Seven Thieves
Encyclopedia
Seven Thieves is a 1960
20th Century Fox
film noir
crime
drama
motion picture
. It stars Edward G. Robinson
, Rod Steiger
and Joan Collins
.
Directed
by Henry Hathaway
and produced
by Sydney Boehm
, it was adapted for the screen by Sydney Boehm, based on the novel
The Lions At The Kill by Max Catto
. Technical advisor was Candy Barr
, who, as choreographer, taught dance routines to Collins.
Seven Thieves received an Academy Award
nomination for Best Costume Design Black-and-White
(Bill Thomas).
professor, Theo Wilkins (Edward G. Robinson
), has called on a young protégé and sophisticated thief, Paul Mason (Rod Steiger
), to come over from the US to the south of France and help him pull off one final heist. He has masterminded a caper to steal $4,000,000 in French francs from the underground vault of the casino of Monte Carlo
, Monaco
. Wilkins has recruited a team of thieves -- including Melanie (Joan Collins
), an exotic dancer -- but he needs someone he can trust, Mason, to keep them all in line during the crime.
The heist takes place on the night of a grand celebration at the casino. Melanie's protector, the saxophone player Poncho (Eli Wallach
), and Wilkins enter the casino in the guises of (respectively) "Baron von Roelitz," an aristocrat with a disability who uses a wheelchair, and his physician, "Dr. Vidal." At the same time, Melanie, the safecracker Louis (Michael Dante
) and Mason attend the party with invitations procured by the gang's inside man at the casino, the meek assistant to the director, Le May (Alexander Scourby
), who is under Melanie's spell.
Mason and Louis go out of a window, which Melanie shuts behind them, and make their way along a narrow ledge high above the sea to the casino director's office. From there, they descend by elevator to the vault four floors below. They cut through a barred gate in front of the vault and drill through the lock, secure the cash and make their way back to the director's elevator.
Poncho's part of the plan is to ingest a cyanide
capsule to simulate a heart attack. Afraid, he fails to do so, necessitating Wilkins to inject him with cyanide instead. Poncho collapses and Wilkins maneuvers the casino director (Sebastian Cabot
), in the name of "discretion," into transporting "the baron" to his office. Here, Wilkins pretends to phone for an ambulance, and informs the director that the baron is dead. They leave the office with the inert baron in it.
Immediately re-entering the director's office, Louis and Mason stash the money in the hollow seat of the baron's wheelchair. They then return along the ledge to the window into the casino, which Melanie has reopened for them, narrowly avoiding being caught by casino security
. Louis and Melanie depart the party together, while Mason makes his way out separately.
The "ambulance" summoned by Wilkins is in reality part of the plan, and is driven by the last accomplice, Fritz (Berry Kroeger
}. Poncho is strapped into the wheelchair, taken to the side entrance of the casino and loaded into the ambulance. The conspirators then make their getaway. Just as Poncho is regaining consciousness in the back of the ambulance, Wilkins, smiling in the excitement of his success, peacefully and unexpectedly dies. Mason and Melanie drive him back to his hotel. Along the way, Mason breaks down and Melanie realizes that Wilkins was his father.
Mason and Melanie decide they want no part of the stolen money. They return to the hideout, where the others are squabbling over how to split the take. Mason examines the money and discovers that it is brand new currency and that all the serial numbers are on file with the Bank of France, which will make it next to impossible to spend. Mason and Melanie, realizing that the others will be unable to resist spending the cash, will be caught and will implicate them, forcibly take the cash away and return it to the casino. Ironically, while returning the money they hit it big on the roulette
table. Thus the two of them, who by now have decided to take their chances in life together, emerge as the only members of the gang to come out ahead.
1960 in film
The year 1960 in film involved some significant events, with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho the top-grossing release in the U.S.-Events:* April 20 - for the first time since coming home from military service in Germany, Elvis Presley returns to Hollywood, California to film G.I...
