"The Great Jewel Robber" is based on the real life crook, Gerard Dennis. I did a bit of research and Dennis really was a famous jewel thief and at least SOME of what's in the movie is true. However, since he was active in the 1940s, there really isn't much information about him on the internet...so how true the film version of his exploits is, I cannot say.
David Brian was an extremely good actor who's pretty much forgotten today. While apparently a nice guy in real life (who was big on fundraising for the needy), in films he often played wonderfully hardbitten jerks. In this one, however, he's more suave and likable....but clearly he plays a total sociopath! And, when it comes to portraying the life of a career criminal and antisocial personality (the clinical term for a 'sociopath'), Brian and the writers did a terrific job...and they packed a LOT into 91 minutes of film. My daughter kept remarking how the film had enough plot for seven movies! Overall, extremely well made and worth seeing....and also interesting because unlike most films of the era, the cops in this movie are amazingly inept and the criminal is amazingly talented and brilliant in his real-life maneuvers to evade them.
By the way, while this film technically isn't exactly film noir (since it's true and lacks the lighting and cinematography of such a crime film), it's amazingly brutal in spots...particularly when the anti-hero is beating up one of his many ladyfriends.
David Brian was an extremely good actor who's pretty much forgotten today. While apparently a nice guy in real life (who was big on fundraising for the needy), in films he often played wonderfully hardbitten jerks. In this one, however, he's more suave and likable....but clearly he plays a total sociopath! And, when it comes to portraying the life of a career criminal and antisocial personality (the clinical term for a 'sociopath'), Brian and the writers did a terrific job...and they packed a LOT into 91 minutes of film. My daughter kept remarking how the film had enough plot for seven movies! Overall, extremely well made and worth seeing....and also interesting because unlike most films of the era, the cops in this movie are amazingly inept and the criminal is amazingly talented and brilliant in his real-life maneuvers to evade them.
By the way, while this film technically isn't exactly film noir (since it's true and lacks the lighting and cinematography of such a crime film), it's amazingly brutal in spots...particularly when the anti-hero is beating up one of his many ladyfriends.