I Am a Thief

After several spectacular jewel thefts an international group of insurance underwriters plan to trap the culprits by following the buyer of the Karenina diamonds.Enter man of mystery,jewel dealer Ricardo Cortez who makes the purchase,leaves Paris on the Orient Express,and is followed by numerous people hoping to get their hands on the gems.The viewer must figure out just who is an actual thief/murderer or those who are on the side of the law in this delightfully fast-paced thriller.A trainload of wonderful Warner Brothers contract players(Mary Astor,Robert H.Barrat,John Wray,Irving Pichel,Dudley Digges,Ferdinand Gottschalk,etc.) and the always terrific direction of Robert Florey keep the suspense right on track.

Ricardo Cortez is a suave jeweler. He buys at auction some famous and expensive diamonds, then takes the Orient Express to Istanbul, so he can romance Mary Astor -- who eventually steals the jewels -- and keep things humming along, with a bunch of people who obviously want the gems and are willing to murder to get them. Apparently.

Robert Florey directs this at the high-speed Warner Brothers pace, even though the plot complexities, which seem to involve everyone actually being someone other than they seem to be, sometimes overwhelm the movie. Like a detective in a pulp novel, I began to suspect everyone, from Parisian chauffeurs -- a shady lot at the best of times -- to children selling gimcrack souvenirs by the side of the train. Why were they traveling on the Orient Express anyway? Don't they know it's a hotbed of espionage, murder, and Kenneth Branagh in a face-eating mustache?

Florey was always fond of Dutch angles, but he can't do much on board the railroad, even with Sidney Hickock as his cinematographer. It was fun while it lasted, but occasionally confusing, as players switched who they were playing.

"I Am a Thief" is a film with some nice actors and lovely settings, but it ultimately turns out to be very talky and the plot amazingly contrived and unsatisfying.

The film begins in Paris and the police have been frustrated by a series of high-end jewel robberies. So, they plan on pulling out all the stops to catch the members of this gang.

In the next scene, Pierre (Ricardo Cortez) is buying some hugely expensive diamonds at an auction. Two others, Odette (Mary Astor) and Colonel Jackson (Dudley Diggs) are also very interested in the stones. Eventually, the three end up, not accidentally, on a train bound for Istanbul--during the course of which, the stones are stolen and the police question everyone....a procedure that takes up a huge chunk of the film. In the end, the members of the gang reveal themselves and someone does something a bit heroic.

This film is way too mannered and talky. Everyone acts so calm, sophisticated and civilized through much of the film--so much so that it's a bit irritating. It's also irritating that there really doesn't seem to be any way for the audience to have clues as to who the crooks really are--and the ending seems very random. All in all, the film lacked energy and just became a tad tedious after a while--a shame as the actors seemed better than the material. And, speaking of the actors, there is a bit of a coincidence in the casting. All three played "The Maltese Falcon"--Cortez and Diggs in the 1931 version and Astor in the more famous 1941 version.

I never heard of this movie until I caught it today by accident on TCM. It was a total surprise - once I began watching, I couldn't leave til the finish. A short film (an hour), very fast paced and exciting. Extremely well-done. The plot was exceptionally clever - it really kept you guessing for moment to moment who the true criminals were. The second unit location photography in Paris, Laussane, and the Balkans was superb and so generously dispersed throughout the film that you really felt you were there. Robert Florey is a master of this type of movie, and his direction added a very elegant and sinister tone. Watch it - you'll love it. I hope it gets remake someday.

Diamond thieves seem to abound in "I Am A Thief," a 1934 film starring Mary Astor and Ricardo Cortez. Cortez buys the famous "Karenina diamonds" at auction, winning them from Astor. The two wind up on the Istanbul Express, where Cortez is hounded by an American who insists on buying the jewels from him. The story continues with murder, secret identities, mysterious telegrams, a paste copy of the jewels, and the jewels themselves.

Fast-moving story, like the train the characters ride, as the jewels change hands and different people are implicated.

Astor is radiantly beautiful and charming in the role of a flirt who has another agenda, and Cortez is elegant and suspect both.

Short at 1 hour plus, it's a delightful film.