Once a Thief (1965)

Memorable, crazy movie

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Alain Delon has a record as a thief, despite the fact the police do not have enough against him to keep him in stir. So Alain lives and works and struggles like other people with a wife, played by Ann-Margret and a daughter. But a robbery gone bad (or did it!) implicates Alain, with one person dead. When the law goes to his work to question him, he loses his job and has to find another one. Jack Palance is good as his ex-con brother and has one last heist to retire on, and he needs Alain to pull it off. Alain won't do it. He comes to find out that his own brother was framing him for that robbery/murder just so he would help him. What a brother! When Alain can't find another job, he resorts to what he said he would never do again. Van Heflin is also good as a police detective, who has his agenda in putting Alain away. It seems Alain shot him years ago during a robbery, but the circumstantial evidence wasn't good enough; but Van Heflin knew Alain did it. What starts as a promising and interesting film with Alain and Ann-Margret's chemistry culminates to a very depressing end. In fact, I liked the film on the whole up until the last 5 or so minutes. Granted, any film about ex-cons or people on the run never has a "good ending." But some are better than others. It could have had an ending with integrity and a hope for a better day. But no! You've been warned. Some people just exist and…..

The casting for this film was pretty weird. French actor Alain Delon plays an Italian and Jack Palance(!) plays his brother! The two look and sound nothing like brothers and I suppose they chose Delon since apparently Sidney Poitier was not available!! Delon is an ex-con who is married to lovely but often hysterical Ann-Margaret. They have a young daughter but are struggling economically--partly because it's hard for a hot-headed idiot like Delon to keep a job. In fact, there are just way too many scenes where he barks and gesticulates and broods so much you'd swear he's off his meds. Because he acts like a moody jerk through much of the film it's hardly possible to care about him--and this is a major problem with the film. Most caper films, to a degree, you like the crooks and even want to see them get away with the crime---such as in good caper films like "Rififi" or "Bob le Flambeur". With this film, however, you just want it to end. There's more to the plot and there's a parole officer played by Van Heflin, but frankly...who cares?! In addition to Delon's acting, while Ann-Margaret is also a decent actress, you might not think so seeing this film. In particular, pay attention to her at about the 53 and 86 minute marks as she goes off on a bizarre tirade that just seems way overdone. Where was the director? Did they actually WANT this sort of terrible performance?! And, for that matter, who wrote this dialog?! After all, even a film novice might find that scene extremely silly.So what did I like about this film? Well, not much, since I'd seen so many better and less shrill caper films. However, the blond psycho in the gang was a pretty cool character and Palance wasn't bad at all--and was good as a heavy throughout the 50s and 60s. These, however, are not enough to make the movie worth seeing.

Any semi-serious movie buff or even casual viewer should be able to see that this film practically screams "Coen Brothers," 30 years before their time. The creepy blond character in "Fargo" is a dead ringer for the creepy blond bad guy in "Once a Thief," right down to the hairstyle. And the general ambiance of many scenes, as well as the ironic plot twists near the end, indicate that this movie was a big influence on the Coen bros, and to some extent, "where they went to school." It should also be noted that though this is film noir, it's also "hip" film noir, a rare breed that includes Larry Moyer's "The Moving Finger" and precious few others of the time. In fact, both these movies were too hip for their time.

A down on his luck guy just out of prison can't hold down a job to support his wife (Ann-Margret, playing sort of a good girl this time, but overacting hysterically as usual) and kid. He isn't helped by the fact that a cop he shot years ago (Heflin) is out to get him and his brother's (Palance) cronies are trying to frame him for a murder. After he accepts a job with them out of desperation, his brother is killed and his daughter kidnapped by the 2 thugs, he turns to Van Heflin's character to help get her back. Palance is quite good at adding some characterization to a standard role. Heflin also does well with a role the audience can identify with.