The Cat Burglar

The titular thief, Jack Coley (Jack Hogan) finds himself in deep trouble after he steals a certain briefcase. Now, government types are involved, while Jack remains oblivious to just how valuable and dangerous the briefcase's contents are.

THE CAT BURGLAR takes us along with Jack's victim Nan Baker (June Kenney) as she desperately tries to track him down. Along the way, she encounters some pretty shady characters, two of whom are played by Bruno VeSota and Gene Roth!

This is an entertaining crime / espionage thriller complete with the requisite Mcguffin! It also boasts a cool jazz soundtrack...

No really the William Witney's style, trademark, he who was the best serial maker of all times. After the mid forties, he resumed his career with one hour films for Republic Pictures and some other Poverty Row companies. This little crime thriller is rather agreeable, never boring and production design very clean and sharp. But that's all, I prefered BONNIE PARKER STORY and STRANGER AT MY DOOR, from the same William Witney, but ten times more inspired. However, you have here Leo Gordon as screenwriter but unfortunately not as actor. I think it would have given more strength to this interesting little gem. Even Quentin Tarantino loved it.

Directed with some style by the man Quentin Tarentino described "one of the greatest action directors in the history of the business", 'The Cat Burglar' perfect exemplifies the sort of film on which the young fellow misspent his youth consuming.

Produced by Roger Corman's brother Gene, who enlisted Corman regulars like Daniel Haller and scripted by actor Leo Gordon - who shows quite a capacity for quirkiness when one of the crooks vents his rage by snarling "You stupid insipid fool!!" and naming a landlady 'Mrs Prattle'.

In true Tarantino fashion the criminal fraternity are depicted as simple working stiffs. While the plot gets rather involved and the general tone is rather deadpan, Buddy Bergman's jazz score suggests otherwise.

Pretty good little programmer. Actor Hogan's sneak thief Jack Coley is no typical hero of the time— he steals, lies, and gets beaten up. But he is patriotic. Seems he steals from an unwitting courier (Kenney) hand-drawn diagrams for some important Soviet plans. Trouble is he doesn't know the significance of the notebook he steals, which came in a briefcase with his real target, a pile of jewels. So the diagrams end up lining a cat box! This sets off a chain reaction among the many players that goes from slum-dwellers in rags to guys in spiffy suits. The ending is shrewdly ambiguous given what's gone before.

I love the sleaze-ball parts, especially Ms Pray-tell, who's a landlady from heck. And that's along with Muskie (VeSota) looking like a toad that swallowed a beach-ball. Then there's the rat-trap rooms where Jimmy Hoffa may still be hiding. All totaled, these sets may have cost a buck-eighty. Anyway, Nan's (Kenney) a fetching innocent among the low-lifes, while Hogan at times resembles a darker Steve McQueen.

All in all, the 60-minutes manages some interesting touches, mainly from the pen of premier bad guy Leo Gordon working here as screenwriter. In some ways, not all (lighting), there's an over-leap here of 40's noir beyond the air- brushed 1950's to the '60's. Anyway, my advice is not to struggle with the many plot convolutions, but glam onto the characters, settings, and jazz score. The sum total may not be memorable, but it is worth it.

The Cat Burglar starts off nice and strong as we enter in the midst of the cat burglar in action. The sequence is well done and engaging, from the direction, acting, and soundtrack, it's all working. It continues on fairly solid ground but by midpoint it starts to get slightly complicated and a bit cumbersome. Still the soundtrack is working and we do get some new and kind of interesting characters along the way. Despite some ebbing the pace remains fairly brisk and everything does seem to manage to coalesce toward the film's finish line. Overall, The Cat Burglar still manages to be kind of fun and worth checking out.