20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
crime
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
drama
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
motion picture
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
. It stars Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
, Rod Steiger
Rod Steiger
Rodney Stephen "Rod" Steiger was an Academy Award-winning American actor known for his performances in such films as On the Waterfront, The Big Knife, Oklahoma!, The Harder They Fall, Across the Bridge, The Pawnbroker, Doctor Zhivago, In the Heat of the Night, and Waterloo as well as the...
and Joan Collins
Joan Collins
Joan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
.
Directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Henry Hathaway
Henry Hathaway
Henry Hathaway was an American film director and producer. He is best known as a director of Westerns, especially starring John Wayne.-Background:...
and produced
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
by Sydney Boehm
Sydney Boehm
Sydney Boehm was an American screenwriter and producer. Boehm began his writing career as a newswriter for wire services and newspapers before moving on to screenwriting...
, it was adapted for the screen by Sydney Boehm, based on the novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
The Lions At The Kill by Max Catto
Max Catto
Maxwell Jeffrey Catto was born Mark Finkell in Manchester, England and was an English playwright and novelist.-Writing career:...
. Technical advisor was Candy Barr
Candy Barr
Candy Barr was an American stripper, burlesque exotic dancer, actress in one pornographic movie, and model in men's magazines of the mid-20th century....
, who, as choreographer, taught dance routines to Collins.
Seven Thieves received an Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
nomination for Best Costume Design Black-and-White
Academy Award for Costume Design
The Academy Award for Best Costume Design is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for achievement in film costume design....
(Bill Thomas).
Synopsis
A discredited expatriate AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
professor, Theo Wilkins (Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
), has called on a young protégé and sophisticated thief, Paul Mason (Rod Steiger
Rod Steiger
Rodney Stephen "Rod" Steiger was an Academy Award-winning American actor known for his performances in such films as On the Waterfront, The Big Knife, Oklahoma!, The Harder They Fall, Across the Bridge, The Pawnbroker, Doctor Zhivago, In the Heat of the Night, and Waterloo as well as the...
), to come over from the US to the south of France and help him pull off one final heist. He has masterminded a caper to steal $4,000,000 in French francs from the underground vault of the casino of Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
, Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
. Wilkins has recruited a team of thieves -- including Melanie (Joan Collins
Joan Collins
Joan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
), an exotic dancer -- but he needs someone he can trust, Mason, to keep them all in line during the crime.
The heist takes place on the night of a grand celebration at the casino. Melanie's protector, the saxophone player Poncho (Eli Wallach
Eli Wallach
Eli Herschel Wallach is an American film, television and stage actor, who gained fame in the late 1950s. For his performance in Baby Doll he won a BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer and a Golden Globe nomination. One of his most famous roles is that of Tuco in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...
), and Wilkins enter the casino in the guises of (respectively) "Baron von Roelitz," an aristocrat with a disability who uses a wheelchair, and his physician, "Dr. Vidal." At the same time, Melanie, the safecracker Louis (Michael Dante
Michael Dante
Michael Dante is an American award winning actor of television, films and stage and a former professional minor league baseball player....
) and Mason attend the party with invitations procured by the gang's inside man at the casino, the meek assistant to the director, Le May (Alexander Scourby
Alexander Scourby
Alexander Scourby was an American film, television, and voice actor known for his deep and resonant voice...
), who is under Melanie's spell.
Mason and Louis go out of a window, which Melanie shuts behind them, and make their way along a narrow ledge high above the sea to the casino director's office. From there, they descend by elevator to the vault four floors below. They cut through a barred gate in front of the vault and drill through the lock, secure the cash and make their way back to the director's elevator.
Poncho's part of the plan is to ingest a cyanide
Cyanide
A cyanide is a chemical compound that contains the cyano group, -C≡N, which consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Cyanides most commonly refer to salts of the anion CN−. Most cyanides are highly toxic....
capsule to simulate a heart attack. Afraid, he fails to do so, necessitating Wilkins to inject him with cyanide instead. Poncho collapses and Wilkins maneuvers the casino director (Sebastian Cabot
Sebastian Cabot (actor)
Charles Sebastian Thomas Cabot was an English film and television actor, best remembered as the gentleman's gentleman, "Giles French," opposite Brian Keith's character, in the 1960s sitcom Family Affair. He was also known for playing Dr...
