“TO GRIFT OR NOT TO GRIFT”

By Raymond Benson

This film noir pot boiler, released in 1948 and directed by George Sherman, borders the fine line between being truly awful and stunningly good. Luckily for us, it’s the latter. Larceny surprised this reviewer with its tale—albeit a melodramatic one—of a quartet of con men who make their livings by grifting wealthy people out of investments, phony real estate scams, or whatever. Kind of like what’s happening today with e-mail phishing and robocalls, right?

The picture stars John Payne as Rick Maxon, one of the con men who might be having second thoughts about the company he keeps and the people who become his victims—especially if they’re beautiful women who easily fall for his charm and good looks. Payne was a handsome and low-key actor who worked constantly from the late 1930s through the 1950s, and then sporadically in the 60s (his final appearance being a Columbo television episode in the 70s). Payne played mostly in crime movies and was a second-string Robert Mitchum type who was reliable and got the job done—although he didn’t exactly light up the screen.

The firecracker in Larceny, however, is a young Shelley Winters, who plays the femme fatale. When she’s on, the film really comes alive.

Maxon works for sleazy Silky Randall (film noir stalwart Dan Duryea). They have their eyes set on wealthy and gorgeous Deborah Clark (Joan Caulfield), who lost her husband in the war. Maxon pretends to be an army buddy of her late husband, and his intent is to get Deb to invest in a war memorial—when, in fact, Silky and his team will pocket the money and run. Silky’s wild girlfriend, Tory (Winters), has the hots for Maxon, though, and the two of them have been carrying on behind the back of the very jealous Silky. Big trouble brews when Maxon falls for his prey, and Deb reciprocates… and then Tory gets wind of the budding romance.

Thus, there are romantic shenanigans, a clever crime plot, and truly shady characters that drive this little low budget gem. When the protagonist of a movie is the bad guy, you know you’ve got yourself a real film noir! Sure, there are some eye-rolling moments and some acting that is at times laughable, but that’s all part of the fun. Larceny is indeed astonishingly entertaining. Look for wonderful character actor Percy Helton as a hotel operator, and striking Dorothy Hart as yet another female who is willing to commit a crime for ladies’ man Maxon.

Kino Lorber’s new Blu-ray restoration looks good enough. It comes with an audio commentary by the knowledgeable film historian Eddy Von Mueller, plus the trailer for this and other Kino Lorber releases.

Larceny is recommended for fans of film noir, Shelley Winters, and Hollywood cinema of the 1940s.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON