Illegal/The Big Steal

ILLEGAL: A mob boss leans on a former D.A. (played by Edward G. Robinson) to help out his colleague--who faces a murder charge--in this pulsating film noir. Robinson's character is already in bad shape after executing an innocent man and quitting his job, and involvement with the mob may just be enough to send him over the edge.

THE BIG STEAL: A typically laconic Robert Mitchum stars as Lieutenant Duke Halliday in this terse, efficient noir. Framed for the theft of an army payroll, he takes off on a chase from Vera Cruz into the heart of Mexico after the real thief, Jim Fiske (Patrick Knowles), in an effort to clear himself. Joining him in the search is Fiske's jilted fiancée, Joan Graham (Jane Greer). Close on the heels of both is police captain Vince Blake (William Bendix), not to mention Mexican inspector Colonel Ortega (Ramon Novarro). Along the way, Duke and Joan's breakneck pursuit is strewn with comic obstacles including a herd of goats, an oxcart, and an impressively underachieving Mexican road crew. After a slew of fistfights and multiple double-crosses, it appears that the cagey Ortega has the couple within his grasp, but they manage to elude him once again. Mitchum and the radiant Greer are ideally cast in this second effort with Daniel Mainwaring, the writer of their classic OUT OF THE PAST. The film injects some much-needed humor into the noir genre, and also features magnificent photography of the Mexican desert and mountain regions.