The Burglar (1957)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Professional burglar Nat Harbin (Dan Duryea) and his two associates, Baylock (Peter Capell) and Dohmer (Mickey Shaughnessy), set their sights on wealthy spiritualist Sister Sarah (Phoebe Mackay), who has inherited a fortune - including a renowned emerald necklace - from a Philadelphia financier. Using Nat's female ward, Gladden (Jayne Mansfield), to pose as an admirer and case the mansion where the woman lives, they set up what looks like a perfect break-in; even when Nat's car is spotted by a couple of cops, he bluffs his way through, gets the necklace, and makes the getaway. But the trio - plus Gladden - can't agree on how to dispose of the necklace, and soon their bickering becomes a lot less important than the fact that someone is on to what they've done - a woman (Martha Vickers) is working on Nat, while a man (Stewart Bradley) is working on Gladden. Equally serious, the trio kills a New Jersey state trooper while on their way to warn her. And among the cops chasing them is one with larceny in his heart and murder on his mind. - Actors:
- Dan Duryea, Jayne Mansfield, Martha Vickers, Peter Capell, Mickey Shaughnessy, Wendell K. Phillips, Phoebe Mackay, Stewart Bradley, Frank Orrison, Sam Elber, Ned Cary, John Boyd, Michael Rich, George Kane, Sam Cresson, Ruth Burnat, John Facenda, Frank Hall, Steve Allison, Richard Emery
- Directors:
- Paul Wendkos
- Producers:
- Louis W. Kellman
- Narrated By:
- Bob Wilson
- Writers:
- David Goodis
- Aka:
- Lo scassinatore
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama, Thrillers
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Reviews (1) of The Burglar
Fifties Noir - The Burglar review by Steve
This gets closest of any adaptation of a David Goodis story to his preoccupation with the aspiration crushing negativity of poverty. Maybe because the author wrote the screenplay himself. A child runs away from home and is adopted by a burglar who teaches him the business. And he grows up to be played by Dan Duryea.
The stand-in father has a daughter (Jayne Mansfield) tormented by the sexual love she endures for Duryea, contaminated by a feeling of incest. After a jewel robbery, the two stars are tracked by a corrupt cop to Atlantic City. When they enter an amusement park house of horror, a mannequin robotically announces 'we the dead welcome you' to everyone who buys a ticket!
They are ruined by bad luck. In Goodis’ world, criminals never succeed because they either get busted, or destroy each other. It's interesting to see Jayne without her glamour-girl make up and gowns. It would be an exaggeration to claim she delivers a good performance, but it was surely her best.
It's great to see Martha Vickers as the moll of the crooked copper whose own misery connects instantly and intimately with the burglar’s. Duryea is superb in a film which has little plot but dwells on his internal pain. He is destroyed by loyalty. His achilles heel is his sense of honour, so inverted are the values of his world.