Thief (film, 1952)

At night in the man’s apartment a code signal is heard on the phone: three rings, pause, three more rings. Without picking up the phone, a displeased and depressed man ( Ray Milland ) reluctantly gets out of bed, goes out into the street and follows the route he knows in a residential area of Washington . On one of the streets he is noticed by another man ( Martin Geybel ), who takes out the last cigarette from the pack, lights it, and crushes the pack itself and throws it on the sidewalk, then quickly leaves. The first man quietly picks up a pack and quickly returns home with her. Returning to the apartment, he unfolds the pack and reads secret instructions on the inside. As it becomes clear from the nameplate in his room, the man is a physicist of world renown Dr. Allan Fields.

The next morning, Fields arrives at the US Atomic Energy Commission and secretly takes pictures of secret documents. Then he takes a microfilm from the camera and puts it in a small metal box, which he seals with tape. After that, Fields goes to the Library of Congress , where in one of the halls he quietly leaves a box behind the rows of books. From there she was taken by the same man who had watched Fields from the hall, who had thrown a cigarette pack at night - Mr. Blik. Mr. Blick then quietly leaves the box in the booth of the pay phone, where another agent picks it up, then this agent throws the box near the store window into the open bag of an elegant woman, Miss Philips (Rita Vale). Finally, passing through the hands of several intermediaries, the box is in the hands of a courier who flies with her to Cairo .

A few days later, Fields gets drunk heavily in his apartment and does not respond to Blik's repeated signaling phone calls causing him to make a new contact. In the morning, Fields sees Blik guarding him at the entrance to the Commission building, and then waits for him near the house. Unable to resist such pressure, Fields sets off again and receives new instructions in a known manner.

The next morning, at the Atomic Energy Commission, Fields penetrates the office of his colleague, Dr. Hans Lindstrum, retrieves secret papers from his safe and photographs them. Going to leave already, Fields notices that Lindstrum is approaching his office. Fields is forced to hide behind an armchair, having forgotten the camera on Lindstrum's desktop. However, fortunately for Fields, Lindstrum, not noticing anything, took the book and left the office. Fields returns to his office, where he again packs the microfilm in a small box with which he comes to the reading room of the Library of Congress. This time he is hiding a container in a bookcase. When Blik is about to pick it up, one of the readers unexpectedly approaches the file cabinet and starts digging into the cards just near the place where the container is placed. However, she still does not open the desired box, and Blik again manages to pick up the box. According to the well-known chain, the box again moves from one agent to the next, until the liaison who picks it up from Miss Phillips accidentally falls under the car. A police officer arriving in time picks up a container from a deceased agent, as a result of information about a secret espionage operation becomes known to the Federal Bureau of Investigation . Unaware of this, Fields returns home and in a fierce impulse breaks the honorary plate handed to him for his contribution to the development of American nuclear energy.

The FBI immediately begins an investigation, which Blik immediately reports to Fields. He takes the camera from the house for secret photography, goes into the city and discreetly throws it into the river. Meanwhile, the FBI interrogates Lindstrum about his papers and identifies the circle of people who could gain access to them. Having compiled a list of a dozen suspects, including Fields, the FBI leadership assigns an agent to each of them, who carries out constant secret surveillance of them. Still not knowing he was being monitored, Fields carefully searches his apartment for bugs.

When Fields arrives at the Library of Congress for an emergency meeting with Blik, he notices that a physicist is being monitored. The flare does not come into contact, and when Fields returns to his apartment, he finds a telegram under the doors in which he is given encrypted instructions for further actions. The FBI also receives a copy of this telegram, but cannot decipher its meaning. Meanwhile, Fields notices a car window, near which there are two men who look like intelligence agents. Fields neatly leaves the apartment, goes down the fire escape on the other side of the house and through the neighboring courtyards to the place where it is impossible to notice. Fields gets to the stadium, in the parking lot of which, according to the number communicated to him in the telegram, he finds the car. In the glove compartment of the car, Fields finds a key and a note that contains instructions to immediately leave Washington for New York .

Reaching New York, Fields drops the car and heads for Central Station . From the left-luggage office, Fields retrieves a briefcase and a note with the address of a multi-story apartment building and the key to the apartment. Arriving at the indicated address, Fields sees him watching with interest by a beautiful young woman from the apartment opposite (Rita Gam). Upon entering the apartment, Fields opens a briefcase where he finds a sailor's passport with his photo and a set of appropriate clothes. Fields is forced to wait for the next signal for several days, constantly encountering a woman opposite and the temptation to get to know her. In the end, the uncertainty and senseless expectation bring Fields to a nervous breakdown. He runs out into the street, runs to Central Park , where he runs to exhaustion. Meanwhile, FBI agents discover the car in which Fields escaped from Washington, and take the fingerprints left on the glove compartment, finding out that Fields is in New York.

