User reviews

Remember "Mission: Impossible"? The TV series, not the movie. It was always fun to watch the team pull off one of their stunts, because they balanced their Rube Goldberg concepts with NASA-quality planning. This movie is cut from the same cloth. It's about a casino robbery engineered during one of the gambling hall's biggest celebrations. The eponymous crooks must work in synchronized unison to fulfill their plan. Unlike the MI series, though, they aren't all quite equally devoted to their mission or, at least not to their particular roles within it. Still, they have a clever series of steps that get more interesting to watch, even as it seems increasingly likely that the plan will succeed.

Along the way, there are some interesting mixtures of personality types, some mysterious backgrounds waiting to be uncovered, and a degree of slipperiness that make it hard to be sure just who we should be rooting for. Indeed, part of the charm of this film is that there are _no_ "good guys," yet we want the thieves to get away with their crime.

A nifty, thoughtful piece, with little action and no sfx (in the current sense, anyway). An added plus for some of us is a pair of fairly sexy dance numbers a 27-year-old Joan Collins does "nearly naked," as her character puts it. She was at her physical prime in this film, but don't underestimate her acting ability. She carries the sole female role with every bit as much mastery as Wallach, Steiger, and the oddly endearing Edward G. Robinson carry theirs. John Beradino (the original "Dr. Hardy" of TV's "General Hospital") has a small role, and Marcel Hillaire appears as more or less the same character he would play dozens of times in TV guest spots for the next few years.

7/10, recommended if you've had your fill of explosions, CGI, or Tom Cruise.

Edward G. Robinson has planned the perfect crime in "Seven Thieves," a 1960 black and white film also starring Rod Steiger, Joan Collins, Eli Wallach, Alexander Scourby, Michael Dante, Marcel Hillaire, and Sebastian Cabot. The film is set in Monte Carlo where Theo Wilkins (Robinson) has arranged to meet Paul Mason (Rod Steiger) to ask him to join in the plot. Wilkins is a former scientist who lost his credibility after commission of some sort of crime, but we don't know what it is; Mason has just finished three years in jail. The crime concerns the theft of 4 million francs from a casino and will involve a total of 7 people - a dancer (Collins), her friend (Wallach), her married boyfriend (Scourby), and a safe cracker (Dante).

Directed by Henry Hathaway, this is an interesting drama that moves somewhat slowly and might have been better. It has a couple of twists at the end that are interesting, and there is quite a bit of tension and suspense for the audience throughout.

The performances are excellent. Robinson gives a sympathetic portrayal of an old man looking for his last shot; Steiger gives a subdued (!) performance, his character being quietly threatening instead of screaming his guts out - good choice. Someone commented on this site that Joan Collins looks the same today as she did in this film 45 years ago - actually, it's kind of true. The only difference is that she wore less makeup then. Her figure is amazing, and she gives a wonderful performance as an unhappy, hard woman who has much compassion underneath. Eli Wallach does a great job as a nervous wreck.

"Seven Thieves" holds your attention. Strangely this is around the time of "Ocean's 11" where the touch is much lighter. This is a very dramatic story. It's not the greatest but worth checking out.

Usually films located on a place as lovely as the French Riviera, especially Monte Carlo get the full technicolor treatment like To Catch a Thief. But in Seven Thieves director Henry Hathaway opted for black and white because this is a noir and the key here is the plot of the caper and the relationships of the characters.

Expatriate American academician Edward G. Robinson calls on a young protégé Rod Steiger to come over from America to help him heist a casino in Monte Carlo. He's recruited a gang and needs someone he can trust to keep them in line.

Robinson's role is similar to that of Sam Jaffe in The Asphalt Jungle and Steiger it seems is his Sterling Hayden.

That's how it seems at the start, but there's a whole lot more going on here as the characters reveal themselves bit by bit during the planning and execution of the caper.

