Review of The Big Steal (1949) by Greg W — 15 Jan 2013

Before Don Siegel directed classics such as Dirty Harry and Charley Varrick,he was responsible for some of the more interesting Film Noirs of the late 40s and 50s.

This was his second feature and it re teams Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer who had worked on the classic Out Of The Past.

This film may not be as good as that movie,but its tone is lighter and it allows us to see some humour in Mitchum as a leading man.

He plays Duke Halliday an army soldier wrongly accused of stealing an army payroll.

During his quest to find the man who actually did the job he runs into the villians scorned lover Joan played by Greer.

They form an unlikely alliance and slowly begin to fall in love as the pursuit reaches its end.

Hot on there trail is Captain Blake played by genre stalwart William Bendix who is determined to track his man down.

The film is of course thrilling with a great chase across Mexico and of course the final denoument and double cross all present,but the film is also funny in parts as Mitchum struggles to communicate with the locals .

Short and sweet too at 72 minutes ,but Siegel is of course a master director so you never feel short changed.