The Thief (1952)

A chance accident causes a nuclear physicist selling top secret material to the Russians to fall under FBI scrutiny and go on the run.

Director:

Russell Rouse

Writers:

Clarence Greene (written for the screen by), Russell Rouse (written for the screen by)

Stars:

Ray Milland, Martin Gabel, Harry Bronson

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ray Milland	...	Allan Fields
Martin Gabel	...	Mr. Bleek
Harry Bronson	...	Harris
Rita Grapel	...	Miss Philips (as Rita Vale)
Rex O'Malley	...	Beal
Rita Gam	...	The Girl
John McKutcheon	...	Dr. Linstrum
Joe Conlin	...	Walters

Storyline

Interesting, but sometimes slow film about a nuclear physicist working in Washington DC who also spies for some unnamed foreign country. It does have a rather funny, patriotic/propagandist ending. It's most interesting aspect is that it is filmed entirely without dialogue.

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Plot Keywords:

physicist | washington d.c. | fbi | spy | dream sequence | 

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Taglines:

The Only Motion Picture Of Its Kind!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

None

Release Date:

10 October 1952 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hirsiz

Filming Locations:

Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,000,000, 31 December 1952

Company Credits

Production Co:

Harry Popkin Productions, Fran Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Thief is one of the few films with synchronized sound to be made completely without spoken dialog.

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Goofs

Martin Gabel's name is misspelled as "Martin Gable" in the closing credits.

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Connections

Referenced in Face of the Frog (1959)

User Reviews

Wordless espionage drama an interesting experiment, but...

The noir cycle generated many curios but none odder than this. Russell Rouse (who had just done D.O.A.) decided to direct an espionage drama that falls just short of 90 minutes without containing a single word of dialogue. It's not silent, however: footsteps echo on the cobblestones of Georgetown and the floors of the Library of Congress, cameras click over hush-hush documents at the Atomic Energy Commission, telephones ring (but are never answered). There's also a good score. The espionage concerns thermonuclear secrets, so this film would fall into the sub-category of the Anti-Commie propaganda film, except for the fact that the lack of words allows for no preaching; the skullduggery is all but abstract. And the silence can be seen as expressing the deep, deep underground of the cold-war spy. Questions remain: Ray Milland always does well with this sort of recessive, basically self-loathing character, but why engage an actor with such a distinctive voice to keep his trap shut? And Rita Gam, in her screen debut, has little to do but strike any number of provocative poses and suck sultrily on her cigarette (the "temptation" she poses to Milland is never resolved). The Thief has enough going for it to keep one's attention, but it's an experiment that would have been more welcome had 15 or 20 minutes been shorn off its running time.