The Burglar (1957 film)

The Burglar is a 1957 crime thriller film noir released by Columbia Pictures, based on the 1953 novel of the same name by David Goodis (who also wrote the script). The picture stars Dan Duryea in the titular role[1] and Jayne Mansfield.[2] The movie was the first feature film directed by Paul Wendkos,[3] who went on to a long directing career, especially in television, including the pilot for the original Hawaii Five-O. John Facenda, a well-known Philadelphia sportscaster, is featured as a news anchor in one scene. Much of the film was shot on location in Philadelphia and Atlantic City.[4]

The Burglar
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPaul Wendkos
Produced byLouis W. Kellman
Screenplay byDavid Goodis
Based onThe Burglar
1953 novel
by David Goodis
StarringDan Duryea
Jayne Mansfield
Martha Vickers
Music bySol Kaplan
CinematographyDon Malkames
Edited byPaul Wendkos
Herta Horn
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • June 1957 (1957-06)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$90,000 (estimated)

Plot

Before the film's opening credits appear, a newsreel depicts several current events, including how a wealthy Philadelphia man's personal estate and fortune had been left to the leader of a spiritualist group, headed by an older woman known as "Sister Sara" (Phoebe Mackay). Addressing the camera, Sister Sara displays an extravagant jeweled necklace that was part of the bequest. As the newsreel ends, a man (Nat Harbin, played by Dan Dureya) stands up to leave the theater, apparently interested in the jewels.[5][6]

After the opening credits, we learn that Harbin is a professional burglar planning to steal the necklace with the aid of his half-sister and ward, Gladden (Jayne Mansfield), and two associates, Baylock (Peter Capell) and Dohmer (Mickey Shaughnessy). Gladden is dispatched to case he spiritualist's estate. Posing as a devotee of the group's work, the young woman is invited by Sister Sara to stay for lunch and dinner.

Gladden reports back to Harbin about where to find the old woman's wall safe and that the safest time to rob it is when Sister Sara is absorbed in the evening television newscast. Parked near the mansion, Harbin enters through the upper bedroom window, quickly finding the safe while Sister Sara watches the news downstairs. In this and later scenes, we hear Harbin's interior monologue and sometimes see flashbacks as he muses about his adopted father, also a professional burglar, and his conflicted feelings about Gladden.

As Harbin works on the safe with a muted drill, he is signaled that he is needed outside. Two officers in a police car have approached the thieves' car while Harbin's two cohorts hide nearby. Harbin tells the policemen that he has had car trouble and will wait there until morning when he can get help. Apparently convinced by his story, the two policemen drive back to their station. Harbin hurries back to the safe and succeeds in opening it and taking the necklace.

In a comical sequence filmed from the inside of the safe, Sister Sara is shocked to discover the burglary while getting ready for bed. In the meantime, Harbin and the two others change their car's license plates and make their getaway. They are followed, however, by another car whose driver we cannot see. At their hideout, Blaylock and Dohmer are eager to fence the necklace and get their share of the money, but Harbin says that they have to wait until news of the robbery dies down and to increase the return they might get from a fence. At police headquarters, one of the two officers who had talked to Harbin offers descriptive details to a police artist in order to create a sketch of the suspected robber.

At the gang's hideaway, tensions build within the group. Gladden is especially out of place and unhappy, with Dohmer clearly lusting after her. Blaylock wants to leave the country quickly and achieve his dream of a quiet life in Central America. Harbin seems anxious and unable to act and tells Blaylock about his and Gladden's past and the responsibility he feels for her. After a violent altercation with Dohmer, Harbin sends her off to Atlantic City to wait for him.

When Gladden takes the train to Atlantic City, she is followed by a man whose face we cannot see. The same man later approaches her on the beach, and the two strike up a relationship but his face is still not revealed to the camera. In Philadelphia, Harbin meets a woman named Della (Martha Vickers) who tells him about her own hard life and invites him to her apartment. Having fallen asleep, Harbin awakes to find her gone from the apartment. Stepping outside, he sees her with another man, apparently the same faceless man who has been getting close to Gladden, and hears the two conspiring about getting the necklace. He then quickly steals away.

Realizing that Gladden is in danger, Harbin drives toward Atlantic City with Blaylock and Dohmer, but a toll booth operator recognizes him from the police sketch and calls the authorities. A bit later, the gang's car is stopped by an officer for a routine traffic violation. Panicking, Dohmer wounds the policeman, who fires back and kills him. Harbin and Blaylock abandon the car with Dohmer's body near Atlantic City, where they take refuge in a deserted shack. Knowing that the man he heard with Della has been pretending to be Gladden's boyfriend, Harbin calls her hotel room and tells her to send the boyfriend away so that he can see her. When the man comes downstairs to the lobby, his face is finally revealed and Harbin realizes that he is Charlie (Stewart Bradley), one of the officers who questioned him the night of the burglary.

In Gladden's room, Harbin hides the necklace under her pillow after the two quarrel. When Harbin goes back to the shack, Gladden finds the jewels and hides them in her own small musical jewel box. Charlie, meanwhile, has called Della and told her to come to Atlantic City. At the shack, Charlie has killed Blaylock and confronts Harbin, offering to spare him and even give him a cut of the money he'll get if Harbin gives him the necklace. Once Della arrives, Harbin reveals that he hid the jewels in Gladden's room, and Charlie heads out, leaving Della to hold a gun on Harbin. Harbin, though, walks out, hoping that Della will not be able to shoot him, which she does not.

Harbin is able to call Gladden at her room just before Charlie can arrive. The two meet at Atlantic City's Steel Pier, where Gladden shows Harbin the music box she brought from her room. The two retreat to the "Endless Tunnel" attraction to hide from Charlie, who follows them in and finds them when Gladden drops the box and it plays its tune. As the three sit together at a show, Harbin offers the necklace in return for Gladden's life. As Gladden leaves, Charlie shoots Harbin in the back and he falls down the stairs, where Gladden takes him in her arms. The police arrive, having been alerted, and congratulate Charlie, who has displayed his police credentials, on stopping the wanted fugitive. Charlie claims that Harbin had thrown the jewels into the ocean, but Della has just arrived and is enraged that he seems to be cutting her out of their deal. When Charlie lunges at Della, the head detective punches him and finds the jewelry in his pocket. Charlie is handcuffed and led away.

Cast
  • Dan Duryea as Nathaniel "Nat" Harbin, head of the "organisation"
  • Jayne Mansfield as Gladden, Nat's protégée and daughter of his own mentor, Gerald
  • Martha Vickers as Della from Youngstown, Ohio, who left at 17 for Chicago where she became a dancer (a "high kicker") and worked at a "modelling agency" for a time
  • Peter Capell as Baylock, a high strung acolyte of Nat
  • Mickey Shaughnessy as Dohmer, an acolyte of Nat
  • Stewart Bradley as Charlie, Gladden's love interest
  • John Facenda as himself
  • Wendell K. Phillips as Police Capt. Keebler of the Burglary unit
  • Phoebe Mackay[7] as Sister Sara, burglary victim
  • Sam Elber as Gerald, burglar who did "it clean", Gladden's father and Nat's mentor/father figure

Remake

This film was remade in 1971 as The Burglars, directed by Henri Verneuil and starring Omar Sharif, Jean Paul Belmondo and Dyan Cannon.

References
  1. Mayer, Geoff; McDonnell, Brian. Encyclopedia of Film Noir. ABC-Clio. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-313-33306-4. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  2. Monaco, James. The Encyclopedia of Film. Perigee Books. p. 572. ISBN 978-0-399-51604-7. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  3. Hogan, David J. Film Noir FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Hollywood's Golden Age of Dames, Detectives, and Danger. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 978-1-4803-4305-4. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  4. "The Burglar (1957)". Letterboxd. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  5. "The Burglar". Time Out. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  6. Duncan, Paul. Film Noir: The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity and More. Oldcastle Books. ISBN 978-1-84243-892-3. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  7. "Phoebe Mackay". imdb.
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