Les sept voleurs

"Seven Thieves" is an average but interesting little "rob the casino" caper, raised a level by the quality of the acting.

Edward G. Robinson stars as "the professor" who masterminds a plot to rob a Monte Carlo casino. For Robinson, this represents his one last chance to make a major score before he cashes in. Rod Steiger plays on old acquaintance from the States whom Robinson tries to recruit in order to complete his team. Joan Collins, looking gorgeous, is the femme fatale and Eli Wallach as Poncho the Sax playing member of the group. Michael Dante, Alexander Scourby and Berry Kroeger round out the rest of the "Seven Thieves". Sebastian Cabot also appears as the casino director.

Robinson in what amounts to a supporting role, is excellent as always. Steiger's method acting seems a little misplaced here, however under Henry Hathaway's direction, he does deliver a good performance. Collins was never more beautiful and performs a couple of provocative (for 1960) dances in a cabaret with Wallach.

"Seven Thieves" is always interesting but contains little in the way of physical action. There are a couple of surprises as well, but I thought the ending was a bit of a let down. Nevertheless, It is still an interesting film to watch if only see the performances of the stellar cast.

It seems like only yesterday that the gang and myself went to see this SEVEN THIEVES picture. It was playing at our local movie show,The Ogden Theatre at 63rd & Marshfield, here in Chicago. It was a Double Feature with THE PURPLE GANG, a production from Allied Artists (formerly known as Monogram Pictures, a long time resident of Hollywood's Poverty Row.

The advertising stated that it starred "........Edward G.Robinson(Little Ceasar) and Rod Steiger(Al Capone)." Gangster films were enjoying a renewed popularity at that time. AL CAPONE was released the prior year and did okay at the Box Office. Desilu Playhouse had aired the two part "THE UNTOUCHABLES", which led to the weekly series.

Well, my 13 year old mind thought that we were seeing something that would be like 'Little Ceasar Meets Al Capone!" We all left the show giving the 'thumbs up' to THE PURPLE GANG, but not really caring for SEVEN THIEVES. Small wonder, when a bunch of kids see a picture like this that will have a lot of material that was really "TWA"(over our heads).

Well, only a few months ago this former guttersnipe saw SEVEN THIEVES again. This time I understood it, I think.

Billed as "The Robbery That Rocked Monte Carlo!" It is a caper film, and a very good one at that. It has a fine cast, in addition to Mr. Robinson and Mr. Steiger, Joan Collins, Elli Wallach, Sebastian Cabot, Alexander Scourby, et al.

Anyone would enjoy this film. It's well worth seeing, and our old gang would heartily agree.

Usually films located on a place as lovely as the French Riviera, especially Monte Carlo get the full technicolor treatment like To Catch a Thief. But in Seven Thieves director Henry Hathaway opted for black and white because this is a noir and the key here is the plot of the caper and the relationships of the characters.

Expatriate American academician Edward G. Robinson calls on a young protégé Rod Steiger to come over from America to help him heist a casino in Monte Carlo. He's recruited a gang and needs someone he can trust to keep them in line.

Robinson's role is similar to that of Sam Jaffe in The Asphalt Jungle and Steiger it seems is his Sterling Hayden.

That's how it seems at the start, but there's a whole lot more going on here as the characters reveal themselves bit by bit during the planning and execution of the caper.

Coincidentally in the same year another caper film, Ocean's 11 about robbing casinos also came out. But this is definitely not as lighthearted as that Ratpack romp.

What to watch for is the relationships between Robinson and Steiger and between Steiger, Joan Collins and Eli Wallach.

Nicely done little noir classic.

Edward G. Robinson has planned the perfect crime in "Seven Thieves," a 1960 black and white film also starring Rod Steiger, Joan Collins, Eli Wallach, Alexander Scourby, Michael Dante, Marcel Hillaire, and Sebastian Cabot. The film is set in Monte Carlo where Theo Wilkins (Robinson) has arranged to meet Paul Mason (Rod Steiger) to ask him to join in the plot. Wilkins is a former scientist who lost his credibility after commission of some sort of crime, but we don't know what it is; Mason has just finished three years in jail. The crime concerns the theft of 4 million francs from a casino and will involve a total of 7 people - a dancer (Collins), her friend (Wallach), her married boyfriend (Scourby), and a safe cracker (Dante).

Directed by Henry Hathaway, this is an interesting drama that moves somewhat slowly and might have been better. It has a couple of twists at the end that are interesting, and there is quite a bit of tension and suspense for the audience throughout.

The performances are excellent. Robinson gives a sympathetic portrayal of an old man looking for his last shot; Steiger gives a subdued (!) performance, his character being quietly threatening instead of screaming his guts out - good choice. Someone commented on this site that Joan Collins looks the same today as she did in this film 45 years ago - actually, it's kind of true. The only difference is that she wore less makeup then. Her figure is amazing, and she gives a wonderful performance as an unhappy, hard woman who has much compassion underneath. Eli Wallach does a great job as a nervous wreck.

"Seven Thieves" holds your attention. Strangely this is around the time of "Ocean's 11" where the touch is much lighter. This is a very dramatic story. It's not the greatest but worth checking out.

A so-so caper movie that somehow fails to take off despite a veteran cast and director. There's lots of casino glitz, a sexy Joan Collins, and an inherently suspenseful premise, but the elements never really come together. I agree with the reviewer who thinks Steiger miscast. His is the central role. Yet he's so humorless, his enforcer-leader fails to generate needed sympathy for the caper (I gather director Hathaway was also unhappy with the grimness). In fact, with Robinson's exception, none of the characters is particularly likable. As a result, viewers are not encouraged to engage with the caper, but instead to simply observe it. At the same time, ace director Hathaway films in uncharacteristically impersonal, uncompelling fashion.

Nonetheless, the movie does have its moments. There's genuine tension when the Duc (Hillaire) tries to get Melanie (Collins) evicted from the casino, spoiling the heist. Instead, Melanie does some fast thinking and hangs in there. Then there's the very human last- minute-jitters that threaten to undo the elaborate scheme. But these moments of tension tend to remain isolated instead of tightening into a suspenseful whole, a failing perhaps of the screenplay.

I think there's a reason these heist films were popular during the law-and-order 1950's. The best ones-- The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The Killing (1956)— humanize crime in ways crime features to that point don't. Unlike most crime dramas of the period, ordinary people are seen as able to pool their talents into a cleverly profitable undertaking, at the same time, being daring enough to take big risks for big gains.

Such qualities mirror the kind of commercial initiative ordinarily lauded by popular culture. Of course, heists are also criminal enterprises, but except for the key factor of legality, they show off the combined skills of ordinary people acting in effective and sympathetic light. And just as importantly, as long as it's only a bank or racetrack or casino that gets victimized, well, they can likely afford it. Without that key consideration of who's harmed, the ending of this film would be more morally questionable than it is.

Anyhow, the movie's passable entertainment, and if it fails to scale the caper film heights, at least there are compensations.