“Let me get this straight, Noah. It Takes a Thief is finally out on DVD?â€
“That’s right, Al. There’s just one catch — it’s
available only in Germany. A company called Polyband just listed Season One on
Amazon’s German affiliate.â€
“Terrific.â€
“Granted, you’ll need a region-free DVD player to
watch the discs. But the good news is that the language options include
English.â€
“You sold me, Noah. Where’s my laptop?â€
The Backstory
Yep, it’s finally happened. The coolest TV show
never to be released on DVD has at long last entered the digital domain. Not in
this country, of course. License holder Universal is still hedging its bets
regarding the American market, for reasons known only to fools and madmen. It
took the Germans, for crying out loud, to recognize the commercial DVD
potential of It Takes a Thief, the
action-adventure series that ran from 1968 to 1970 and starred Robert Wagner in
his career-defining role as Alexander Mundy, master thief, international
playboy and smooth cat extraordinaire.
Besides being must-see TV in the States, the series
also proved a hit in Germany, where it debuted on November 18, 1969 under the
title Ihr Auftritt, Al Mundy! (Rough
translation: Your Appearance, Al Mundy!)
One of the reasons for its popularity there was due to the dubbing, which made
the lines funnier than they were actually written. This lighter approach was
also reflected in some of the episode titles. “A Thief is a Thief†was
Germanized to “A Chance for the Playboy,†and “A Spot of Trouble†became “More
Champagne for the Ladies.â€
The show’s premise was ingenious and irresistible:
Mundy was cooling his heels in San Jobel Prison when Noah Bain, head of the
secretive SIA spy agency, offered Al a get-out-of-jail card on the condition
that he thieve for the government. Bain, played with gruff authority by Malachi
Throne, regularly dispatched Al to glamorous European locales to steal secret
formulas, defense papers, kidnapped scientists, and whatever else the SIA
needed to appropriate in the interest of national security. Naturally, Mundy
found time to purloin more than a few feminine hearts along the way. The result
was a unique blend of crime and espionage that set the show apart from anything
else on the television landscape.
Wagner’s charisma was, of course, integral to the
show’s appeal. He was 38 when the series debuted (though he looked a decade
younger), and had matured from the callow actor of the early 1950s into a
versatile and sophisticated performer. Wagner’s physical grace allowed him to
convincingly handle the show’s action imperatives — scrambling cat burglar
fashion up and down buildings, throwing down with international spies and
criminals, and sweeping an endless succession of nubile females off their
lovely feet. Wagner maintained an unimpeachable cool in and out of trouble, and
had few equals in the art of repartee. The show’s writers gave him plenty of
opportunities to showcase the latter ability. Here’s a typical example from the
Season One episode “When Thieves Fall Inâ€:
Alexander Mundy:
“What happened?â€
Charlene Brown: “Chloroform with a vodka
chaser.â€
Mundy: “You’re not supposed to spray that
stuff on yourself!â€
Malachi Throne provided brilliant support as Noah
Bain, a gruff, tough badass with no compunctions about sending Mundy into the
most desperate and dangerous circumstances; yet who invariably had Al’s back
when the chips were down. The series’ guest stars were the cream of the
Hollywood crop, from seasoned veterans like Ida Lupino (“Turnaboutâ€) to
promising newcomers like Susan St. James (“It Takes One to Know Oneâ€) and Bill
Bixby (“To Steal a Battleshipâ€). The series’ creative DNA also boasted clever,
literate scripts; inventive direction; quality production values; and Dave
Grusin’s hipper-than-hip theme tune. Throughout its three-year run, It Takes a Thief effortlessly blended
action, suspense, humor and style into a potent televisual cocktail that
retains its intoxicating appeal four decades after its debut.
Malachi Throne
The Goods
Polyband has released all 16 first-season episodes
on a pair of three-disc sets, including the pilot episode, “A Thief is a
Thief.†The latter is presented in two 65-minute versions: one in German only,
and another in both German and English. Although American viewers will
doubtless utilize the English track, it’s kind of a kick to switch over
occasionally and hear Al and Noah sprechen Deutsch. It would have been nice to
have the expanded, 99-minute version of the pilot that was released
theatrically under the title “Magnificent Thief,†but that’s a minor caveat,
and It Takes a Thief fans will be
more than happy with these sets.
The discs’ sound and picture quality are excellent.
After years of suffering gray market DVD-Rs of abysmal quality, one can finally
appreciate the crisp cinematography; enjoy the swinging music and urbane dialog
in crystal-clear Dolby 2.0; and savor every nuance of acting and action. The
slick packaging features lots of cool photographs and extensive liner notes
courtesy of Oliver Bayan (co-author of the book Roger Moore: His Films and Career) and Birgit Lansdorf. (On a side
note, the writers were kind enough to cite my Cinema Retro article “It Takes A
Thief Now Playing on a Computer Near You†as a research source.)
As mentioned at the top, you will need a region-free
DVD machine to play these Region 2 discs, but you can buy excellent code-free
players anywhere online these days. (Mundy would just steal one.) As of this
writing, Polyband is also planning to release Seasons Two and Three on DVD. As
Al Mundy would say, “Terrific!â€