Like its amiable leading
character, The Thief Who Came to Dinner
neither contributes much of anything to society nor aspires to do so—this is
simply a lightweight caper flick with attractive leading players, an eclectic
supporting cast, and a winning sense of humor. Ryan O’Neal stars as Webster
McGee, a bored computer programmer who quits his job when he realizes that in a
consumerist society, everyone’s stealing from everyone else—so why not just
become an actual criminal? Targeting the jet set, people whom he figures can
afford to lose some of their extravagant wealth, McGee starts breaking into
homes, and the movie has fun demonstrating his not-always-successful
methods—for instance, he carefully cuts a perfect hole in a second-story
window, only to have the entire window shatter when he extracts the portion
he’s cut.
Eventually, Webster purloins incriminating documents from a corrupt
executive (Charles Cioffi), and then blackmails the executive into introducing
Webster to other wealthy people during a dinner party (hence the movie’s
title). In addition to helping Webster target potential victims, this move connects
Webster with Laura (Jacqueline Bisset), a gorgeous heiress. During one of the
movie’s most enjoyable dialogue exchanges, Laura reveals that she’s just as
impressed with Webster’s looks as he is with hers. “You’re too beautiful to be
any good,” she says. “Any good at what?” he replies. “What else is there?” she
retorts. Zing!
Based on a novel by Terrence Lore Smith, The Thief Who Came to Dinner was scripted by Walter Hill, generally
known for his terse action stories, and this is by far the best-realized pure
comedy in his filmography. Rather than trying for big laughs, he opts for
gentle situational humor and soft-spoken running gags, although his gifts for
manly-man storytelling serve him well in terms of driving the narrative forward
with ticking-clock tension. And even if the cat-and-mouse game that arises
between McGee and an insurance investigator is rather trite, the playfulness of
the storytelling and the grumpy charm of Warren Oates’ performance as the
investigator make the subplot highly rewarding. Pulling all of these disparate
elements together into a seamless whole is producer-director Bud Yorkin, a
TV-comedy veteran best known as Norman Lear’s longtime producing partner;
Yorkin employs unhurried pacing to showcase the ample
charms of the cast and the screenplay.
It helps that composer Henry Mancini
gives the movie a smooth lounge-music patina with a jaunty score of the
type he regularly generated for Blake Edwards’ Pink Panther movies. It’s also noteworthy that O’Neal gives one of
his best performances, slipping comfortably into the skin of a man who refuses
to get stressed out by life, and that Bisset complements her remarkable beauty
with a deft touch for banter. Plus, any movie with the good taste to feature
Ned Beatty, Jill Clayburgh, John Hillerman, Austin Pendleton,
and Gregory Sierra in supporting roles is obviously doing something right.
The Thief Who Came to Dinner: GROOVY
Oh yeah, now you're talking! This is one of my personal favorite 70's movies. It was never released on DVD so you have to track down a used VHS copy and you'll pay a few bucks but it's worth it. I think I paid 15$ for mine a couple years back. This is classic Ryan O Neal at his best, and Warren Oates totally makes this film as the good guy trying to catch the thief. It's probably Oates second best performance next to "Bring Me The Head..." As Peter said a nice upbeat comedy feel to it and throw in Austin Pendleton and the fact that this is the only Bud Yorkin-Norman Lear feature I know of, and you've got one great winner. I HIGHLY recommend this film!
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