Coincidentally in the same year another caper film, Ocean's 11 about robbing casinos also came out. But this is definitely not as lighthearted as that Ratpack romp.

What to watch for is the relationships between Robinson and Steiger and between Steiger, Joan Collins and Eli Wallach.

Nicely done little noir classic.

It seems like only yesterday that the gang and myself went to see this SEVEN THIEVES picture. It was playing at our local movie show,The Ogden Theatre at 63rd & Marshfield, here in Chicago. It was a Double Feature with THE PURPLE GANG, a production from Allied Artists (formerly known as Monogram Pictures, a long time resident of Hollywood's Poverty Row.

The advertising stated that it starred "........Edward G.Robinson(Little Ceasar) and Rod Steiger(Al Capone)." Gangster films were enjoying a renewed popularity at that time. AL CAPONE was released the prior year and did okay at the Box Office. Desilu Playhouse had aired the two part "THE UNTOUCHABLES", which led to the weekly series.

Well, my 13 year old mind thought that we were seeing something that would be like 'Little Ceasar Meets Al Capone!" We all left the show giving the 'thumbs up' to THE PURPLE GANG, but not really caring for SEVEN THIEVES. Small wonder, when a bunch of kids see a picture like this that will have a lot of material that was really "TWA"(over our heads).

Well, only a few months ago this former guttersnipe saw SEVEN THIEVES again. This time I understood it, I think.

Billed as "The Robbery That Rocked Monte Carlo!" It is a caper film, and a very good one at that. It has a fine cast, in addition to Mr. Robinson and Mr. Steiger, Joan Collins, Elli Wallach, Sebastian Cabot, Alexander Scourby, et al.

Anyone would enjoy this film. It's well worth seeing, and our old gang would heartily agree.

"Seven Thieves" is an average but interesting little "rob the casino" caper, raised a level by the quality of the acting.

Edward G. Robinson stars as "the professor" who masterminds a plot to rob a Monte Carlo casino. For Robinson, this represents his one last chance to make a major score before he cashes in. Rod Steiger plays on old acquaintance from the States whom Robinson tries to recruit in order to complete his team. Joan Collins, looking gorgeous, is the femme fatale and Eli Wallach as Poncho the Sax playing member of the group. Michael Dante, Alexander Scourby and Berry Kroeger round out the rest of the "Seven Thieves". Sebastian Cabot also appears as the casino director.

Robinson in what amounts to a supporting role, is excellent as always. Steiger's method acting seems a little misplaced here, however under Henry Hathaway's direction, he does deliver a good performance. Collins was never more beautiful and performs a couple of provocative (for 1960) dances in a cabaret with Wallach.

"Seven Thieves" is always interesting but contains little in the way of physical action. There are a couple of surprises as well, but I thought the ending was a bit of a let down. Nevertheless, It is still an interesting film to watch if only see the performances of the stellar cast.

A so-so caper movie that somehow fails to take off despite a veteran cast and director. There's lots of casino glitz, a sexy Joan Collins, and an inherently suspenseful premise, but the elements never really come together. I agree with the reviewer who thinks Steiger miscast. His is the central role. Yet he's so humorless, his enforcer-leader fails to generate needed sympathy for the caper (I gather director Hathaway was also unhappy with the grimness). In fact, with Robinson's exception, none of the characters is particularly likable. As a result, viewers are not encouraged to engage with the caper, but instead to simply observe it. At the same time, ace director Hathaway films in uncharacteristically impersonal, uncompelling fashion.

Nonetheless, the movie does have its moments. There's genuine tension when the Duc (Hillaire) tries to get Melanie (Collins) evicted from the casino, spoiling the heist. Instead, Melanie does some fast thinking and hangs in there. Then there's the very human last- minute-jitters that threaten to undo the elaborate scheme. But these moments of tension tend to remain isolated instead of tightening into a suspenseful whole, a failing perhaps of the screenplay.

