MOVIE REVIEW — The Thief [1952]
A fascinating movie
First, I’m not sure why it is called “The Thief” as Dr. Alan Fields (Ray Milland) is a spy, not a thief. Second, there is absolutely no dialog. There are very few sound effects — a telephone, a policeman’s whistle. Some background music, but there are substantial sequences of total silence. Truly a movie where “they had faces”!
Dr. Fields is a nuclear physicist passing atomic secrets to a network of other spies. His motivation is never revealed. Much of the movie details the intricate workings of the espionage business.
And then there is “the girl” played by Rita Gam. I wondered what her purpose in the film was. Perhaps to eat up screen time and to distracts us with her great legs. I’ve come to discover she is a MacGuffin. A what? An object, device, or event that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself; made popular by Alfred Hitchcock. Like I said, she had great legs.
Ray Milland is best known for DIAL M FOR MURDER [1954]. I recently saw him in FROGS [1972].
This movie was Rita Gam’s first film. She went on to play Herodias in KING OF KINGS [1961] and ended her career as Dora Cobum in the TV show “The Edge of Night”.
Check out THE THIEF on YouTube —
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