The Thief

Movie Information

In Brief: The Thief (1952) is your basic McCarthy-era, Red Scare stuff, with traitor-scientist (Ray Milland) selling our atomic secrets to the enemy. There is, however, a gimmick: It has no dialogue. No, it's not a silent movie, but nobody ever says anything. Yes, that's as forced, fake and finally tedious as it sounds, but it does make the film unique, and it keeps it from anti-commie speechifying. More a curio than anything, but blessed with a lot of unintended amusement involving spies who would only draw attention to themselves with their shifty antics. This excerpt was taken from a review by Ken Hanke published on Feb. 25, 2014.
Score:

Genre: Red Scare Thriller
Director: Russell Rouse
Starring: Ray Milland, Martin Gabel, Harry Bronson, Rita Vale, Rex O'Malley, Rita Gam
Rated: NR

The Hendersonville Film Society will show The Thief on Sunday, Feb. 10, at 2 p.m. in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community, 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville.

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About Ken Hanke
Head film critic for Mountain Xpress from December 2000 until his death in June 2016. Author of books "Ken Russell's Films," "Charlie Chan at the Movies," "A Critical Guide to Horror Film Series," "Tim Burton: An Unauthorized Biography of the Filmmaker."

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