The Thief **** (1952, Ray Milland, Martin Gabel, Rita Gam) – Classic Movie Review 3492

Co-writer/director Russell Rouse’s inventive and innovative 1952 movie is notable as one of the few films with synchronised sound to be made completely without any spoken dialogue. It was advertised as ‘ The Only Motion Picture Of Its Kind! ‘

And so it is quite remarkable for its total lack of lines for the actors, with the plot carried along by only background sounds and voice-over. That might seem a gimmick or a handicap, but instead much intensity, imagination and conviction go into this otherwise standard espionage thriller film plot, giving it an unusual, engrossing spin.

[Spoiler alert] That plot focuses on Allan Fields, an American nuclear physicist working in Washington DC for the Atomic Energy Commission who is turned into communist agent, a spy paid to pass on top-secret material to the Russians. By chance he comes under FBI scrutiny and goes on the run. Along the way, he kills a pursuing FBI man and then finally gives himself up.

Ray Milland plays the unsympathetic part of the nuclear physicist traitor Allan Fields with a very considerable skill and an intense commanding authority that helps keeps the movie involving. Other further strong assets are Rouse’s tense direction, the Oscar-nominated music score by Herschel Burke Gilbert, Sam Leavitt’s striking cinematography and the acting skills of Martin Gabel as Mr Bleek, Rita Gam as The Girl, Harry Bronson, John McKutcheon, Rita Vale, Rex O’Malley and Joe Conlin, which help to carry the story along.

Glamorous Rita Gam worked in TV and on the New York stage in before landing her first feature role in The Thief, earning a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Newcomer. She died on 22 March 2016, aged 88.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3492

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