Dan Duryea is convincing as the boss of a gang of real estate con artists, Shelley Winters is convincing as the borderline psychopathic moll, Joan Caulfield is convincing as the tragically demented war widow, and the rest of the female cast acquit themselves well in finding the weak-chinned, balding, broad-shouldered, woman-beating John Payne irresistible.
I kept wishing Mitchum, or maybe Alan Ladd , or Dick Powell even, had played the male lead, because John Payne, bless him, seems to be stuck in the1930s Hollywood paradigm. Plenty of calculating nastiness, but no sexiness whatever. And frankly, he phones it in.
Worth watching for a weird glimpse of a white, white, post WWII California world of upperclass grift, but as entertainment, Larceny gradually becomes less and less likeable. The ending attempts to be unpredictable, but all that buildup and it's deus ex machina, basically.
I repeat; not an entertaining film, but not without interest. Nice cars.
I kept wishing Mitchum, or maybe Alan Ladd , or Dick Powell even, had played the male lead, because John Payne, bless him, seems to be stuck in the1930s Hollywood paradigm. Plenty of calculating nastiness, but no sexiness whatever. And frankly, he phones it in.
Worth watching for a weird glimpse of a white, white, post WWII California world of upperclass grift, but as entertainment, Larceny gradually becomes less and less likeable. The ending attempts to be unpredictable, but all that buildup and it's deus ex machina, basically.
I repeat; not an entertaining film, but not without interest. Nice cars.