Once A Thief (1965)

An ex-convict (Alain Delon) out of prison for six years is keeping his nose clean. He has a job, a wife (Ann-Margret) and a daughter (Tammy Locke). But when a woman (Toy Mar) is killed in a liquor store hold up, all evidence points to him as the killer. Did he do it or is he being framed? Based on the novel SCRATCH A THIEF by Zekial Marko (who adapted his book for the screen) and directed by Ralph Nelson (LILIES OF THE FIELD). Zekial Marko who also has a small part in the film (his voice dubbed by Paul Frees) was an ex-con himself. This is a mediocre gangster heist gone wrong film, the kind of which we've all seen before. Delon's doomed protagonist isn't all that different from others in the genre like Sterling Hayden in THE ASPHALT JUNGLE for instance. Only Hayden was in a much better film. There's no one to like here, not the criminals, not the police, not even the hysterical whiny wife played by Ann-Margret in a terrible performance. The only impressive thing about the film is the striking B&W Panavision lensing by Robert Burks (VERTIGO) filmed on location in San Francisco. With Van Heflin, Jack Palance, Tony Musante, Yuki Shimoda and John David Chandler, quite creepy as a possible pedophile.