I think there's a reason these heist films were popular during the law-and-order 1950's. The best ones-- The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The Killing (1956)— humanize crime in ways crime features to that point don't. Unlike most crime dramas of the period, ordinary people are seen as able to pool their talents into a cleverly profitable undertaking, at the same time, being daring enough to take big risks for big gains.

Such qualities mirror the kind of commercial initiative ordinarily lauded by popular culture. Of course, heists are also criminal enterprises, but except for the key factor of legality, they show off the combined skills of ordinary people acting in effective and sympathetic light. And just as importantly, as long as it's only a bank or racetrack or casino that gets victimized, well, they can likely afford it. Without that key consideration of who's harmed, the ending of this film would be more morally questionable than it is.

Anyhow, the movie's passable entertainment, and if it fails to scale the caper film heights, at least there are compensations.

THE SONS OF KATIE ELDER director Henry Hathaway made just about every kind of movie during his long career that spanned from the 1932 western WHEN THE WEST WAS YOUNG to the 1974 blaxploitation thriller SUPER DUDE. This above-average 1960 casino crime caper came out several months before the Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin epic OCEANS ELEVEN. The Hathaway takes place in France instead of Las Vegas and concerns an elderly ex-con, Professor Theo Wilkins (Edward G. Robinson of LITTLE CAESAR), who wants to make the world gasp for one last time. He has orchestrated a highly complex robbery at a Monte Carlo casino that will net some 4 million dollars in French money. He entices an old and dear friend, Paul Mason (Rod Steiger of DUCK YOU SUCKER), as the man who ramrods the operation. Paul straightens out everybody on the crew that he has the final word in everything. He also checks them out and tests them so he can be sure that they are reliable in a tight spot. One of the conspirators is a gorgeous stripper, Melanie (Joan Collins of LAND OF THE PHARAOHS), who strings along a timid, uptight casino secretary Raymond Le May (Alexander Scourby of THE BIG HEAT) to help them obtain invitations to an exclusive party the same night they plan to pull the robbery. They also enlist the aid of a safer cracker, Louis Antonizzi (Michael Dante of RAINTREE COUNTY), and Poncho (Eli Wallach of BABY DOLL) who is supposed to impersonate a wealthy baron. The night of the heist, Poncho fakes a heart attack so they can have an ambulance arrive. The ambulance is being driven by another conspirator Hugo Baumer (Berry Kroeger of Hitler) who handles the automobiles that they use for the robbery. Remember, back in 1960 when this movie was produced, the Production Code Administration still had enough clout to censor movies and they were not about to let these talented thieves get away with their crime. The way that Hathaway and scenarist Sydney Boehm work things out is not entirely satisfactory but it does make for a better ending that all of them being nabbed by French authorities.

Seven Thieves is an intricately plotted and well acted caper yarn. It combines beautiful Monte Carlo setting with seven distinct characterization. A host of international professionals are on hand including Edward G. Robinson, Eli Wallach, Sebastian Cabot, Alexander Scourby, Berry Kroger, Marcel Hillaire, John Berardino, and most of all, Joan Collins and Rod Steiger.

Collins, generally not one of my favorites, gives a marvelous performance, surprisingly reminiscent of Sophia Loren. Steiger starts the movie off being belligerent and one-note, so much so, that I wasn't certain I would continue watching. But, soon we gradually see why Edward G. wants him on his team so badly. Next, things get very taut and laced with whimsy and dry humor.

If you enjoy caper films that make you think, watch this one.

Don't read any spoiler reviews if you decide to invest your time on this film. It will suck some of the fun out of it.

The story is nothing new: seven people devise a plan to rob a European casino. The script is decent. The acting is good. The cast is strong, despite those who paint Steiger as miscast. I was actually delighted to see him not chew up the scenery for a change.

Having grown up during the hype of Dynasty, I never took Collins very seriously until I saw her in The Wayward Bus. She also surprised me in this one. If you get a chance, watch the BBC documentary about her that she actually narrated, recently released.

