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Hiding out from the FBI, atomic scientist spy Ray Milland com js face to face uith an enticing tenement denizen, Rita Gam.
THE THIEF
Perhaps one of the most provocative ideas in years is the Harry M. Popkin production of "The Thief". After 25 years of words with movies, Mr. Popkin hired Clarence Greene and Russell Rouse as scripters and producer-director to do a film feature completely devoid of dialogue, reverting to the movie fundamental of telling a story with pictures. He chose a spy story for the basis of the film, obviously one of the most adaptable for wordless delineation. He named Ray ("Lost Weekend") Milland, than whom there is no more anguished-expressionist, for the key role of the atomic scientist delivering secret information to a spy network. And then, inspirationally, hit upon a young television actress, sexy Rita Gam, for a bit part to give the film an additional exploitation wallop, one on which a bally-minded exhibitor could really hang his hat. The United Artists exploiteers,
with an assist from Life Magazine, featuring Miss Gam on the cover, and the picture inside, did the rest. The results were reflected in the early returns in every area where "The Thief" has opened.
Without a single spoken word, only the sounds that would normally accompany the action, ringing telephones, patter of feet, drawers closing, etc., and a powerful musical score by Herschel Gilbert, the story details the workings of an atomic scientist, Ray Milland, who is supplying secret formulas to a spy network. When the spy's activity is suspected, the film follows the trail, as the FBI closes in, from a Washington office to a cheap rooming house in New York, to the Empire State television tower, where Milland kills his pursuer. Then, badgered by his conscience, Milland, though free to escape, gives himself up to the authorities.