Thief [Violent Streets] **** (1981, James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Willie Nelson, James Belushi, Robert Prosky, Dennis Farina) – Classic Movie Review 2714

Writer-director Michael Mann’s intriguing and involving 1981 neo-noir heist thriller Thief is his cinema début as director after the TV movie The Jericho Mile in 1979. It showcases a rich and riveting James Caan performance as classy thief Frank, a professional safecracker specialising in diamond robberies, who agrees to do a job for the Mafia.

He is bent on looking after number one on the no-man’s-land between cops and the Mob and plans that this will be final job before retiring to live a normal life. Frank has a successful Chicago bar and car dealership, and tries to build the missing part of his honest life vision: a family beginning with Jessie (Tuesday Weld), a pretty cashier he has begun dating.

Over-ambition, which is rare enough to be an attractive failing, occasionally topples Thief over into seeming pretentious sometimes. But it looks and sounds great.

Donald Thorin’s moody noir cinematography, Tangerine Dream’s moodier score and Mel Bourne’s production designs are the items to praise for this, as well as Mann’s screenplay and screen story, which are based on the 1975 novel The Home Invaders: Confessions of a Cat Burglar by Frank Hohimer (the pen name of real-life jewel thief John Seybold).

Caan holds the screen in a vice-like grip, and it also features impressive star roles for Tuesday Weld, Willie Nelson, James Belushi, Robert Prosky and Dennis Farina.

However, the movie wasn’t a hit, grossing a moderate $4,300,000 in the US on a $7 million budget. Maybe this is why they changed the title to Violent Streets in the UK.

Give it a try if you liked Mann’s Manhunter or the similar Heat or Collateral.

Also in the cast are Tom Signorelli, W R Bill Brown, Norm Tobin, Nick Nickeas, John Santucci, Nancy Santucci, Gavin MacFadyen, Chuck Adamson, Sam Cirone, Spero Anast, Mike Genovese, Richard Karle, John Kapelos and William L Petersen, who appears briefly as a bouncer at a club and reappeared as star in Manhunter (along with Farina).

It was screened at the Cannes Film Festival on 16 May 1981 and released in the UK on 3 August 1981.

It is made by Michael Mann Company/ Caan Productions and released by United Artists (1981).

The theatrical release runs 123 minutes. The Special Director’s Edition with many changes was released on LaserDisc in 1995 and then on DVD in 1998. This was the only home video release of the film in the US until Criterion’s 2014 edition, a hybrid of the two versions.

It marks the film debuts of James Belushi, William Petersen, Dennis Farina, John Kapelos, John Santucci, and Robert Prosky (already 50).

Caan said he based his character on insider former jewel thief John Santucci, who served as chief technical consultant on the film, providing real tools and techniques for Caan, and also plays Sergeant Urizzi.

Caan found his character challenging to play. ‘I like to be emotionally available,’ he said, ‘but this guy is available to nothing.’ But this is Caan’s favourite of his own films after The Godfather (1972).

Robert Prosky was already 50 when he made his film debut here. He died on 8 December 2008, aged 77.

Thief [Violent Streets] is directed by Michael Mann, runs 123 minutes, is made by Michael Mann Company/ Caan Productions, is released by United Artists, is written by Michael Mann (screen story and screenplay), based on the novel The Home Invaders: Confessions of a Cat Burglar by Frank Hohimer, is shot in Panavision by Donald Thorin, is produced by Michael Mann, Jerry Bruckheimer and Ronnie Caan, is scored by Tangerine Dream, and is designed by Mel Bourne.

James Caan died on 6 July 2022, aged 82. Michael Mann remembered him as ‘a totally committed actor with a vitality in his core.’ He is best known for his roles in The Godfather, Misery, Rollerball and Thief. He was nominated for one Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for The Godfather.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2714

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