), in the name of "discretion," into transporting "the baron" to his office. Here, Wilkins pretends to phone for an ambulance, and informs the director that the baron is dead. They leave the office with the inert baron in it.
Immediately re-entering the director's office, Louis and Mason stash the money in the hollow seat of the baron's wheelchair. They then return along the ledge to the window into the casino, which Melanie has reopened for them, narrowly avoiding being caught by casino security
Casino security
Casino security refers to the measures that are taken at casinos to protect the establishment's money and property and the patrons. The security protects the casino and its customers from violent crime, theft, and other inappropriate behavior....
. Louis and Melanie depart the party together, while Mason makes his way out separately.
The "ambulance" summoned by Wilkins is in reality part of the plan, and is driven by the last accomplice, Fritz (Berry Kroeger
Berry Kroeger
Berry Kroeger was an American film, television, and stage actor.Born in San Antonio, Texas, Kroeger got his acting start on radio as an announcer and actor, playing for a time The Falcon and The Shadow...
}. Poncho is strapped into the wheelchair, taken to the side entrance of the casino and loaded into the ambulance. The conspirators then make their getaway. Just as Poncho is regaining consciousness in the back of the ambulance, Wilkins, smiling in the excitement of his success, peacefully and unexpectedly dies. Mason and Melanie drive him back to his hotel. Along the way, Mason breaks down and Melanie realizes that Wilkins was his father.
Mason and Melanie decide they want no part of the stolen money. They return to the hideout, where the others are squabbling over how to split the take. Mason examines the money and discovers that it is brand new currency and that all the serial numbers are on file with the Bank of France, which will make it next to impossible to spend. Mason and Melanie, realizing that the others will be unable to resist spending the cash, will be caught and will implicate them, forcibly take the cash away and return it to the casino. Ironically, while returning the money they hit it big on the roulette
Roulette
Roulette is a casino game named after a French diminutive for little wheel. In the game, players may choose to place bets on either a single number or a range of numbers, the colors red or black, or whether the number is odd or even....
table. Thus the two of them, who by now have decided to take their chances in life together, emerge as the only members of the gang to come out ahead.
Cast
- Edward G. RobinsonEdward G. RobinsonEdward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
- Professor Theo Wilkins - Rod SteigerRod SteigerRodney Stephen "Rod" Steiger was an Academy Award-winning American actor known for his performances in such films as On the Waterfront, The Big Knife, Oklahoma!, The Harder They Fall, Across the Bridge, The Pawnbroker, Doctor Zhivago, In the Heat of the Night, and Waterloo as well as the...
- Paul Mason - Joan CollinsJoan CollinsJoan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
- Melanie - Eli WallachEli WallachEli Herschel Wallach is an American film, television and stage actor, who gained fame in the late 1950s. For his performance in Baby Doll he won a BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer and a Golden Globe nomination. One of his most famous roles is that of Tuco in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...
- Poncho - Alexander ScourbyAlexander ScourbyAlexander Scourby was an American film, television, and voice actor known for his deep and resonant voice...
- Raymond Le May - Michael DanteMichael DanteMichael Dante is an American award winning actor of television, films and stage and a former professional minor league baseball player....
- Louis Antonizzi - Berry KroegerBerry KroegerBerry Kroeger was an American film, television, and stage actor.Born in San Antonio, Texas, Kroeger got his acting start on radio as an announcer and actor, playing for a time The Falcon and The Shadow...
- Hugo Baumer aka Fritz - Sebastian CabotSebastian Cabot (actor)Charles Sebastian Thomas Cabot was an English film and television actor, best remembered as the gentleman's gentleman, "Giles French," opposite Brian Keith's character, in the 1960s sitcom Family Affair. He was also known for playing Dr...
- Director of Casino