Prime Time: The Big Caper (1957)

Based on a novel by Lionel White (which I haven’t read, sorry), and adapted into screenplay form by Martin Berkeley (who has written another few movies I have already enjoyed, including Shock and Tarantula), The Big Caper is a hugely entertaining crime flick that keeps everything nicely balanced between the light and the dark.

Rory Calhoun is Frank, a career criminal in need of a big payday. He convinces his boss, Flood (James Gregory), to go along with his latest scheme. A bank job. Not a smash ‘n’ grab though. This job requires Frank to infiltrate the community in which the bank is located, meaning that he has to play house with Flood’s partner, Kay (Mary Costa). This leads to Frank and Kay growing closer, has them succumbing to the charm of the town, and makes things a bit more complicated when the others arrive to join them in executing the plan.

I really liked this, and would almost go so far as to call it a new favourite. There is only one major obstacle that it cannot overcome, it ends up feeling a bit too sweet at times. There are mean, harsh, moments dotted throughout, but they’re heavily outweighed by the nicer moments, including scenes that could have been lifted from a 1950s sitcom.

Director Robert Stevens seems to have done most of his work in TV, but he does a very good job here, keeping things focused on a cute script and interesting cast of characters that keeps the whole thing moving at just the right pace. It is quick enough to stop viewers from overthinking things as they play out, but never feels rushed. Visuals are light and clean, for the most part, juxtaposing nicely against the turbulence and murkiness of the characters thrown together for the robbery.

Calhoun is superb in the lead role, and Costa works brilliantly alongside him. The chemistry between them is palpable, underlining the direction that the plot starts to head in towards the grand finale. Gregory is equally good, a convincing crime boss who commands respect without having to throw his weight around. Robert H. Harris is great fun as Zimmer, the man hired for his explosives expertise, Corey Allen and Paul Picerni are crew members Roy and Harry, respectively, with the former being the more memorable of the two, and Roxanne Arlen is Doll, a loud young woman who thinks she might be able to get a piece of the pie.

Does it all make sense? Not really. Does it keep the momentum going once everything is in place for the finale? Not really. That doesn’t matter though, because the characters are all fun to watch, and hang out with, whether you are rooting for or against them, and everything builds in a way that allows viewers to prepare themselves for any outcome, be it positive or negative.

Probably not one to prioritise ahead of better-known titles, I can see why people would view this as an insubstantial and inconsequential film from this time. I also can’t stop loving it though. I would happily rewatch it right now, and I just finished my first viewing of it last night. Maybe nobody will agree with me, but I hope one or two people end up feeling the same way about it.

8/10

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Noir November: The Killing (1956)

An early film in the career of one Mr. Stanley Kubrick, The Killing may be a relatively low-budget, low-key movie compared to some of his later works, but it's no less enjoyable for it. Based on a novel ("Clean Break") by Lionel White, this is a tense, unhurried look at a group of criminals planning a major heist.

The main players are: Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden), the man with the plan, a corrupt cop named Randy Kennan (Ted De Corsia), a teller who works at the racecourse they're planning to rob (Elisha Cook Jr), a sharpshooter (Timothy Carey), and a couple of other guys who will help to distract people while the robbery occurs. Everything is planned out precisely, and onscreen details, as well as narration, help viewers to keep track of just how all of the pieces fall into place. But no plan is foolproof, is it?

Kubrick may be working on a smaller scale here, compared to his more famous works, but he shows the same attention to detail and clinical approach to the material that cinema fans would respond so well to. The script, with dialogue by Jim Thompson, nicely balances things out between the specifics of the job and the drama derived from the fluctuating dynamic of the group.

Performances are pretty great across the board, especially for a film that many would consider as nothing more than a b-movie (I guess). Hayden, Corsia, Carey and the others all do well, but I have to admit that Cook Jr. is someone I have always loved seeing onscreen, and his role here is a great one. Coleen Gray and Marie Windsor also do well, being the two main women in a film that focuses very much on the men. The fact that two make such a memorable impression, for very different reasons, is further testament to the script and their performances.

I'm not sure how audiences would have reacted to the content back in 1956, when this was first released, but it seems to have enough darker elements in there to make some people uncomfortable. There are some moments of violence, as expected from a film about an armed robbery, a healthy dollop of cynicism coating everything, and at least one outburst that uses a racial slur to shocking, though also brilliant, effect.

With it being so slight, however, it's hard to push this forward as an essential noir viewing. Yet it's easy to see how influential it has been, at least on certain people (Tarantino, I'm looking at you). It's also simply an excellent little movie that doesn't outstay its welcome. Give it a watch soon, if you've not seen it already.

8/10

http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Criterion-Collection-Blu-ray/dp/B005152C78/ref=sr_1_10?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1415885702&sr=1-10&keywords=the+killing

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