The Burglar

The next in the Columbia Noir series is The Burglar, a heated 1957 film by Paul Wendkos, with a script by David Goodis, based on his novel. It is unfortunately quite dated, tied to its timer period, with swashes of beatnik culture and kitchen-sink drama.

Dan Duryea, who was a staple in noir and westerns but usually played a heel, is a professional burglar but a principled one. He was brought up by a man who practiced the trade, insisting on no guns. He and a pair of confederates steal an emerald necklace from a rich spiritualist.

Duryea has a foster sister, Jayne Mansfield, whom he was sworn to take care of by his deceased father. His two partners, one a man who longs to go to Central America (Peter Capell), another a lout (Mickey Shaughnessy) urge Duryea to fence the necklace, but he knows its too soon. Meanwhile Mansfield's presence (of course she couldn't help but ooze sexuality out of every pore) further antagonizes the situation, so Duryea sends her to Atlantic City (they are in Philadelphia). But there is a twist--a cop is on to them, and he wants the necklace for himself.

It's a good story, but man is the acting and dialogue fevered. Duryea is great, but is in a constant flop sweat, while some of the scenes are written in frenzied, speed-popping overdrive (a speech in which Capell longs to grow bananas is a particular example, another is when Martha Vickers picks up Duryea in a luncheonette). Wendkos, who later created Hawaii Five-O, directs within an inch of his life, using quick cuts and odd angles (the spiritualist discovers her necklace is missing with a shot through the back of the safe). Some of this works, as in a late scene inside a fun house, with a mannequin repeating the phrase, "We the Dead welcome you."

There is lot of on-location shooting, particular at the Steel Pier at Atlantic City, complete with the diving horse, but ultimately The Burglar was just too intense. Interestingly, I think this is the first movie of Mansfield's I've ever seen. She led a sad, fascinating life, but wasn't much of an actress, if this is any indication.