No, this is not a classic. Far from it. However, it is pleasingly entertaining, and it makes for fun watching on a day off from work or perhaps when it's cloudy and gloomy outside and you're cooking comfort food.

Edward G. Robinson plays a scientist whose career has been ruined by an unspecified crime. He has dreamed up the perfect heist. For it, he has asked Rod Steiger to be his partner.

Also involved are Alexander Scourbey, Michael Dante -- always associated for me with his role in "The Naked Kiss," and many others. Joan Collins looks pretty much the same as she looks now, 45 years later.

It's pretty routine. However, the fondness and respect felt for Robinson by the others is interesting. Steiger particularly seems to hold him in awe.

It's far from great. But it's fairly good.

I am a great heist films lover, but in the old fashioned way, certainly not the OCEAN'S ELEVEN (2001) crap genre, full of comedy and light heart lines. This one is not the grittier I have ever seen, but the good point is that you have here the sixties atmosphere, music, photography and the suspense related to heist movies. Edward G Robinson has a role here not far from THE BIG SLAM, directed by Guliano Montaldo, where he also was a master thief organizing a caper in Rio De Janeiro; but I agree, it was different. This one made by Henry Hathaway is however a good heist film, typical of the sixties, three years before MELODIE EN SOUS SOL, another casino heist story, taking place in Cannes - The Palm Beach Casino - not far from Monte Carlo. The overall feeling for this one is positive, without being a great film either.

"Theo Wilkins" (Edward G. Robinson) has put together a plan to steal $4 million from a casino in Monte Carlo and he specifically asks an old accomplice named "Paul Mason" (Rob Steiger) to assist him. Also conspiring with him are five other accomplices who each have their own interests and it's for this reason that he has asked Paul to join in this caper as Theo desperately needs someone on the team he can trust. Although Paul is initially reluctant to join him he is eventually persuaded due in large part to a woman on the team named "Melanie" (Joan Collins). The problem though is that she has a possessive boyfriend on this team by the name of "Pancho" (Eli Wallach) who she feels a certain loyalty towards. In any event, the mission is quite complicated and because of that all seven members of the team have to work together in order to accomplish it. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a decent crime-drama which could have been better had it had a bit more action or suspense. Even so, it was still entertaining enough for the time spent and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Considering the talent involved, this was an incredibly boring film. I'm not a guy who needs CGI, explosions, and car chases for a film to be exciting...how about some crisp, witty, intelligent dialog? I love a good character study as much as the next film fan, but these characters were too shallow, vague, and "mysterious" to be anything beyond one-dimensional. The attempt at mysterious pasts fell flat because they never went anywhere and had no bearing on the caper or its aftermath. Every chance the gang members had at challenging Rod Steiger's authority fizzled into quiet subservience immediately. The "tension" during the heist was forced and unrealistic, with obstacles overcome much too neatly. This seemed more like a TV episode of "It Takes A Thief" or, as another reviewer suggested, "Mission: Impossible". Even the worst episode of either of those series was more enjoyable than this film.

Other reviewers found the plot "complicated". Can't figure that one out, as it is the most straightforward plot imaginable, with a clear avoidance of any meaningful twists and turns. And the "twist" ending fell completely flat because it had no bearing on anything that came before it. All it generates is a shrug of the shoulders and a yawn before the abrupt and pat ending. Lost opportunities to push the envelope, generate legitimate tension, create plot twists, and stir up human drama.

