The Thief (1952)

Directed by Russell Rouse; produced by Clarence Greene

Allan Fields (Ray Milland) is a nuclear physicist working for the U.S. Government. He is also a spy, supplying pictures of secret documents for individuals who likely work for a foreign power. Experienced but jaded, his life enters a new and decisive phase when one of his controllers is killed in a traffic accident, and film provided by Fields is found and passed to the FBI.

This is a unique movie - at least within the film noir/thriller genre - in that it has no dialogue. There is sound, and there is certainly communication, whether by look or action or writing (two telegrams are shown), but no words are spoken through the whole film. This characteristic will of course define its quality and, though parts of it work very well, the whole is not satisfying.

Co-written by the director and producer, The Thief - I’m not sure why it would not have been titled The Traitor, unless it was thought that having a protagonist so titled would put off audiences - seems like the result of a dare or perhaps of a hypothesis remembered from film-school days. Milland is in most scenes, and it is upon him that the movie largely depends. He does not let his end down; depending entirely on action and expression, Milland conveys a full character in merely what the viewer sees, and is the best element in the movie.

The lack of dialogue limits what we can know of the Milland’s character. The viewer does not learn his motivation for spying - is it extortional, ideological, mercenary? - and in one way, this is an advantage. We are dropped into Fields’s life at his moment of crisis, long after the beginnings of his career in espionage, when he might have been excited by it, thrilled by his actions. Now, we see him reluctant and evasive. He has a conscience, and it bothers him.

Another aspect of the silence of the characters is that it makes Fields an isolated man. He seems to have no friends, no loved one, no associates even at work. He appears alone in everything he does and in every way he lives; this may have been both a cause and effect of his treason and, while we have no way of knowing for sure, it makes for greater suspense.

But there are limits to what the lack of spoken word can do, which may be one of the reasons ‘talkies’ superseded the silent films so completely. Some sequences, especially in the first half of the film, are drawn out, repetitious. These could have been enlivened by conversation, even if the conversation were meaningless to the story - which in itself may have conveyed tension.

There is also little chance of complexity in the plot; indeed, there are scenes - more diversions than sub-plots - involving an attractive girl (Rita Gam) in the hotel Fields hides in, which seem like padding, unless one wishes to make a case for them suggesting temptation and how it relates to his spying.

Over all, despite Milland’s excellent performance and the good direction - the use of sounds is effective, in particular a repetitiously jangling telephone bell - The Thief is more interesting than entertaining. It can’t shake the impression that it was an experiment its participants found more involving than the audience.