enough to fix, ie, just turn the colour right down on the TV, but that is not the point. Film-making in black and white is a completely different process in terms of lighting consideration, materials and textures used to provide an effective contrast between different shades of grey, how to make things sparkle, etc. For someone to come along and start colouring in these black and white films is utterly moronic, illustrates a complete lack of understanding of how the medium of film works, and annoys the viewer.

Unfortunately, there is just not a lot going on in this film. Everyone meets up in the end and the film pans out exactly as you would expect it to. In fact, the role of William Bendix makes little sense once you get to the end of the film. Whilst the film is OK to pass the time, I've no idea why such a distinguished cast bothered with it. It did have one purpose though - it must have inspired ABBA to write their hit song "Chiquitita".