What a great film this is! Lighthearted and serious, romantic and thrilling, tense and humorous all at once. It's simply a joy to watch from the very first frame right to the end. There's never a dull moment, the performances are first-rate, and while, on the surface, it's one of those typical middle-of-the-road 40's quasi-noir films, it manages to transcend all that and become something truly special. It certainly doesn't have the greatness of something like The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon, and yet it's just as enjoyable, and in some ways, even more enjoyable than either of those. If movies are an escape, there is no world I would rather escape to than the one created by this film.
Review of The Big Steal
