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Once a Thief (1965) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
6.4/10   408 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 6% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Ralph Nelson
Writers:
Zekial Marko (novel)
Zekial Marko (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for Once a Thief on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
8 September 1965 (USA) more
Genre:
Crime | Drama | Thriller more
Tagline:
CAUGHT! . . right in the middle between the killers and the cops!
Plot:
Eddie Pedak, a convicted criminal, has a steady job, a wife and daughter and he puts a down payment on a boat... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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Awards:
1 win more
User Comments:
ONCE A THIEF (Ralph Nelson, 1965) **1/2 more

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Alain Delon ... Eddie Pedak

Ann-Margret ... Kristine Pedak

Van Heflin ... Inspector Mike Vido SFPD

Jack Palance ... Walter Pedak
John Davis Chandler ... James Arthur Sargatanas, Walter's Henchman
Jeff Corey ... Lt. Kebner SFPD
Steve Mitchell ... Frank Kane

Tammy Locke ... Kathy Pedak

Tony Musante ... Cleveland 'Cleve' Shoenstein
Zekial Marko ... Luke
Russell Lee ... Drummer
Yuki Shimoda ... John Ling, Chinese Funeral Director
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Les tueurs de San Francisco (France)
Scratch a Thief (USA) (working title)
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Runtime:
Israel:102 min | USA:107 min | UK:106 min
Country:
France | USA
Language:
English | Italian
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The voice of Zekial Marko is dubbed by Paul Frees. more
Movie Connections:
Featured in The Background Beat (1965) more
Soundtrack:
The Right To Love (Reflections) more

FAQ

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful:-
ONCE A THIEF (Ralph Nelson, 1965) **1/2, 5 August 2007
Author: MARIO GAUCI (marrod@melita.com) from Naxxar, Malta

In the wake of having watched Alain Delon in Joseph Losey's THE ASSASSINATION OF TROTSKY (1972), I decided to check out three other vehicles of his I had taped off TV over the last few months – beginning with this one, which emerges to be just as pretentious as Losey's film! Best described as a beatnik noir, we've seen this film's story told a million times before – that of a criminal who can't escape his past, dogged as much by old associates as by an obsessive police nemesis. Consequently, director Nelson and cinematographer Robert Burks (best-known for his longtime collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock) handle the generally clichéd material for more than it's worth – even if my viewing was somewhat compromised by the film being panned-and-scanned.

Delon and Ann-Margret make for a handsome couple - although she occasionally tries too hard and her histrionics seem more at home in a Tennessee Williams melodrama; Van Heflin is appropriately world-weary as the aging cop, Jack Palance is typically intense as a crime boss and Delon's elder brother. The rest of Palance's gang is made up of the odd-looking and memorably creepy John Davis Chandler and Tony Musante – while Jeff Corey appears as Heflin's irate superior. The film's screenwriter Zekial Marko (adapting his own novel) is featured in an unintentionally hilarious supporting role as a druggie who shares a cell with Delon – we follow his case intermittently throughout (for no very good reason other than to justify the similarly hapless Delon's pursuit of crime) via newspaper clippings, denoting Marko's conviction to the gas chamber and eventually his suicide! The film is aided by a jazzy score courtesy of Lalo Schifrin, who seemed to specialize in crime/police dramas. The elaborate heist half-way through is an expected highlight, which then leads to a predictably downbeat and body-strewn climax.

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