Beg, Borrow ... or Steal

I remember catching this at the time I was regularly watching ABC-TV's movie of the week. Back then, they were producing some quality stuff such as Steven Spielberg's Duel, That Certain Summer with Hal Holbrook about a teenager coming to terms with his divorced father being gay, Short Walk to Daylight with James Brolin about earthquake survivors in the New York subway, & The Girl Most Likely to..., with Ed Asner & Stockard Channing about an ugly duckling gaining her beauty and then seeking revenge on everyone who mistreated her. Beg, Borrow, or Steal had a great premise about 3 handicapped men pulling off a robbery, but like many of the films done back then, I don't think it's been on the air in the past 35-40 years. A real shame.

"Beg, Borrow....or Steal" is a made for TV movie that is quite unusual. It's the story about three disabled men who want to work but who keep finding that employers let them go for a variety of excuses. In other words, they can do the job but having a blind, handless or guy in a wheelchair is just 'distasteful'! Such bigotry was pretty much legal back in 1973 and while things could definitely get better today, things have improved. But with these guys, they had to pay bills, eat and have a place to live...so what options do they have other than resort to a life or crime? This story is about their resorting to a heist because of their plight and anger at being mistreated.

Some of these TV movies were originally TV pilots, though I don't think this is the case with this one, as Mike Connors, Kent McCord and Michael Cole were all doing other TV series when they made this film.

With most heist films, you like the characters but down deep you realize they are bad and deserve to be caught. This makes "Beg, Borrow...or Steal" interesting....these men aren't bad but are angry about injustice....which makes for an interesting twist.

So is this strange heist picture worth seeing? After all, an interesting twist is nothing if the film is poorly written, acted or directed. And, the ending was one I certainly did NOT expect. The only negative I can really think of is that they didn't use disabled folks to play these roles...a lost opportunity for some actors who otherwise might not find work.

I had randomly came across this movie a couple of years ago on YouTube. It caught my attention because of Mike Conners, and I loved Mannix at the time (still do), so I thought I'd give it a try. I had stopped watching during the beginning phase for some reason. It might've been moving slow to me and I got bored. I happened to remember it last weekend, so I tried to watch it again. It's a typical heist story - main characters struggling to make ends meet, and feel like they've been wronged by society, which leads to them getting desperate enough to rob an institution that contains money, gold, or some kind of precious metal. Beg, Borrow... or Steal is about three disabled men - one who's paralyzed (Mike Connors), a second who's handless (Michael Cole), and a third who's blind (Kent McCord) - who are roommates and tired of being poor. They're having a hard time finding employment. Angered by their lack of finances, and being treated unfairly due to their disabilities, they create a plan to rob a valuable statue from the local museum. I won't give away any more than that, but just know, it's very predictable. Mike Connors was a lot different in this role, and not so much because he was playing someone who's paralyzed. I noticed his voice wasn't deep like it is on Mannix. I'm guessing he was making it sound less deep, as part of his character. Honestly, he was kind of out of place in this film, but that's just me. I've gotten into Adam-12 over the last few months, so I'm familiar with Kent McCord. He was convincing as a blind person. Well, somewhat. I swear he made eye contact when he was talking to another character at one point. Also, I found myself wondering how he knows his girlfriend has a nice body if he doesn't have vision?? As for Michael Cole - I watch a lot of old TV shows, but I don't recall seeing him in anything. The acting wasn't bad, but not the best either. Mike Connors and Kent McCord were both excellent in their respective shows, which they were filming the same year as Beg, Borrow... Or Steal, but it seemed like their performances were lacking here. But considering this was a made for TV movie, it's not like they had much to work with anyway. The ending was pretty stupid. But I shouldn't complain - it kept me occupied for a little over a half an hour. It's a decent thing to watch after a long day and you're not in the mood for anything complex.

Just in case childhood memory can't be totally relied upon, I'm rating this an '8'. This is one of a few flicks I've only seen once - at its debut. Unfortunately, this falls into the category of those television movies that haven't been rebroadcast in over 30 years. I wish somebody could track it down or find a copy someplace. That way, we could refresh our memories. I think that the three disabled characters were either former TV actors who played cops, or real cops who were forced to turn to crime when their disabilities get in the way of them finding work (people turn them down). Remember this came out way before the many pieces of legislation enacted to encourage people to hire the disabled. Maybe somebody can find a copy of this on Ebay or some similar website.

Let's be straight, I was excited to at last see this TV movie from the seventies, my preferred era for such a scheme: heist. Of course, there was also the sixties. And I thought of another movie speaking of a robbery pulled by men with a handicap: BLIND RAGE, starring Fred Williamson, where a bunch of blind guys robbed a bank. So that's not the only film speaking of this topic. But you can trust me, it's a real true gem in terms of heist film. And with good performances too. And those characters with a handicap who can prove at least to themselves that they can do it, I find this astounding. And the end is interesting too.

And seeing Mike - Mannix - Connors in such a character, I loved it. Directed by David Rich.