The Sex Thief

In anticipation of Cleaner (2025), I have decided to binge through the filmography of Martin Campbell and that journey starts off with The Sex Thief (1973) and it was interesting to say the least.

Positives for The Sex Thief (1973): For a first director, Martin Campbell did a good job at making a sex comedy. There are a lot of sex scenes that will entertain some people. The movie knows what it is and fully embraces it. The acting is good enough for what the movie is asking for. And finally, the movie can be weird in ways that did make me smile.

Negatives for The Sex Thief (1973): There isn't much of a plot or story for me to be invested in. The movie is just porn extended to feature length. I did lose interest multiple times throughout the runtime because I'm not into porn. And finally, I don't know what the purpose of this movie was supposed to be.

Overall, The Sex Thief (1973) is a movie that is certainly not for me, but I can see some people enjoying it.

This Brit Comedy stars David Warbeck as a masked thief whose dalliance with crime has more to do with fun and passion than robbery. He is a criminal by choice, not by necessity. As two policemen attempt to track him down--offering plenty of raunchy commentary along the way--THE SEX THIEF delivers one funny punch line after another.

This version entitled 'Her Family Jewels' dubiously resurfaced in the UK years later under the premise that semi-famous British thesps (Dianne Keen, Christopher Biggins) had once appeared in an X-rated movie. RADA trained Michael Armstrong who acts in the film as a breast obsessed cop and wrote the film under demonic alter ego 'Edward Hyde', is most familiar to exploitation fans for the much banned Mark of the Devil as well as the autobiographical Eskimo Nell. Viewers familiar with the latter will no doubt feel a sense of deja vu here as several characters and scenarios make premature appearances in The Sex Thief. Another discovery is actress Gloria Walker aka Gloria Maley who went from being worked over by Warbeck's buzzing 'simulator' to providing blood and guts effects for the gruesome Inseminoid (1980)- a more diverse career move is hard to imagine. The Sex Thief rises above the typical British sexpo thanks to some pointed raunchiness, a surprisingly subversive script and a charismatic leading man. Warbeck was once apparently the mysterious house breaking protagonist of the Milk Tray ads whilst director Martin Campbell recently made the big budget James Bond movie (and is linked to the remake of Alfred Hitchcocks stunning film 'The Birds') two things worth pondering while you watch The Sex Thief.

Seven other reviews on here so far (mid 2025) and they offer some perceptive views of this film, and an amazing amount of film trivia, lots of info about the director (would later do a Bond film, wow!), other credits for the writers, and some of the work of the more notable players.

One mystery comment was by 'Jared', who says :- "I don't know what the purpose of this movie was supposed to be." . . .but he claims to have seen zillions of movies?!

Well, back in the 60s and more especially 70s, the British movie industry was largely on its knees, apart from a few stand-out offerings.

But it did knock out a lot of 'sexploitation' flicks, aimed at a young male audience, trying to catch them in late-night (Fri & Sat) showings between getting a skinful down the pub and an early hours curry before staggering back home.

Lots of these films are pretty embarrassing when seen years later, and in the cold light of day, and it's a surprising list of British acting talent that got some work out of them.

I hadn't heard of the male lead in this one -- apparently he was the guy in the famous Milk Tray ads, so he probably got seen by far more folk than some well-known stars (even if they didn't know his name!).

Diane Keen was in it too, later in a good few sitcoms, a Sweeney film, and in later years about a million episodes of the BBC daytime 'Doctors'. She might have had a romp in The Sweeney, but I doubt she ever rocked a bed as much, or showed as much, in her career as in this film?!

The 'Confessions Of' series was a popular set of this type of film, and quite well known, they had a comedy element, whereas this one just had a few funny lines, and didn't play it for farce as they did.

So, lots of tits and bums, a few snatches (!!) of pubic hair (one in a delightful heart shape!), that was the voyeur crowd taken care of, but a fraction more plot and story than usual. A few jibes at the tabloid paper industry and police too, easy targets?! I see that Diane Keen is getting on for 80 now, I wonder if she can remember it?? I don't suppose too many of the 70s audience can either?

The late David Warbeck is Grant Henry aka The Sex Thief in this surprising 1973 sex comedy. A writer of trashy paperbacks like The Dirty and the Dying, Henry moonlights as a masked jewel thief who is usually caught in the act but lures his female captors to bed. Bedroom gymnast that he is, the women lie about his identity 'who could disguise himself as a clubfooted coloured midget one week and a 6'6 Russian with a hair lip the next' and even hope to get burgled again! A shameless Hollywood producer and a dizzy blonde try to drum up publicity by claiming that the Thief assaulted her. Enraged that his name has been tarnished The Sex Thief buys a plastic gun and in a Forced Entry manner stalks the actress, catching her in the bath before the pair reinact her made up scenario. Dim, corrupt cops more interested in selling contraband blue movies than catching the Thief also become involved in the caper. Despite the low voltage stereotype of the British sex film The Sex Thief is well made and occasionally funny and sexy. This was in fact a kinky package for the Ups and Downs of a Handyman era crowd- with several jolting sequences such as intercuting a wrestling match with sex thief's own brand of wrestling not to mention his own subjugation at the hands of a Kung-Fu trained insurance investigator! Its more infamous today for its re-edited American release that in classic sleaze fashion took a softcore foreign feature and beefed it up with X- rated inserts. This version entitled 'Her Family Jewels' dubiously resurfaced in the UK years later under the premise that semi-famous British thesps (Dianne Keen, Christopher Biggins) had once appeared in an X-rated movie. RADA trained Michael Armstrong who acts in the film as a breast obsessed cop and wrote the film under demonic alter ego 'Edward Hyde', is most familiar to exploitation fans for the much banned Mark of the Devil as well as the autobiographical Eskimo Nell. Viewers familiar with the latter will no doubt feel a sense of deja vu here as several characters and scenarios make premature appearances in The Sex Thief. Another discovery is actress Gloria Walker aka Gloria Maley who went from being worked over by Warbeck's buzzing 'simulator' to providing blood and guts effects for the gruesome Inseminoid (1980)- a more diverse career move is hard to imagine. The Sex Thief rises above the typical British sexpo thanks to some pointed raunchiness, a surprisingly subversive script and a charismatic leading man. Warbeck was once apparently the mysterious house breaking protagonist of the Milk Tray ads whilst director Martin Campbell recently made the big budget Zorro movie, two things worth pondering while you watch The Sex Thief.

This is a very watchable soft core sex movie and very representative view of early 70s London. Not so much the romancing cat burglar but the length of hair, the sideburns, the pubic hair, the police represented as more interested in seizing porn than much else, the mini-skirts, the surprisingly dowdy London streets. Also the emphasis on sex and in particular the difference between the women who seem keen to have it and the men who seem more keen to talk about it. The main premise of the film, involving David Warbeck as a burglar who gets so involved with the ladies they don't mind being robbed is a good one and the direction is good. Some of the performers are better in the bed scenes than out but what do you expect when the sex is the main raison d'etra. Not particularly sexy but there is plenty of flesh on display and the scenes are pretty vigorous. Enjoyable.