"Illegal" and "The Big Steal"

"Illegal" stars Edward G. Robinson - it is the first time I've seen him in a film. My first thought upon seeing him was of the Bugs Bunny caricature.



It's strange to have seen a caricature so early and so many times as a kid to then view the person on which it was based 30+ years later. Based upon this caricature, I was expecting Robinson to chew the scenery much more than he did - his is a level performance. However, the writing chews the scenery for him. To wit, Robinson plays Victor Scott - a District Attorney who prosecutes an innocent man into the electric chair. With his reputation sullied, Scott hits the bottle in true noir fashion, and then starts reassembling his life on the other side of the courtroom as a defense attorney. The scenery-chewing is a result of the stunts Scott pulls in the courtroom - punching a man to prove a point and ingesting poison, betting on a recess occurring, and then running next door to have his stomach pumped. There's also a humorous romantic scene wherein neither actor displays any affection for the other - they could be discussing a grocery list.

In spite of this, or maybe because of this, the movie is enjoyable as noir camp. It's well-paced, and has many of the noir stamps. Although perhaps not a true femme fatale, Ellen Miles is a romantic/daughter figure for Scott and he goes to dangerous lengths to protect her. A side note: Miles is played by Nina Foch who went on to become a film professor at USC and provides commentary for the film. We have a strong sexual component with Jayne Mansfield acting as the crime boss's girlfriend, Angel O'Hara, who delivers a tepid musical performance and a not-so-tepid figure.

I don't feel this is one for the ages, but I'm glad it's available and I enjoyed watching it.



I’d next like to post my thoughts on “The Big Steal,” which are interspersed with notes gleaned from the DVD commentary, done by Rick Jewell, Hugh M. Hefner professor of American Film at the University of Southern California.

“The Big Steal” was adapted from a short story, “The Road to Carmichael’s” by Richard Wormser. Columbia had purchased the rights, but Columbia never made the movie - RKO bought it from Columbia in 1948. Numerous edits took place leading toward its short length of 71 minutes and some inconsistencies in the film.

The two biggest points that stand out to me are the acting of Ramón Novarro and the direction, filming and acting during the big car chase which is a significant portion of the movie.

Ramón Novarro was a Latin-American actor who achieved his fame during the silent film era, with his biggest role being in “Ben-Hur.” Given the generally “stiff” acting of the time, I think Novarro stands out by being especially demonstrative with facial expressions, inflections, etc. - probably a carryover from his silent film days. This helps to set him apart and give his character a welcome contrast to the other characters. I particulary like where he is discussing how he wants to learn English and corrects his “mouses” utterance with “mice.” His personal story is not a happy one - for more info see his wikipedia article.

I love the big car chase scene in this movie. You can tell the stunt drivers are pushing the cars to their limits - on one turn, especially, if the car would have wobbled any more it surely would have lost traction. Greer does an excellent job of pretending to drive in front of a screen. Another excellent moment is when Captain Blake’s car nearly has a head-on collision before swerving just in front of another vehicle - this is a good, early example of action filmmaking.

I also love Jane Greer in this movie. I’ve been accused of liking “mousey” women before, but that’s just the book cover on Ms. Jane Greer - her performance is anything but mousey. Jane Greer and Robert Mitchum had previously appeared in “Out of the Past” - widely regarded as the best noir film made. In spite of their previous success, Howard Hughes, the head of RKO at that time, did not initially want to cast Greer due to a prior romantic relationship that Hughes shared with Greer. However, due to another complication, he ended up doing so.

The complication that Hughes was faced with was that Robert Mitchum had been recently arrested on marijuana charges. Even though Mitchum weathered this difficulty due to his popularity and that his arrest might have actually increased his popularity as one of the first “bad boys” of film, leading women of the time were initially reluctant to be paired with Mitchum. In fact, the original actress cast, Elizabeth Scott, withdrew due to a supposed illness once Mitchum’s involvement was made known. Several other actresses turned the part down before Hughes assigned it to Greer. Halfway through the production, Mitchum had to serve time in the county jail. Stunt doubles were used on location in Mexico to shoot various driving scenes and exterior shots during Mitchum’s incarceration. This was another reason for the streamlining of the script.

The director, Don Siegal, had a long career in movies - perhaps most notably directing “Dirty Harry.” Clint Eastwood considered Siegal one of his mentors. Siegal is noted in his early career for creating excellent montages. Jewel discussses why there are no montages in “The Big Steal.” Montages were used to illustrate the passage of time and since “The Big Steal’s” story happens within one day, it would have seemed out of place in the film.

Again, not my favorite noir and without the back story, I probably wouldn't like it as much. As with all mediocre movies, if it's brief, it helps and this movie is short. Navarro and Greer's performances are fun to watch.