Stubs - The Big Steal

 The Big Steal (1949) Starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, William Bendix, Patric Knowles, Ramon Novarro Directed by Don Siegel Screenplay by Daniel Mainwaring, Gerald Drayson Adams Based on the short story "The Road to Carmichael's" by Richard Wormser in The Saturday Evening Post (19 Sep 1942). Produced by Jack J. Gross Run time: 71 minutes. USA Drama, Crime, Film Noir

Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer starred together in Out of the Past (1947), which is considered by many to be one of the best film noirs ever made. The film was a hit at the time, so a silver screen reunion with the two of them wouldn’t seem out of the question. However, their pairing in The Big Steal almost didn’t happen.

The film was originally set up at Columbia Pictures, when they purchased Richard Wormser’s short story “The Road to Carmichael’s” in 1944 as a vehicle for Chester Morris. But in 1947, RKO purchased the rights and pegged George Raft for the lead. However, scheduling conflicts caused the studio to turn to Robert Mitchum to star in early December 1948. Studio head Howard Hughes was anxious to put Mitchum in a film because of the publicity surrounding Mitchum’s arrest for possession of marijuana on September 1, 1948.

Robert Mitchum in jail in 1948.

While such an arrest would have hindered if not destroyed any other actor, it just seemed to feed into Mitchum’s tough guy persona. Hughes wanted to rush a film to take advantage. But he was going to be paired with Lizabeth Scott. But when Mitchum was arrested, Scott and her boss Hal Wallis, didn’t want her to be associated with him, so using an excuse of illness, she withdrew from the project. It was only then that she was replaced by Greer.

The production, which took place in Mexico, including Veracruz, Tehuacán and Mexico City had to be made around Mitchum’s trial and subsequent incarceration. Mitchum always plead innocent to the possession charge, but accepted a guilty plea for conspiracy in exchange for possession charges being dropped. Filming also had to contend with Jane Greer’s pregnancy.

Shooting began on December 27, 1948 and continued until mid-January 1949. Production picked up again in February, but Mitchum started his 43 days behind bars on February 16 and stayed at the Castaic, California prison farm until March 30. Production started up again on April 4 and ran until early May. The film would get released on July 1, 1949.

Capt. Vincent Blake (William Bendix) is trying to arrest Duke Halliday (Robert Mitchum).

The film opens aboard ship in the port at Veracruz, Mexico. Duke Halliday (Robert Mitchum) is in his cabin when Capt. Vincent Blake (William Bendix) bursts into his room, his gun drawn. While Blake is trying to put Duke under arrest, Duke knocks him out. He goes through his pockets and steals his identification papers.

Fleeing the ship, Duke shoves his way through a crowd and is chastised for his rude behavior by disembarking American Joan Graham (Jane Greer). Duke doesn’t know Spanish, but Joan appears to speak it fluently.

Joan leaves Duke at the pier and heads into the town and to a hotel. There, Joan finds Jim Fiske (Patric Knowles), her double-crossing fiancé. She is not happy to see him and demands that he return the $2,000 he "borrowed" from her.

The smooth-talking Fiske promises to return the money as soon as he makes a paid delivery. Joan wants her money and doesn’t want to lose Fiske, so she takes the valise that he says is his delivery with her into the bathroom so she can shower. However, that bag is a ruse. Fiske pulls another one out and flees.

Joan Graham (Jane Greer) finds Jim Fiske (Patric Knowles), her double-crossing fiancé.

Duke arrives looking for Fiske and identifies himself to Joan as Capt. Blake. Feigning nonchalance, Joan dismisses Duke, but then finds Fiske in the hotel garage and tells him about talking with Capt. Blake. When Fiske asks her to describe him, Duke appears. Fiske gets into the car and Duke tries to jump on the running board, but falls off.

Lt. Ruiz (Don Alvarado), who witnesses the incident, takes Duke and Joan to the local police station.

Fiske gets away, but Lt. Ruiz (Don Alvarado), who witnesses the incident, takes Duke and Joan to the local police station and to the office of Inspector-General Ortega (Ramon Navarro). Once again Duke identifies himself as Blake and tells the Inspector he is pursuing a fugitive, whom he identifies as Fisher.

The office of Inspector-General Ortega (Ramon Navarro).

Ortega allows Duke and Joan to leave, but immediately orders a tail put on them. Soon after, Blake shows up in Ortega's office, explaining that Duke stole his papers and is wanted for extradition to the United States.

As with Duke, Ortega seems to accept Blake's story, but then heads for the airport.

Joan driving toward Tehuacán.

Joan, meanwhile, is driving toward Tehuacán, where she knows Fiske is headed, when Duke pops up in the rental car’s rumble seat. Although annoyed, Joan allows Duke to accompany her, and they soon encounter Fiske in a roadside gas station.

Fiske escapes by throwing a suitcase out of the car. Two men hanging out at the gas station pick it up, but Duke fights them for it. Only after he opens it does he discover it is filled with newspapers.

Duke and Joan continue their chase toward Tehuacán together and on the way reveal to each other how Fiske had robbed them. Joan is out $2000 that she “loaned” Fiske. Duke explains that, while he was performing his duties as an army finance officer, Fiske stole a government payroll from him, and Duke is now suspected of being in league with Fiske.

At that moment, Blake, who is chasing them, catches up to Joan's car and starts firing at it. After a long chase, Duke and Joan finally stop Blake when Duke sets free a herd of sheep into the road.

Joan and Duke have drinks with Ortega by the pool.

