Harry in Your Pocket (1973)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Bruce Geller

Writers:

James Buchanan (writer) &
Ronald Austin (writer)

Release Date:

28 March 1974 (Sweden)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

He's The World's Greatest "Cannon"!

Plot:

A would-be criminal is taken in by a professional pickpocket, who teaches him how pickpockets work in teams.

Plot Keywords:

Pickpocket | Career Criminal | Seattle Washington | Character Name In Title

Cast

James Coburn	...	Harry
Michael Sarrazin	...	Ray Haulihan
Trish Van Devere	...	Sandy Coletto
Walter Pidgeon	...	Casey
Michael C. Gwynne	...	Fence
Tony Giorgio	...	1st Detective
Michael Stearns	...	2nd Detective
Susan Mullen	...	Francine (as Sue Mullen)
Duane Bennett	...	Salesman
Stanley Bolt	...	Mr. Bates
Barry Grimshaw	...	Bellboy
Wesley Uhlman
Robert Antrim
Dorothy Antrim
Jack Mitchell

Also Known As:

Harry Never Holds (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

USA:103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #23505) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Active Pass, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Cinema Video Services

Quotes:

Casey: Harry never holds.

Movie Connections:

References The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)

Soundtrack:

DAY BY DAY BY DAY

Keep your hands in your pockets for this one.

How can you enjoy a film about pickpockets that isn't a comedy, but a deep, emotional analysis of the fall of two master cannons (street slang for pickpockets) and the training of the next generation?

Easy.

Offbeat, it wasn't shot in glorious LA or New York or Chicago, but in Salt Lake City, the plain states and Canada. Featuring the always intense James Coburn as the titular character, with the great and glorious Walter Pidgeon as his aging, cocaine addicted mentor, supported by then rising stars Michael Sarrazan (fresh off his success in "The Groundstar Conspiracy") and Trish VanDevere (pre-George C.Scott), it took a peek behind the veil at one of the world's oldest professions, in your face robbery without the victim every knowing it.

Light and breezy during the small capers, but dark and brooding during the intervals, we see a changing of the guard, but one not born of pomp and ceremony, but of despair, loneliness and resignation.

The other posters are right. It would never be made these days. No sex, violence, guns, backstabbing, revenge or enough neon. So, hopefully, they'll never try to remake it and ruin the memory of a classic.