The acting held only one surprise: Rod Steiger. This is the only film I've seen him in other than "On The Waterfront" where he is not chewing up the scenery with wild, over-the-top acting. He actually quiets things down and gives a mostly tight and controlled performance...choosing his outbursts selectively, rather than making his entire performance one long outburst as he usually does. Joan Collins was very pretty, but she is given nothing to do and every opportunity to use her character to stir up trouble in the group, or create a surprise twist with the heist is avoided at every possible chance. And they throw in a couple of dance numbers to "spice" up the movie, but the choreography is dreadful and she's not in rhythm to the music, so it is not erotic or sexy in the least...one just wants her to stop. I was willing to sit through one dance number as a way of introducing her character (eventhough we're already quasi-introduced to her in a meaningless café scene), but when they toss in the second dance number, there is no point other than time filler. Her acting was good...it's a shame the script didn't give her something substantial to do. The rest of the cast does a serviceable job, but again, there is nothing much for anyone to do. Top honors must go to Mr. Robinson, of course. There is no question that he radiates genuine star quality, and he is an absolute joy to watch. When he's not on, the movie becomes an endurance test until he is back on the screen again.

OVERALL: Missed opportunities left and right, boring script, complete lack of tension, a director & script that undermine the drama at every turn, but gets a hearty three out of ten stars strictly for Mr. Robinson's performance.

This elegant, classy and yet tense caper movie, set in the French Riviera, is an example of precise old-school Hollywood craftsmanship (the casino sets are very impressive) spiced up with elements of modernity (Joan Collins has two erotic dance numbers - she's an absolute knockout), but the ending is so laughably anticlimactic that it almost makes the entire thing a waste of time. **1/2 out of 4.

Novelist Max Catto has proved extremely popular with film makers and this has been adapted by Sidney Boehm from his 'Lions at the kill' with capable direction by Henry Hathaway and 'noirish' touches by Otto Preminger's preferred cinematographer Sam Leavitt.

'Caper' movies have always been considered a cut above those of the 'stick 'em up' variety as they are seen to be more cerebral and require the meticulous planning, split second timing, military precision and calculated daring which are beyond the lowly gun-wielding thief. For audiences a casino is a popular target as the money in its vaults has generally been acquired by dubious, nefarious means and whose patrons could hardly be called beacons of virtue. An interesting aspect of this particular film is the reverence shown to those with pots of dough or a coat of arms, hence the observation "whoever heard of a millionaire being thrown out of a casino because his manners were bad?"

Although it lacks the stylistic flair of the undisputed classics of the genre by Dassin, Melville, Verneuil and Huston it nevertheless has some good moments. In films of this type the fascination lies in how the 'unforeseen' can scupper even the best laid plans. Despite a few hiccups the heist itself succeeds but the aftermath with its ironical twists and dramatic revelation is totally unexpected. Some have found this to be anti-climactic but that is down to the individual viewer.

By all accounts Rod Steiger was not exactly Hathaway's cup of tea as he had originally envisaged Dean Martin in the role. Mr. Martin of course was involved in his own little caper called 'Ocean's Eleven' the release of which that same year was guaranteed to put this modest, black-and-white enterprise in the shade. The Oestrogen factor is supplied by Joan Collins. What you see with Miss Collins is what you get and what you get to see here is quite an eyeful. The casting represents the new breed versus the old guard and while Messrs. Steiger and Wallach are chewing the scenery it is veteran Edward G. Robinson who quietly steals the show.

"Seven Thieves" is an early example of the "caper film", a genre which was to become increasingly popular during the sixties. Such films tell the story of a robbery, but differ from the traditional heist movie in that they tell that story in a lighthearted way and from a viewpoint sympathetic to the criminals. The amorality of the genre is evident from its name, the word "caper" suggesting that robbery is a jolly escapade rather than a serious crime likely to earn its perpetrators a lengthy jail sentence. This film was directed by the very versatile Henry Hathaway, who could turn his hand to various types of action movie, including war films, Westerns and film noir.

