Thieves Like Us (1974)

Director:

Robert Altman

Writers:

Calder Willingham (screenplay) &
Joan Tewkesbury (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

11 February 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Robbing 36 banks was easy. Watch what happens when they hit the 37th.

Plot:

Two convicts break out of Mississippi State Penitentiary in 1936 to join a third on a long spree of bank robbing...

Plot Keywords:

Mississippi | Firecracker | Drunkenness | Escaped Convict | Female Nudity

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Keith Carradine	...	Bowie
Shelley Duvall	...	Keechie
John Schuck	...	Chicamaw
Bert Remsen	...	T-Dub
Louise Fletcher	...	Mattie
Ann Latham	...	Lula
Tom Skerritt	...	Dee Mobley
Al Scott	...	Capt. Stammers
John Roper	...	Jasbo
Mary Waits	...	Noel Joy
Rodney Lee	...	James Mattingly (as Rodney Lee Jr.)
William Watters	...	Alvin
Joan Tewkesbury	...	Lady in Train Station (as Joan Maguire)
Eleanor Matthews	...	Mrs. Stammers
Pam Warner	...	Woman in Accident
Suzanne Majure	...	Coca-Cola Girl
Walter Cooper	...	Sheriff
Lloyd Jones	...	Sheriff
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Matthew R. Altman	...	Kid Getting Free Soda (uncredited)
Franklin D. Roosevelt	...	Himself (speech) (voice) (uncredited) (archive footage)

Directed by
Robert Altman

Writing credits
Calder Willingham		(screenplay) &
Joan Tewkesbury		(screenplay) and
Robert Altman		(screenplay)
Edward Anderson		(novel "Thieves Like Us")

Produced by
Jerry Bick	....	producer
Robert Eggenweiler	....	associate producer
George Litto	....	executive producer
Thomas Hal Phillips	....	associate producer

Cinematography by
Jean Boffety

Film Editing by
Lou Lombardo

Costume Design by
Polly Platt		(uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael Kusley	....	second assistant director (as Mike Kusley)
Tommy Thompson	....	assistant director

Art Department
Marty Wunderlich	....	property master

Sound Department
Don H. Matthews	....	sound mixer (as Don Matthews)
Dick Vorisek	....	dubbing mixer (as Richard Vorisek)

Camera and Electrical Department
James Blanford	....	camera crew
George Bouillet	....	camera crew
Randy Glass	....	electrical gaffer
Dennis M. Kuneff	....	key grip (as Dennis Kuneff)
Eddie Lara	....	key grip
Bill Record	....	key grip (as Billy Record)
Harry Walsh	....	camera crew (as Harry Walsh III)

Editorial Department
Dennis M. Hill	....	assistant editor (as Dennis Hill)
Tony Lombardo	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Jerry Bick	....	presenter
Scott Bushnell	....	second visual consultant
Jean D'Oncieu	....	production assistant
Jackson De Govia	....	first visual consultant (as Jack DeGovia)
John Dunning	....	radio researcher
Carole Gister	....	researcher (as Carol Gister)
George Litto	....	presenter
Stanley Mark	....	comptroller
Kelly Marshall	....	production secretary (as Kelly White Marshall)
Paul Neanover	....	cars
Mark Eggenweiler	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• George Litto Productions
• Jerry Bick

Distributors

• United Artists (1974) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1979) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• United Artists Films (1974) (Finland) (theatrical)
• FS Film Oy (2005) (Finland) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• TV3 (1988) (Finland) (TV)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1984) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Cinemobile System  location (as Cinemobile Systems)
• Deluxe  color (as De Luxe)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Netherlands:12 (original rating) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:12 (video re-rating) (2005) | UK:15 (video rating) (1998) | UK:AA (original rating) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Canton, Mississippi, USA

Company:

George Litto Productions

Trivia:

Robert Altman persuaded Bert Remsen to switch jobs and take a role as an actor. Up to then, Remsen was better known for being a leading casting director.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In one of the old radio clips early in the film, the announcer talks about Seabiscuit winning the $25,000 Butler Handicap at Empire City Race Track. The actual date of Seabiscuit winning that race is July 10, 1937, which would place it after the end of the movie which concludes in the Spring of 1937.

Quotes:

Bowie:Miss Keechie, do you know what the Mississippi state animal is?
Keechie:What?
Bowie:You know, the state animal.
Keechie:I don't know. A deer, maybe?
Bowie:No, sir! It's a squashed dog in the road!

Movie Connections:

References MASH (1970)

Was this movie made by the Coca-Cola Company?

This is one of Altman's very best pictures. As another comment puts it: it looks like he took his cast and crew back in time to the 30's and shot on location. The script adaptation is first rate and things keep moving forward even when we're sitting around just observing. The thing that makes this such a great Altman pic is the growth and unfolding of the characters over the course of the movie. There isn't a plot, but there is a story, and that will prove to be a crucial distinction, separating Altman from everyone and good Altman (this) from bad, aimless Altman (H.E.A.L.T.H.). The performances are excellent. Carradine, John Schuck and Bert Remsen make the absolute most out of opportunities they've never really been given again, Remsen is an old pro and Schuck really is unforgettable. Louise Fletcher makes an impression a year before her Oscar for "Cukoo's Nest" and an eternity of typecasting. Shelley Duvall tells a rambling, loosely-if-at-all connected story with the best of them. She always sounds like she's trying to spit out her lines as quickly as she can before she forgets them. Carradine falls prey to this during some of his scenes, particularly opposite her, but his composed silence makes him an ideal protagonist, someone whose almost visible thoughts define him even more than his actions. It's just that Duvall is the same almost all the time, and while that works for some actors it doesn't work so well when they do a movie in present day then 1930's right next to one another and do everything the same. Also, there seems to be something in her contract requiring shots of her screaming her blamed head off in every movie she's in.

It is impossible not to see how this film is influenced by "Bonnie and Clyde." If it weren't so darn good everyone's subject lines would read "Bonnie and Clyde knock-off." It is set in the same time period, and the artwork on the box recalls the earlier movie. What distinguishes it is the bond between the three escapees, and the box should really show the three of them, the title isn't "A Thief Like Me." I can't vouch for mirrors and reflections necessarily meaning that the film is about self-perception and etcetera, because often with Altman he just felt like shooting it that way. But go ahead if you want to, I'm sure the film is strong enough to support any such conjectures.

Coke. I've never seen so much of one product in a movie, even when Louise Fletcher comes out of her house she has coke in a glass, the prison in Mississippi is sponsored by Coke.

I've left out the best part of the movie so far. Altman runs radio programs over some scenes, like bank robberies, and behind other scenes, humorously commenting on the action. I wish he would have stuck with it during the last half hour a bit more, but it's a brilliant device.