Illegal / The Big Steal

D.A. Edward G. Robinson turns to defending lowlifes in a snappy remake of The Mouthpiece. On the lam down Mexico way: Out of the Past's Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer reteam Don Siegel directs in The Big Steal.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 085391150268 Manufacturer No: 115026 Product Description

Splendid Double Noir

Here's a fine value double bill Film Noir offering on one disc from Warner Home Video - RKO's "The Big Steal"(1949) coupled with Warner's own "Illegal" (1955).

THE BIG STEAL was one of a cycle of Noirs Robert Mitchum
starred in during the forties for the Howard Hughes organisation. Mitchum
was Hughes' favourite star since all of the movies he appeared in for RKO
were by and large successful. "The Big Steal" was no exception as fans of the day ate this engaging comedy melodrama up in scoopfuls.
Smoothly photographed in black & white by Harry J. Wild and with a fine
screenplay by Geoffrey Homes and Gerald Drayson Adams it was all nicely handled by a young up and coming director by the name of Don Siegel.
Mitchum plays an army man who with Jane Greer is in hot pursuit of
Patric Knowles who has pilfered an army payroll and hot on everyone's heels is William Bendix. Most of the action takes place on the mexican highways and byways making for some exciting car chases in its tight 72 minutes running time.
More lighthearted, and never in the same league as the studio's other brilliant Noirs such as "Out Of The Past", "Where Danger Lives" or even "His Kind Of Woman", Seigel nevertheless keeps it moving at a very agreeable and fun pace.
Others in the cast are John Qualen and the rarely seen Ramon Novarro as a mexican police chief.

Marginally better is the second movie on the disc - a remake of Warner's
"The Mouthpiece" (1932). ILLEGAL is something of a forgotten Noir.
Directed for Warners in 1955 by englishman Lewis Allen it stars Edward
G. Robinson as a highly successful prosecuting attorney who becomes disillusioned when the man he is responsible for sending to the electric chair is proven to be innocent after all. With his reputation now in tatters he hits the bottle but slowly picks himself up, becomes a defence lawyer and a "fixer" for racketeer Albert Dekker.
Robinson is terrific in it. His screen presence, with that soft spoken
matter of fact acting style is altogether appealing. This after "Key Largo" (1948) was his first movie for the studio since his contract ended with them in 1942 and while not being an overly auspicious return it wasn't a bad one either. Others in the cast are Nina Foch, Hugh Marlowe and making her debut, as Dekker's moll, the voluptuous Jayne Mansfield sporting the dubious moniker Angel O'Hara ( Dekker auditioning her as she plays the piano glibly declares to Robinson "interesting girl, lives and breaths music").
A fairly engaging movie with nice Monochrome cinematography by
Perverell Marley and a good score by the studio's legendary Max Steiner
keeps it moving along.

This fine double bill will not be out of place in any collection. An
excellent package - both films come with a trailer, commentary and a
featurette. Interestingly the commentary on "Illegal" is spoken by the
film's leading lady Nina Foch (she pronounces it Fash) who informs us that she now teaches film directing at USC. Not bad for an 84 year old! And also Robinson is interviewed on set by Gig Young where we learn the actor loaned some of his prized paintings from his art collection to the studio for use in the film. They can readily be seen in the picture especially in Dekkers's palatial apartment.

Classic line from "Illegal" when Robinson advises Dekker not to blame him if the court case goes wrong - Dekker responds "I don't blame people
I bury 'em"! March 25, 2008

wothwhile double feature

I bought this recently released double feature mostly for "The Big Steal", so I'll start with that. Just a fun fast-moving film, dominated by the reluctant unfolding romantic duo of Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer, but with a fine supporting cast, headed by William Bendix. While Bob is chasing Jane(so to speak), the long car chase through mostly rural Mexico adds to the feeling of exotic fun. The commentary version, featuring Richard Jewell, is well worth listening to. We learn this film underwent considerable revision during production because of multiple censor board problems, thus explaining some of the lapses in plot continuity. Thus, it ended up a chase thriller-scewball comedy combo rather than the film noire it apparently was supposed to be(I'm glad). During production, Mitchum spent a short stretch in jail in connecion with his drug possession charge. Apparently, it was hoped the judge would not sentence Mitchum to jail time during shooting. Howard Hughes was forced to cast Jane Greer as the female lead despite his desire to end her career for spiteful reasons. No other potential female lead approached would risk her career to play opposite Mitchum after his much publicized drug bust. As it turned out, the movie-going public immediately forgave Mitchum, perhaps because it seemed to fit his typical screen persona as a devil-may-care rebel. The sizzling on-screen chemistry between Mitchum and Greer demonstrated in a prior film sizzled again in this one, as far as the censor board would allow it.
I'm not much into Eddie Robinson films, except for his mesmerizing performance in "The Sea Wolf". However, I found "Illegal" to be moderately entertaining, if sometimes bewildering, with too many convenient coincidences. Don't expect any big overt romances, although Eddie clearly has feelings for Nina Foch's character. Robinson plays
a pretentious lawyer, bent on winning every case, no matter how low he has to stoop to get the job done. Obviously, he has a severe Napoleon complex. After sending an innocent man to the electric chair, as a prosecuting attorney, he decides to become a defense attorney. In most cases dramatized, he knows the defendant is guilty, but sometimes resorts to unbelievable courtroom theatrics to convince the judge or jury otherwise. In other cases, he weasels a victory from questional legal or arm twisting tactics. He is a marked man in his last and personally most important case, when he is sure the accused is innocent...Jayne Mansfield appears in her first film role, with limited screen time. It's nice to see her portrayed as freshly naive and musically talented, before her conversion into a vulgar MM-mimic sex siren....The commentary version, featuring Nina Foch, the female lead, is worth going through, especially for a glimpse of the limitations of the filming technology of the times.
Both DVD transfers are of excellent quality and the special features are a plus. These two films are also now available in a 10 film package for 3X the price.
August 10, 2007

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