Theo Wilkins, a former university professor who seems to have lost his tenure when he turned from academic pursuits to criminal ones, plans to steal a fortune in banknotes from the underground vaults of the casino in Monte Carlo, Monaco. He puts together a team of "seven thieves" to carry out his scheme. The other six are his young protégé, Paul Mason, who has just been released from a jail sentence, Louis, a safecracker, Hugo, the team's "heavy" and getaway driver, Raymond, a casino employee who can provide inside information, Raymond's girlfriend Melanie, an "exotic dancer", and Pancho, an actor who will create a diversion allowing the others to strike. ("Exotic dancer" is really a euphemism for stripper, but in the early sixties there was a limit to how far striptease could go in the cinema; Joan Collins shows a pair of shapely legs, but nothing more).

The plot has certain similarities to that of the original "Ocean's Eleven", which also came out in 1960. Both films feature an American criminal mastermind who comes up with a plan to rob a casino (or, in the case of "Ocean's Eleven", five casinos) and to that end puts together a team of specialists. Both films have titles which relate to the number of members in that team. It is perhaps significant that in both cases the victims of the crime are casinos. In 1960 there was a widely held view that casinos, at that time illegal in 49 out of 50 American states, were immoral institutions which carried out a legalised form of robbery by exploiting human weakness. (This view has never completely gone away, although it is probably less widespread today). Many people, therefore, would have tended to have greater sympathy with casino thieves than they would with, say, bank robbers. Banks may be large, impersonal institutions, but they money in their vaults represents the savings of many ordinary people.

This does not mean that the makers of "caper films" could simply show the thieves getting away with it. The Production Code, which forbade the depiction of criminals succeeding in their enterprises, remained in force until 1967. (The reviewer who called the ending of this film "laughably anticlimactic" was presumably unaware of this). Such film-makers, however, did not normally want to end their films with their heroes being arrested by the cops, so caper films often had ingenious endings, devised so that nobody went to jail but nobody ended up getting rich on the proceeds of crime either. "Seven Thieves" observes this pattern; if you want further details you'll have to watch the movie itself. This tradition continued even after 1967- the famous cliffhanging ending of "The Italian Job", made in 1969, is a good example- but appears to have died out in more recent years. Both "Entrapment" from 1999 and the 2001 remake of "Ocean's Eleven" end with the criminals succeeding.

Edward G. Robinson occasionally played the good guy (as in, for example, "Double Indemnity"), but he was better known to cinema audiences as a bad guy. Here he plays a criminal, but his Theo is not a ruthless villain of the sort he played in films like "Key Largo". Because this is a caper movie, the mastermind of the robbery has to have some redeeming features. Theo may be dishonest, but he is not violent- his plan does not involve any of the casino staff being killed, injured or even threatened- and he seems genuinely fond of Paul (who is later revealed to be his son). The "method" actor Rod Steiger as Paul, however, seems too heavy and serious for what is essentially a light comedy-drama.

For me, one weakness of this film, and of the genre to which it belongs, is that it is based on the sort of moral code that will not bear too close scrutiny. The main rule of heist movies is that the commandment "Thou shalt not steal" does not apply in situations where no-one gets hurt and where the victims are large corporations or hugely wealthy individuals. The contrived endings of heist movies from the sixties always strike me as very arch, a cynical nod in the direction of morality to keep the censors happy. Yet despite its dubious ethics, "Entrapment" is generally enjoyable. It is slick and fast-moving with an ingenious plot and does not take itself too seriously. 7/10.

Henry Hathaway never lets you down. I have never seen a film made by him that did not leave you refreshed and invigorated like after a life experience adventure. Here he is already getting old, and the action is very slow to begin with - it is all mainly introductions and discussions, but then things start developing as people begin doing something and gathering for a Rififi in Monte Carlo. You notice much of the handiwork and atmosphere of Jules Dassin's Rififi here, which clearly has been much but efficiently influential. As always, in perfects coups, something goes wrong, it inevitable always does, you know it will, and you wait with tense suspension on what it will be, but you will be surprised. For once, everything works out perfectly - and then there is a completely different and unexpected development, and what you least expected, suddenly happens. And it's nobody's fault.

