The streets of San Francisco

jotix100

"Once a Thief", directed by Ralph Nelson, came as a surprise when it showed on cable. Not having seen the film, we were interested, first of all, by the excellent cast, and having seen Mr. Nelson's "The Welby Conspiracy" not too long ago, we made the right decision, as it turned out. Based on Zekial Marko's novel "Scratch a Thief", the plot is not overly unique. After all, haven't we seen variations on the same theme done before? What makes it worth watching by serious fans is the work Mr. Nelson in the picture.

The style, for one thing, kept reminding this viewer of a lot of the films by the New Wave directors from France of the same era. The movie has a feeling of having been done following the European way of presenting a story in ways that the action is enhanced by the atmosphere that is created. This was the first time the great Lalo Schifrin composed the score for a Hollywood film, even though he had worked in Argentina and France and on American television. His jazzy score serves the film well.

Alain Delon, seen as Eddie Pedak, the former con that has kept away from trouble, was at good moment of his long career. His American film career did nothing for him, artistically, and yet, he gave a good performance here. His pairing with beautiful Ann-Margret paid off in that both had a chemistry that is visible. Ann-Margret was doing a stretch in the film because she had been associated with lighter fare up to this dramatic breakthrough. Van Heflin plays the SFPD detective that judges circumstances lightly and associates Eddie to the crime which he suspects Eddie is involved.

The supporting cast is interesting. Jack Palance appears as Eddie's brother Walter, the schemer with a bold plan that will make him, and his gang, rich. John Davis Chandler is perfectly menacing as the menacing Sargatanas. Tony Musante has a small role as Shoenstein, another man on Walter's crew. Jeff Corey shows up as the partner of inspector Vido.

Even though it is an uneven film, "Once a Thief" has a lot of innovative elements thanks to Ralph Nelson's direction.

score 7/10

jotix100 8 September 2010

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2307612/