The Big Steal (1949) - film review

Framed for a robbery, Lieutenant Duke Halliday follows the real thief, Jim Fiske, to Mexico.  Halliday is in turn pursued by his superior, Capatain Vincent Blake.  On the way, Halliday meets up with Fiske’s former girlfriend, Joan Graham who, resenting Fiske’s ill-treatment of her, decides to join in the chase.  However, not everyone is quite what he seems...

The Big Steal is a somewhat crude attempt to parody the film noir thriller, marred by script weaknesses that are just about compensated by its tongue-in-cheek performances and a well-photographed exotic location.   The film stars Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer, who had previously starred in an earlier film noir classic, Out of the Past (1947).

The film was directed by Don Siegel, who is perhaps best-known for his hardboiled thrillers Dirty Harry (1971) and The Killers (1964), as well as his classic sci-fi movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956).   The Big Steal is not the most engaging or intellectually demanding of films, the plot largely consisting of protracted car chases across open Mexican countryside, the illusion of which is spoiled somewhat by many of the scenes being shot in the studio with poor-quality back-projection.

The performances and some witty dialogue just about make up for the ramshackle plot and weak characterisation, and The Big Steal, whilst clearly not the best film noir, has some merit.  Originally released in black and white, the film now also exists in a colorized version, which definitely should be avoided, as the colorization removes every scintilla of atmosphere of the original film.

© James Travers 2008

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