THE BIG STEAL is a rip-roaring crime adventure yarn which sees the dogged army lieutenant Robert Mitchum travelling through Mexico where he's hot on the trail of a robber escaping with a stash of loot. Along the way, Mitchum teams up with the fraudster's fiancé, and is pursued by an army captain who thinks he's the real robber.
That's the plot in a nutshell, and the film ends up writing itself thanks to the action-laden premise. And THE BIG STEAL offers massive entertainment value indeed, not least to the direction of Don Siegel, working early on in his career and bringing the same verve and vitality to this as he would to the likes of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and DIRTY HARRY.
Mitchum is on top form as the likable lead and he's given great support by the alluring Jane Greer and the increasingly exasperated William Bendix. The structure of the narrative allows for plenty of near escapes and car chases, along with two-fisted fight scenes and some light comedy and romance thrown into the mix. It's one of those films with a little bit of everything and I found myself really enjoying it.
That's the plot in a nutshell, and the film ends up writing itself thanks to the action-laden premise. And THE BIG STEAL offers massive entertainment value indeed, not least to the direction of Don Siegel, working early on in his career and bringing the same verve and vitality to this as he would to the likes of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and DIRTY HARRY.
Mitchum is on top form as the likable lead and he's given great support by the alluring Jane Greer and the increasingly exasperated William Bendix. The structure of the narrative allows for plenty of near escapes and car chases, along with two-fisted fight scenes and some light comedy and romance thrown into the mix. It's one of those films with a little bit of everything and I found myself really enjoying it.