I Stole a Million

Hardly his most memorable film, "I Stole a Million" covers familiar territory for George Raft. A very good beginning sinks into a poorly constructed storyline, unfortunately, and the greatest actor in the world could not have pulled out of that.

Plot: The system, the fates and bad dudes conspire to stick taxi-driver Joe on the wrong side of the law. After meeting Laura, he tries to turn his life around, and for a while he succeeds - marriage, business, a kid on the way. But his past catches up with him, and he slides into deeper criminal action than he ever dreamed before. The title actually refers to a very brief, rapid section of the film.

The well-paced early part of the movie, with great car action, slimy businessmen, escaping the cops, and hopping a freight, holds real promise. But everything seems to come to a screeching halt when Joe meets Laura (Claire Trevor). It's hardly Trevor's fault; it's the sudden flowery music and saccharine mood. What made the film interesting at that point fades away though there are still a few good bits and another swell car chase. There is a nicely lit sequence of dancing in a diner (including an Elmer Fudd of a proprietor). And late we learn Joe was the abused son of an alcoholic - which provides only a nice bit of dialog, for the script does not allow it the interest it deserves.

Not helping is the odd fact that Raft and Trevor have all the friendly chemistry of a brother and sister. Again, it's not something that can be blamed on anyone. It does make one appreciate the instant chemistry Raft had with such wildly different actresses as Sylvia Sidney and Ann Sheridan.

Not a review, just a comment.

F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre remarks in his dismissal of this movie that "This movie bears no resemblance to reality." Unfortunately, his synopsis of the movie's plot bears very little resemblance to the plot itself, and thus most of his sneers are irrelevant.

The plot outline given by Rocky-19 is far nearer the mark. Also, there's a fairly accurate (and fuller) synopsis at the Turner Classic Movies site.

It goes without saying that IMDb reviewers should not misrepresent the movies they review simply for the sake of badmouthing them. This is no masterpiece (although the Nathanael West script is a cut above what you'd expect from a George Raft movie); but it's certainly not the barrel of clichés Mr MacIntyre makes it out to be.

George Raft was never much of an actor (as he freely admitted), but I fondly recall the ironic desperation in the performance he gave in 'If I Had a Million'. In that movie, Raft played a cheque forger who unexpectedly receives a legitimate cheque for $1,000,000, made out to himself ... then he realises that he can't cash the cheque nor deposit it, because his handiwork is known in every bank in town. Raft's forger nearly goes insane in his frustration. Good performance!

Now here's Raft again, playing a similar role in a film with a similar title: 'I Stole a Million'. Sadly, this movie has a screenplay by Nathanael West: possibly the single most over-rated author in the entire history of American literature. (By coincidence, Nathanael West's brother-in-law was S.J. Perelman: possibly the single most UNDER-rated author in American literature.) This movie is not remotely as good as 'If I Had a Million'.

This movie embodies one of my least favourite film cliches: the one about the 'reluctant thief' who swears he wants to go straight, but first he's got to pull one last job. (Similar to this is the one about the 'weary warrior': the guy who claims to dislike violence, even though he's spent most of his life kicking butt. And now he's got to kick butt one more time...) In 'I Stole a Million', Raft plays a cabdriver who supplements his income with petty crimes. He keeps vowing that one of these days he's going to accumulate enough swag so that he'll be able to go straight. One reason I loathe this 'reluctant thief' plotline is because it insults the audience's intelligence. The main reason why habitual thieves are habitual thieves isn't the money at all: they get a powerful thrill (very nearly like an orgasm) from their criminal behaviour, and they just won't give it up. But here we're expected to believe that Raft would go straight if he could just pull one big job.

Well, he gets that chance in this movie. Will he get away with the million bucks? And if he does, will he really go straight? Who cares? This movie bears no resemblance to reality. The few pleasures on offer in 'I Stole a Million' are supplied by the supporting cast. Dick Foran, the sour-faced Victor Jory, the even sourer-faced Al Hill and the very under-rated Joe Sawyer are all fine here, despite Frank Tuttle's usual lacklustre direction. Hobart Cavanaugh was a character actor who usually blended into the woodwork, but he's splendid here as a mousy little accountant. Watch for veteran stuntman Dave Sharpe as an undersized cab driver. As for leading lady Claire Trevor ... erm, no comment.

George Raft came from Hell's Kitchen in New York City, and he made no bones about the fact that (in real life) he had an extensive criminal background. (Raft and gangster Bugsy Siegel were pals before either was famous.) Raft was extremely believable as a crook in films in which he had good direction, such as 'Scarface', 'You and Me' and 'Quick Millions'. In 'I Stole a Million', Raft gets no direction at all ... and he's utterly unbelievable, even though he's playing a role quite similar to his own early life. I'll rate 'I Stole a Million' one point out of 10.