BILLYBOY-10 It coulda been a contender, but the sloppy direction ruined it. Duryea is good as the tormented soul keeping watch over Jayne Mansfield,in one of her signature "endowed" roles, as the kind hearted love-sick (for Duryea) e. She's dreadful. There are three in this crooks "organization" who steal a flashy emerald necklace from a dippy woman living in a mansion. Now, how do they dispose of it since it's so hot it will burn their hands if they touch it. Finally, after much drama and over-acting, they head for New Jersey to find Mansfield who is involved with some dude she met while on her back on the beach with her qualities showing "up". Dead cop, dead member of the organization, la dee dah, etc, etc. Finally Jayne and Dan end up on the boardwalk (I guess Atlantic City?) being pursued by her dude who happens to be a cop they know who is after the necklace, blah, blah, blah. Previously, the 2nd member of the organization gets beaten to death by the dude. The boardwalk scenes are corny and horribly directed. Jayne goes free, Duryea gets it in the back and front by about 27 bullets from the bad cop dude's six shooter, the real cops show up, the cop-dude is exposed and the movie ends. This was thrilling and exciting but so terribly directed it misses being very good, so, as it is, its OK. Would only recommend it because of the ever interesting Duryea. Incidentally: Martha Vicers who play the hot Carmen Sternwood in "The Big Sleep" eleven year earlier is equally hot in a pivotal role here also.

sol1218 ***SPOILER*** Comes across the screen much like the Orson Wells' 1948 Film Nior classic "The Lady from Shanghai" the film "The Burgler" has to do with a jewel or diamond necklace robbery that goes wrong in the robbers not being able to fence the stolen and expensive merchandise. Having to lay low until he heat's off head burglar Nat Harbin, Dan Duryea, has to placate his two associates Baylock & Dohmer, Peter Capell & Mickey Shaughnessy, in not going off the handle and mess up the entire operation. There's also Nat's half-sister Gladden, Jayne Mansfield, who want's to get out of this criminal racket and spend her time on the beach at Atlantic City and get a nice tan as well as fill her very ample lungs with the fresh and healthy salt water air that's there.What the gang of burglars don't realize is that they've been tagged or figured out by Charlie the Cop, Stewart Bardley, who was on the scene of crime and is now intent to get the piece of hot ice or jewelry off their hands. Tracking the quartet from their home base in Philadelphia to the seaside town of Atlantic City Charlie and his girlfriend Della, Martha Vickes, plan to rob them of the necklace before they can get it, by having the necklace fenced, off their hands. Charlie feels in that him being a member of law enforcement he can murder the entire bunch and still get away with it by claiming self-defense on his part.***SPOILERS*** With Nat hiding the necklace in Gladden's hotel room in the Oceanview Hotel in Atlantic City Charlie who's been romancing her in order to find it now has no choice but to keep Nat as well as Gladden alive in order for them to lead him to it. Wih Dohmer gunned down by state dropper's and Baylock murdered by Charlie it's now down to three, Charlie Gadden & Nat, who know where the necklace is and with the exception of Gladden, who's far more interested in getting a suntan, are determined at all cost to find it. Downbeat ending with Nat risking and losing his life in having his step-sister Gladden get out of harms or Charlie's way. Charlie himself who thought he's gotten away with murder, the murder of both Baylock and Nat, ends up cuffed and with his jaw broken when his girlfriend Della, who he's been cheating on, ratted him out in him having the stolen necklace on him just when it looked like he was home free.

Alonzo Church A showy medium has a set of fancy jewels. Dan Duryea, THE BURGLAR, intends to steal them with the help of gang member Jayne Mansfield. Will the stresses and strains of the criminal lifestyle wreck their lives, or will the gang finally make the big score that will let them all retire? This is one of those movies, following in the wake of the Asphalt Jungle, that shows how the tiny character flaws of the criminals involved in a caper all work to mess up their enterprise. If you like the genre, you'll like this. If you are not a noir/crime movie enthusiast, you might determine that all this seems pretty derivative from better movies. The director has definitely seen his Orson Welles movies (Citizen Kane and Lady from Shanghai are sampled here), but he only has a B-movie plot to drive the action. Later in the movie, this becomes a problem when the mechanics of inevitable doom require Duryea to show an implausible lack of judgment.Nevertheless, Dan Duryea, who plays his role without an ounce of his usual scuzzy smarm, responds quite well to being cast somewhat against type. Jayne Mansfield, who had not yet developed her inflatable sex doll persona (this movie was shot well before Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?), does well with a fairly nuanced part that makes use of her looks, but does not require her to be either stupid or sleazy. The movie, when not being overly showy with its visuals, gets in some great location shooting in both Philadlphia and Atlantic City.This is worth seeing, if you like crime movies. But you will get the feeling there was a lot of potential that went unfulfilled here.

telegonus I saw this film a long time ago and was tremendously impressed, almost hynotized, by its technique. It was directed by Paul Wendkos, who's since gone on to a successful career in television, but who was for a while considered an up and coming director of movies. The stars, Dan Duryea and Jayne Mansfield, never quite achieved the kind of success many had envisioned for them. Duryea's career was sidetracked by Richard Widmark, and Mansfield never replaced Marilyn Monroe. Part of the charm of this film is watching small timers play small timers in a small movie that didn't cost a lot of money and which few people saw or want to see because no one connected with it is famous (though Jayne has her fans I guess). To make matters worse, the film is arty, full of offbeat camera angles and strange lighting that sometimes makes people look startled, as if they're continually having their picture taken. It's a tawdry tale about little people with big problems, and it works. For all I know it could be a work of art. The story is mostly about a jewel robbery, but it's also about the strange, almost incestuous relationship between Dan and Jayne, which both does and doesn't have a whole lot to do with jewels. There is a very bad guy involved who comes across like a young Senator Joe McCarthy. There are scenes in an amusement park; and more scenes in an empty stadium. I'm not sure why. The films is dazzling and ambitious and pretentious, so much so that it's beyond mere film noir as such; it's more like art noir.