In the end, Fields receives a familiar telephone signal: three rings, pause, three rings. In accordance with the instructions, Fields heads to the Empire State Building skyscraper , where he must receive instructions from a lady with three books tied with a rope at the observation deck located on the 86th floor. However, the lady, Miss Philips, is being monitored by Harris, the same FBI agent who was watching Fields in Washington.

Upon seeing the lady, Fields takes one of the books from her. Between the pages of the book, he finds a clipping from a newspaper that contains information about the departure of the ship to Cairo at 3.30 in the morning. Meanwhile, Harris notices that Miss Phillips has only two books left instead of three, and rushes in search of the one to whom she handed over the book. Soon Harris notices Fields and begins to pursue him. Fields also notices Harris and the skyscraper is trying to hide from him, rising higher and higher. Finally, already completely exhausted, Fields gets to the very top 102nd floor and enters a small open area, from where there is nowhere to run. Fields is actually cornered, and when Harris’s arm grabbing his leg comes out of the hatch, Fields, in desperation, hits Harris on the arm and head until he breaks down and falls several floors down, crashing to death.

Fields runs out of the building and returns to his room, where he begins to sob hysterically. At night, he is tormented by nightmares: he sees Blik and Harris, a spinning telephone dial and a ringing telephone. Finally, at the appointed time, he puts on the clothes handed over to him, goes to the city and comes to the port. However, approaching the gangway of the ship sailing to Cairo, he cannot force himself to board the ship. Fields tears up the documents received and throws them out, after which he strolls strangely, and eventually walks up the stairs of the FBI building, probably intending to confess to his crimes.

• Ray Milland - Allan Fields
• Martin Gable - Mr. Blick
• Harry Bronson - Harris
• Rita Vale - Miss Philips
• Rex O'Malley - Bill
• Rita Gam - a neighbor in an apartment building

Russell Routh and Clarence Green were awarded the Oscars for the screenplay for the romantic comedy Phone in Half (1960). They also co-wrote scripts for such noir films as Dead on Arrival (1950), The Well (1951), The Vicious Woman (1953), and The Secrets of New York (1955). The director of all these films is noir, except the first was Rouse. ^[4] .

Ray Milland played in such famous noir films as the horror film Uninvited (1944), the spy thriller Ministry of Fear (1944), Fritz Lang , the social noir Lost Weekend (1945, Oscar for Best Actor), Big watch "(1948)," Nickname Beale "(1949) and" In case of murder, type "M " (1954) by Alfred Hitchcock ^[5] .

Overall rating and feature film

The film received favorable, with some reservations, criticism. Particular attention was paid to the original artistic technique - the production of a picture without a text spoken by the actors, as well as to high-quality camera work, music and the role of Ray Milland in the title role.

After the film was released, Variety magazine praised him, noting “an unusual approach to film narration (complete lack of colloquial speech), a good spy story and a strong play by Ray Milland” ^[6] . Moreover, according to the magazine, “history lacks the reason why Milland, a respected scientist in the field of nuclear physics , became a traitor to his country, transmitting nuclear secrets to foreign agents” ^[6] .

The New York Times called the film “a spy melodrama for which language would be superfluous” ^[7] . The newspaper considers the innovation with the absence of colloquial speech “the fundamental merit of this melodrama” ^[7] . But nevertheless, the author of the article emphasizes, “in addition to his innovation, the Thief also has a fair share of other advantages”, and, apart from the “final unworthy and inappropriate turn that does not follow from the picture shown, everything else is done the highest level ” ^[7] . The newspaper notes that the picture is “a persecution the size of a full-length film, with some repetitions, in which only suspense pulsates,” but “the underlying causes of criminal activity are not disclosed, and the logic of history sometimes rests on a fragile thread” ^[7] . According to the newspaper, the creators of the film “Rouse and Green are mainly concerned with documenting the super-complex working methods of the main character and the vile conspirators associated with him,” “making virtually no effort to prescribe multi-dimensional psychological images of the characters” ^[7] .

The contemporary critic Craig Butler also first of all emphasizes that the film “is built on an unusual reception - which consists in the fact that the whole story is told without a single acting line - and the viewer's interest will depend on how interested he is in such a reception” ^[8] . According to Butler, “there is a rationale why this approach is used, in addition to challenging as such to make a film without text: the main character is actually lonely and not capable of real human communication. Because of the situation in which he finds himself, there is no one whom he can completely trust, no one who he can open up - in other words, in the literal sense there is no one with whom he could talk, and the creation of a film without a text metaphorically emphasizes this circumstance ” ^[8] . Butler further notes that, nevertheless, “the final result does not bring full satisfaction: without dialogue and motivation, the story behind the scenes remains unclear, and the images are unprocessed.” In addition, at times, the viewer's attention begins to concentrate more on “how he will make this or that episode without talking” than on the story itself ^[8] . And finally, “the story itself is not too original; the same thing happened in many other spy films ” ^[8] .

