inspectors71 I have pleasant memories of watching this TV-ish little crime drama way back when. Other than a word or two, maybe a drop of blood or flash of bed, The Thief Who Came to Dinner came to the small screen and snuggled right in. I've seen the movie twice, once on broadcast TV and one more time as a rental, back when most people had to rent the VCR along with the movies. What stands out is my memory of the late, great Warren Oates as an insurance investigator tracking Ryan O'Neal, an urbane computer programmer who goes rogue, burgling some sort of sparkly valuables. Jacqueline Bisset is on hand to walk around in nice outfits and be teddibly urbane herself.But, on a whole, with the harried Oates getting closer and closer to nabbing O'Neal, it's a pleasant flick. I think I liked the type of stay-at-home-and-watch-a-fun-movie movie that TTWCTD is. Kind of like The Hot Rock, a contemporary of the time. One more thing about Bisset. I recently stated that she would have to be really off her game to not screw up a movie. Roger Ebert said that, in Bullitt, whenever she appeared it took five minutes for the movie to recover. I'm wondering if there was a direct correlation between her being anything like naked in a movie and her being just awful. In Bullitt, she has sex with Steve McQueen (bare shoulders and asleep) and she sucks. In The Sweet Ride, her breasts are on display (but about a thousand yards out), and she sucketh verily. The Deep? No acting talent visible, but through that wet tee, yikes!You get my point. The boobs come anywhere near the surface and the deleterious effects on the movie are in full view. I'm tempted to lop out the last couple of paragraphs because it just feels like a cheap shot against what could possibly be a very nice person in real life. Naw. I tried nice. I didn't like it.Besides, there have got to be some more movies with her that her chest is on display. Did she suck pond water in those, too? Wouldn't that be an interesting research paper for a film class?

nk_gillen When Ryan O'Neal was in his prime, he dedicated and concentrated what acting talent he had to each endeavor he was involved in. His performance in "The Thief Who Came to Dinner" (1973) reflects that mature professionalism. He is especially generous with his co-stars here: Jacqueline Bisset, Charles Cioffi, Ned Beatty, and one of the truly great character-actors of all time, Warren Oates.The story is agreeable enough: Computer employee Mr. Straight abruptly quits his job and goes in for a stylish life of crime as a jewel-thief in, of all places, Houston, Texas.Walter Hill authored this script before beginning his own directorial career in 1975 with "Hard Times." Hill's work here takes on a slightly more ironic tone than the stone-cold serious nature of his other noteworthy 1970's accomplishments ("The Driver," "The Warriors," the screenplay for Peckinpah's "The Getaway"). But when Hill works tongue-in-cheek, as in parts of "The Long Riders" and all of "48 Hours," the results can be crafty, diverting in a singular way. The jokes don't always work, but one can still appreciate the attempt, and understand the intelligence at work behind the small jabs at comedy.What's missing here is a director--or at least a director competent enough to bring out the suspenseful element. Here, Bud Yorkin, completely falls down on the job. Yorkin, known primarily for his association with Norman Lear in his "All In The Family" heyday, here, displays his pedestrian talent for setting up various visual gags. In almost all cases, however, there is really no payoff. Where the film clearly calls for a howl of laughter, there is only a chuckle. Yorkin's experience in sit-com does achieve some TV-style levity, but he's clearly not a man with that special, distinguishable "cinema" eye that marks all great directors.Not that "The Thief Who Came..." needed a great genius behind the camera. It's just that some style, some flourish, even when not really needed, even just a hint of self-gratuitous "artiness" would have added some much-needed gloss. In short, this movie should have been a great deal better than it turned out.Philip Lathrop photographed, using the same murky blues and greens that he would later employ in Peckinpah's "The Killer Elite" (1975).

chrliebrown54529 Okay, what do you need to perfect or make a good movie about theivery? A strong plot or a good source to base it on. B.fleshed out and fun characters C.a fun storyline or D.all of the above. If you said all of the above, that's right. These are the central elements that makes "The Thief Who Came to Dinner", worth checking out. Okay, first off this a dated 70's film that will probably turn off most people, but if you don't take it seriously as it tries to be, it's worth it's running time. Ryan O'Neal stars as Webster McGee, a computer programmer who one day ups and quits his somewhat cushy job and becomes a burglar. McGee is a very cocky, fun-loving guy, who you wouldn't suspect as being someone who'd break into your home and steal things. That he does it with such precision, so much so that he has an investigator played by the late Warren Oates hot on his trail. While playing mind games with Oates, he falls in love with Laura (Jacqueline Bisset), who knows what he does and accepts him for it, which goes unexplained in the movie. Director Bud Yorkin does a very good job here directing from Walter Hill's adapted screenplay. But it if was tighter paced, it would've been a lot more fun. There are times where the film lags and it really feels as it's missing something. There are alot of nice and breezy sequences prefectly shot by Director of Photograph Phillip Lanthrop. Henry Mancini's score is absolutely fabulous and arguably one of his more underrated gems. A little more energy would've gone a long way with this one. On the whole, I'd recommend it for it's performances and definetly rooting for the Chess Burglar.

NCYankee In 1973, the best chess programs running on the fastest supercomputers could barely play a passable game of chess, much less challenge a master level player such as the Austin Pendleton character would be (newspaper chess columnist for the Houston Chronicle).