Surprisingly incoherent and boring

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

While no classic, The Thief was quite an interesting little film. Although the story is on the hokey side with a plot line that is quite familiar in a way, and I think The Thief could have been shorter to make Allan Field's character's motivation clearer perhaps, the film does have its fair share of tense and suspenseful moments and has a clever little twist as well.What makes The Thief so interesting is that instead of dialogue, The Thief relies on its narration, sound effects, creation of ambiance and intelligence of the audience to convey its point. All of this is done in an intelligent way, with the narration well-written and clear and the sound effects well-judged with none of them feeling out of place to spoil the mood.The Thief is very well made. Its use of camera work and editing is quite innovative in the use of angles, while the lighting and scenery/sets are quite striking. The music is outstanding and appropriately moody, conveying the titular character's state of mind wonderfully and in a somewhat unnerving way, while Russell Rouse directs very well and makes interesting use of the film's gimmick, which on the whole I think does work. The acting is very good, even without dialogue the facial expressions, gestures and eye contact of Ray Milland in the lead and the likes of Martin Gabel, Harry Bronson and Rita Gam speak volumes.In conclusion, while not entirely succeeding at what it set out to do, The Thief is an altogether interesting little movie. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This Cold War suspenser is chiefly notable today for being completely dialogue-free for its entire 86-minute duration; this was very rare for a Hollywood product of its time, even if independent (1953's DEMENTIA) or foreign (1961's THE NAKED ISLAND) examples would eventually follow. While it certainly makes for a striking contrast with the relentlessly talky fare typical of the same genre like, say, Martin Ritt's THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD (1965), the gimmick does prove tiresome long before the end.Although one might expect a traitor to generally keep to himself and feel isolated, and spies to perform their devious acts in complete silence (in a public library) and convene in abandoned places (on a deserted street), there is no real reason why the few strangers they come across, while going about their business, must also do likewise (especially during a crowded day atop the Empire State Building!). The film-makers cleverly make use of unanswered telephone rings for the secret code of communication between the spies but this repeated contrivance ultimately becomes silly.Ray Milland was nominated for a Golden Globe (one of the film's 5 nods) and is practically the whole show here as a renowned research scientist who, for reasons clearly unexplained, sells trade secrets to the other side by photographing evidently important documents. Privately, he is showing signs of being tormented by his conscience for what he has been doing to his country and, after fatally disposing of a pursuing agent (a surprisingly bloody scene), he suffers a nervous breakdown and, instead of defecting as planned, gives himself up to the F.B.I. in the film's very closing shot! The only two other notable members of the cast are Martin Gabel (curiously misspelled Gable in the pictured end credits!) as Milland's bespectacled contact and a debuting Rita Gam (also up for a Globe) as the star's sultry neighbor in the dingy hotel where he lodges once his duplicity is discovered. Sam Leavitt's cinematography and Herschel Burke Gilbert's Oscar-nominated score effortlessly stand out in a movie where there is often very little going on; unfortunately, Russell Rouse is no Orson Welles and one bemoans the lack of the visual virtuosity that the latter might have employed in tackling such a theme.For the record, I have four more thrillers from this director in my unwatched pile: the real-life human drama THE WELL (1951), the gangland expose' NEW YORK CONFIDENTIAL (1955), the prison-break drama HOUSE OF NUMBERS (1957) and the heist movie (in color this time) THE CAPER OF THE GOLDEN BULLS (1967). It is fair to say that time has not been too kind to this daringly experimental production (perhaps inspired by Hitchcock's one-set restriction in LIFEBOAT [1944], ROPE [1948] and REAR WINDOW [1954]) and what seemed impressive upon its original release feels occasionally interesting but mostly tedious today.

How different this film is to modern day mush!Ray Milland conveys everything you need to know about each scene with a facial expression or a slight nuance – we never see what the secret notes say but we don't need to. We also don't hear what the FBI agents say to each other as they work their strategy of tracking him – again we don't need to.The suspense is created by the smallest of mistakes – the tiny camera left on the desk, the film nearly found in the library. Also the woman in the flat – we would think she is a prostitute at first but in a later scene she is just a teaser – or was she an enemy agent placed in the building to watch him? The whole character is left to the viewer to decide.The photography is top notch – part of the atmosphere is here created, the film is worth watching for this alone.This film is for an intelligent audience who still have the capacity to work things out for themselves. I give it 9/10 only because the Empire building scenes were a little predictable – still a terrific film.

what a brilliant film (No words of course), A cold war spy thriller released in the USA 1952 15th October starring the suave Ray Milland. A spy in a cold war period,espionage,the last thing you will ever do is talk or as little as possible...A WORD WHISPERED IN THE EAR CAN BE HEARD FOR MILES. Chinese proverb...i don't think so I do not need to add anything else that has not already been stated, except that some say why bring such high profile star with such a distinctive voice to star in a silent film, well simply it would not attract as much interest with the general public, if they were to star some completely unknown Johnny Lunch-bucket, you get my drift While in the field... it remains to risky you may be bugged recorded etc.......you don't want leave messages for anyone else to copy or pick them up........but why has this film never been released on DVD region 2. I do not really need to add to what has already been said about this film.........but anyone out there who has the means and power of authority and money, please sort out a DVD region 2. we don't all live in the USA.