I AM A THIEF

Ricardo Cortez and Mary Astor

I AM A THIEF (1934). Director: Robert Florey.

Jewel robberies have become such frequent occurrences in Paris that the board of the insurance firm Hayle's Ltd figures that post-war adventurers have banded together for the purposes of crime. At an auction for the famous Karenina Diamond necklace, the bidders include Odette (Mary Astor) and Pierre (Ricardo Cortez of The Big Shakedown) who wins the necklace and begins a romance with Odette. The action then switches to the Orient Express, where Odette has followed Pierre when he suddenly takes the train to Istanbul. There are other sinister characters, necklace switches and jewel robberies, and at least one murder on the Orient Express.

Irving Pichel and Astor

I Am a Thief is an entertaining picture that keeps you in suspense because you don't know for quite a while just who is the "thief" of the title, with one never being certain if either Astor or Cortez are "on the side of the angels." Astor, looking comparatively drab, is excellent, as usual, while an amiable Cortez gets by mostly on charm. There are good performances from Irving Pichel [Dick Tracy's G-Men] as Count Trentini; Dudley Digges as Colonel Jackson, who wants to buy the necklace from Pierre; Ferdinand Gottschalk as the little fellow, Cassiet; and Hobart Cavanaugh [Dangerous Blondes] as the insurance man Daudet. Although this has a very different plot, Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express was published the same year. Suspects are gathered in a coach at one point just as in the Christie novel.

Verdict: Smooth, fun picture with good performances. ***.  

DANGEROUS BLONDES

Jane gives Miss Ralston a wolf whistle

DANGEROUS BLONDES (1943). Director: Leigh Jason.

Former actress Jane Craig (Evelyn Keyes) is married to popular mystery writer Barry Craig (Allyn Joslyn). Jane's friend Julie (Anita Louise) comes to her with a tale of someone trying to chloroform her in a dark room at the studio where she works, and news of a murder plot during the filming of a commercial later in the evening. Before long Jane and Barry are embroiled in two mysterious killings, which Inspector Clinton (Frank Craven) thinks he has the solution for. Of course it remains for Barry to really explain who the killer is ... Dangerous Blondes is snappy and amusing, if minor, and didn't result in a series about the Craigs, although Keyes and Joslyn are fine in the parts. Others in the cast include Edmund Lowe [Hot Pepper] as an advertising man, William Demarest as a cop, and Ann Savage as Erika McCormick. John Abbott [Deception] makes an impression as the nervous secretary Roland X. Smith, as does Hobart Cavanaugh as Philpot, the elevator attendant. Minerva Urecal appears as a housekeeper and is, as they say, swell. Craven is typically excellent. An interesting scene has Jane giving pretty model Miss Ralston (Lynn Merrick) a wolf whistle.  Leigh Jason also directed Lost Honeymoon.

Verdict: Nothing special but easy to take with quite a few funny moments. **1/2.