Don Siegel

The Big Steal

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Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer face to face

Of course The Big Steal is a noir. With a title like that what else could it be? And yet it’s also an undeclared screwball comedy. The IMDb might say crime, film noir and romance, but screwball is the real dynamic, and that’s how Don Siegel directs it and stars Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer play it. It’s a cat and mouser, with Mitchum as Halliday, an army lieutenant trying to clear his name by tracking down the man who really ran off with a huge amount of the military’s money. Along for the journey, in an uneasy alliance, is the man’s fiancée, Joan Graham (Greer), who has has been conned by him … Read more

Charley Varrick

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Close up of Charley Varrick

Charley Varrick, a neo-noir from 1973, is much better than its mixed reputation would suggest. Lean and fast, dark and enigmatic, it stars Walter Matthau as a crop sprayer who heists a smalltown bank in the hope of making a fair amount of easy money. Nothing too massive, just a cushion. But when he and his sidekick come to count their haul, it turns out that it’s mostly 50s and 100s, not dollar bills, fives and tens as expected. They have inadvertently heisted a lot more money than they anticipated. This, for Charley, is a problem. It means the police will be particularly keen to get the money back. So will the bank. … Read more