In Tehuacán, Joan notices Fiske’s car and they track him to a hotel and are surprised to find him drinking with Ortega. To confuse Ortega, Joan, Fiske and Duke all declare they are staying at the hotel, and Joan and Blake take advantage of the policeman's presence by trapping Fiske in his room.

After a scuffle, Duke leaves Joan holding Fiske at gunpoint, while he goes to search Fiske's car for the money. But the plan goes awry when Fiske overpowers Joan and takes off once again.

When Duke returns to the room empty-handed, he sees Blake pulling up to the hotel. By pretending to be Duke's unwilling accomplice, Joan is able to divert Blake long enough to escape the hotel with Duke.

Joan convinces the foreman that she and Duke are eloping.

Fiske, meanwhile, has moved a construction detour sign at a highway crossroad, causing Joan and Duke to take the wrong road. When the couple finally reaches the construction site, the foreman refuses to allow them to pass until Joan tells him that she and Duke are eloping and are being pursued by her domineering father. The foreman believes her story and sympathizes with their plight.

She tells the foreman that Blake is her father so when he arrives, the crew refuses to let him cross the site, allowing Joan and Duke enough time to get away.

They catch up to Fiske, who has just arrived at a remote, guarded hacienda. As Duke and Joan approach the hacienda, they are fired on by the guards and take cover among some rocks. Although he manages to kill one guard, the inadequately armed Duke is taken prisoner while trying to retrieve a rifle. Joan gives up her gun rather than let Duke be killed. They are taken to the hacienda, which is owned by Julius Seton (John Qualen).

Seton is a fence who has paid the conman $150,000 in "clean" money in exchange for the $300,000 in "dirty" payroll money. Seton orders Fiske to kill both Duke and Joan, but he’s not sure about actually killing Joan.

Duke is actually happy to see Blake again.

Blake arrives and Duke is actually happy to see him until Blake reveals that he is part of the conspiracy. And Fiske’s partner. The greedy Blake then shoots Fiske in the back and announces that he is going to kill Duke. After Blake telephones Ortega, telling him that he is bringing in Duke's dead body, Duke suggests that Blake will have to kill Seton since he’s a witness. He also suggests that Blake can return the stolen money to the Army and keep all of the "clean" money for himself.

Seton suddenly becomes concerned for his life and pulls a gun on Blake. In the ensuing confusion, a fight breaks out. Joan ends up with Seton’s gun and shoots and wounds him. Meanwhile, Duke overwhelms Blake. He calls Ortega and pleads for him to come get them.

His name cleared at last, Duke returns to Veracruz with Joan. He has his orders to return to duty, but Joan insists she’s staying in Mexico. But in a rather ambiguous ending, they end up kissing and contemplating their future.

There are moments that remind me of Out of the Past, in addition to the reteaming of that film’s co-stars. In both films, most if not all of the action takes place in Mexico. The plot here is not quite as involving as Out of the Past’s, but a lot of time is spent in both films trying to figure out who can be trusted.

When the film was released, it was considered a big hit in its day, making $1.6 million during its initial release. The reviews were also considered to be positive. However, Bosley Crowther, writing for The New York Times, seems to be more impressed by the scenery than the actual story. “A breathtaking scenic excursion across the landscape of Mexico, following pursued and pursuer through villages, on lovely open roads and over towering mountains on switchback highway at a fast and sizzling pace, is the most genuine fascination of the RKO thriller,” he writes in his review. He does point out that "this story is minor—or a standard 'chase' mystery at best—which this closely attentive reviewer finds a little hard to explain."

Not really a ringing endorsement, but that is not to say the film isn’t fun. Robert Mitchum is always fun to watch at this point in his career. The fact that this film made a profit was most likely to do with his being in it. Once you see him in roles like this, it is hard to imagine another actor playing the part. It says something about his acumen and his acting that the fact George Raft doesn’t play a part usually means the actor who does play it gives a memorable, if not iconic, performance. Mitchum has had better parts but he always seems to bring his A-game even to “B” pictures.

Joan Greer as Joan Graham in The Big Steal.

Jane Greer is fetching and alluring in this role. It is easy to see why Mitchum’s character would be attracted to her. Her Joan is a good companion for Mitchum’s Duke as they both pursue the same man that has wronged them both.

William Bendix is perhaps best known for his turn in The Life of Riley and playing Babe Ruth in a biopic for the King of Swat. However, he also played the heavy in films like The Glass Key (1942), so the fact that he plays an untrustworthy character here isn’t out of his wheelhouse. The twist that he is a bad guy is a bit of a surprise, but not unexpected in these kinds of films. It wouldn’t have been the same film if he hadn’t.

A bit of a pleasant surprise in Ramon Navarro, whose career in films began back in 1917 and he was once considered a rival to Rudolph Valentino. His greatest success was Ben-Hur (1925), the film that is said to have put MGM on the map as a studio. Other notable films were Scaramouche (1923), The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927) with Norma Shearer, and Across to Singapore (1928) with Joan Crawford.

Even though he made a successful transition to sound films, MGM didn’t not renew his contract. A devout catholic, Navarro was also a homosexual which lead to a troubled personal life and perhaps his life-long bout with alcoholism. He continued to act as late as 1968, when he was murdered in a robbery attempt of his house by two men who had come to his Laurel Canyon home for sex.

In this film, he plays the easy-going Sheriff Ortega and gives a delightful performance in a supporting role.

Though this film pairing of Mitchum and Greer doesn’t hold a candle to the first in Out of the Past, and the film is a bit as Crowther put it “a standard ‘chase’ mystery at best”, the film is still worthwhile seeing.