The Burglar (1957)

A trio of thieves (Dan Duryea, Mickey Shaughnessy, Peter Capell) steal an emerald necklace worth a fortune from the mansion of a wealthy spiritualist (Phoebe Mackay). Things begin to fall apart when the trio disagrees on the time line of getting rid of the necklace, which is "hot", via a fence. A lonely young girl (Jayne Mansfield) who cases homes for the trio to rob becomes a catalyst to a fateful showdown in Atlantic City. This is a nifty little film noir from a novel by David Goodis (whose novel DOWN THERE was filmed by Francois Truffaut as SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER). It's a quasi existential thriller that deserves to be better known. From the moody atmospheric B&W lighting of Don Malkames to Duryea's quintessential noir hero, this is first rate all the way. Not perfect mind you. The femme fatale of Martha Vickers is poorly written and she's saddled with some awful dialogue but Mansfield is really marvelous here, downplaying her sexy image as the forlorn waif who just wants to be loved. In his film debut, the director Paul Wendkos (GIDGET) seems influenced by Welles' LADY FROM SHANGHAI especially in the funhouse finale. Sol Kaplan did the Coplandesque underscore. With Stewart Bradley.