Dennis Schwartz calls the picture "a unique, but boring spy thriller about the Red Threat " ^[9] . According to the critic, the film “shows a lonely and alienated unsympathetic person on the run who falls into the trap of a ghostly and gloomy world of chaos, but does not grow flesh in his character, so we don’t start to worry about his unfortunate fate in terms of human history ", While" the motives for his espionage activities are not spelled out " ^[9] . He continues: “This is a silent film in the true sense of the word. The trick with silence (with the exception of the natural sound background) never attracted my interest. And as the film stretches tightly after the innovation has exhausted itself, it begins to openly annoy. It seems far-fetched and does not serve any purpose, and the trick itself does not make the film more interesting ” ^[9] . But, Schwartz further notes, “at least in the absence of a spoken text, we do not need to listen to a lecture on patriotism or any piercing text directed against the reds” ^[9] .

Description of the work of the director and creative team

The New York Times called Clarence Green and Russell Routh “an adventurous pair of filmmakers who are trying to prove that some movie stories are better to watch than listen to.” And the project was a successful demonstration of their skill ” ^[7] . According to Butler, although the lack of a spoken text is only a trick, a trick, nevertheless, "we must pay tribute to the director and co-author Russell Routh for accepting such a challenge and doing such an excellent job accepting it." Butler believes that “Rouse excellently finds ways to tell a story without sacrificing tension, suspense or emotional impact” ^[8] . He notes that “working with cameraman Sam Leavitt , whose noir camera work is just wonderful, Routh creates and tells a story in an irresistible and exciting manner” ^[8] .

Поддерживая высокую оценку работы Ливитта, Шварц написал, что благодаря «отличной мрачной визуальной работе оператора Сэма Ливитта» фильм превращается в «плотное атмосферическое произведение» ^[9] . «Нью-Йорк Таймс» называет операторскую работа Ливитта «отличной» и «сильно дополняющей напряжённость преследования», отмечая, что его камера «ухватила в свете реальные и знакомые места действия в Вашингтоне и Нью-Йорке » ^[7] . Действие происходит в таких «визуально увлекательных местах, как Библиотека Конгресса , тихие тенистые улочки Джорджтауна и станции нью-йоркского метро, многолюдные улицы центра Нью-Йорка и башню Эмпайр стейт билдинг , в которой происходит часть преследования» ^[7] .

Музыка Хершела Гилберта, по мнению «Нью-Йорк Таймс», «незаметно нагнетает атмосферу, а также даёт ощутить чувства и эмоции главных героев» ^[7] . Со своей стороны, Variety отмечает, что «постоянный звук городского шума вносит какофоническую ноту, пронзительно звучащий телефонный звонок играет важную роль и в конце концов, фильм имеет высококлассную музыку Хершела Гилберта, которая порой даже слишком настойчиво выстраивает мелодраматическое настроение, а в других местах — мягко подчёркивает и разъясняет бессловесные поступки исполнителей» ^[6] . Батлер также считает, что «драматическая музыка Хершела Бёрка Гилберта оказывает неоценимую помощь в изложении истории» ^[8] .

Характеристика актёрской работы

Среди достижений в работе Рауса над фильмом «Нью-Йорк Таймс» выделят то, что он «добился прочувствованной и выдающейся игры от Рэя Милланда в заглавной роли», хотя сама история вряд ли «будет удостоена призов за оригинальность» ^[7] . Далее газета пишет: «Изображение Милландом учёного-предателя, человека, мотивы которого не очевидны, великолепно. Он образованный человек, мучающийся от нерешительности, и которого медленно, но уверенно разрушает страх, превращающий его в животное, которое непреднамеренно убивает того, кто пытался его схватить» ^[7] . Батлер также считает, что «Раусу чрезвычайно повезло, что он заполучил Рэя Милланда в качестве звезды, поскольку его игра великолепна; глубины, которые он обнажает и нюансы, которые он находит — это сплошное наслаждение» ^[8] .

«Нью-Йорк Таймс» обратил внимание также на игру Риты Гэм, написав что эта «привлекательная новая актриса с телевидения в свои краткие моменты на экране в качестве соблазнительницы в многоквартирном убежище Милланда, продемонстрировала, что могла бы отлично выглядеть в купальнике» ^[7] . Variety также выделил «Риту Гэм, актрису из Нью-Йорка, которая производит сильное впечатление в трёх своих сценах в качестве соблазнительницы» ^[6] .

Фильм был удостоен ряда престижных наград и номинаций, в частности ^[10] :

• Thief on IMDB website  
• Thief on Allmovie website  
• Thief on Turner Classic Movies