Edward G. Robinson gives a memorable performance as always in a typical role of his, Joan Collins as the one dame in the intrigue is too handsome for her own good and almost makes everything go wrong only because of that, while the most interesting character is Rod Steiger, reluctant at first, then gradually more and more cooperative though with reservations, to finally become quite human. It's a long film, but the end is worth waiting for.

As a heist pic this movie's like eating at a diner. If you're starving it'll satisfy, but if you've recently dined at better places named "Asphalt Jungle", "Riffifi" or even "Ocean's 11", for that matter, it's gonna seem a bit dull. The big problem is that the heist is just too easy. I mean, aside from a smarmy jerk at the casino who has the hots for Joan Collins (as smarmy jerks at casinos will), some rather easily handled vertigo from Michael Dante and the aroma of cyanide around Eli Wallach this robbery is pretty much your standard in and out affair. Consequently, at no time is much suspense or tension built up. I expected more from noted action director, Henry Hathaway. You watch this film because Collins has never been hotter than in those two striptease numbers she does, dances in which you can almost feel the Hays Office Boys acting like Alexander Scourby, and the good performances of Wallach, Eddie Robinson Dante and a character actor of whom I was ignorant named Barry Kroeger, playing an overrbearingly Teutonic wheel man. Notice I did not mention Rod Steiger in the above assemblage. That is because this usually fine thesp is, with his glowering, method intensity, completely miscast as a suave romantic lead. The scenes between him and Collins, meant to be sexy, are instead a series of failed chemistry experiments. I also could have done without the general cheapness of the production. The south of France is one of those places where, by 1960, if your movie is set there then you really need to film on location and not provide a few second unit shots and countless phony backdrops. C plus.

Professor Edward G. Robinson assembles six cohorts for a heist on a Monte Carlo casino--but when penniless strong-arm Rod Steiger takes command of the robbery, the disparate personalities of the team come to the fore. Sydney Boehm, adapting Max Catto's novel, can't seem to decide whether to slant this derivative tale towards criminal melodrama or play it up as a lightweight diversion; bits and pieces of both emerge. The indifferent tone set by the writing may be one reason why director Henry Hathaway has staged it in a poker-faced, workmanlike manner. Talky, humorless, and oddly indifferent. Robinson coasts through on his built-in good will, Joan Collins provides the eye-candy as a cheesecake dancer (with two gratuitous numbers). *1/2 from ****

In what is probably the least known but best film to emerge from her late fifties Hollywood sojourn Joan Collins makes a memorably seductive femme fatale in this atmospheric heist film made they were still made in black & white with a clever script by Sidney Boehm (who comes up with a particularly neat conclusion) which more than makes up for the frequent use of process work throughout for the exteriors.

Owing a lot to 'The Asphalt Jungle' it stars the incredible combination of Edward G. Robinson and Rod Steiger, with Eli Wallach first appearing looking very Bohemian in a beret accompanying Collins on a saxophone.

(1960)Seven Thieves ADVENTURE/ COMEDY/ DRAMA

Based on the 1959 novel "The Lions At The Kill" by Max Catto, with yet another one of those carefully planned casino heists films with an amazing cast such as Edward G. Robinson, Rod Steiger, Joan Collins and Eli Wallach. The movie was well made until the forced 'do the right thing' ending because producers do not want to condone robberies, despite how charismatic and likable the robbers are! If their is any reason to watch this, it is for the heist and the comrade itself, nothing else. The movie garnered one Oscar nomination for received an Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design Black-and-White.

Interesting to see this one regarded so highly because I found it really quite tedious. OCEAN'S 11 would shortly come along and do the same plot with much more panache, whereas this goes for the kind of dreary realism better suited to the likes of THE SPY WHO CAME IN FOR THE COLD. And I simply didn't find the scripting to be particularly enthralling. The cast is excellent, of course, the Riviera locations suitably expensive, but other than that?