| Vintage Pulp | Mar 28 2022 |
He's got one million reasons to keep his hands off the boss's girlfriend. But he's never been good with numbers.
The crime drama The Big Caper, which premiered today in 1957 and for which you see a promo poster above, was adapted from a 1955 novel by Lionel White. The movie is different from the book, which is something that usually happens, but the basics of White's tale remain. A career robber played by Rory Calhoun is sent to the town of San Felipe, California along with a crime kingpin's girlfriend played by Mary Costa to act as the advance team for a million dollar heist. Posing as a married couple, they're to spend a few months in town surveilling the local bank, gathering intel, and laying the groundwork for a team yet to arrive. In the course of playing house Calhoun and Costa fall for each other, putting the entire plan at risk. But that's only part of the problem.
Matters are also complicated by the aforementioned heist team. One is a drunken pyromaniac, one is a woman-hating sadomasochist, and one is a womanizing bigmouth. All are played to the thinnest edge of believability by the actors in those roles. The movie never explains why the team is so flawed and self-destructive, and we can't remember the reason given in the book, if any. But if this is your crack squad it would probably be a good idea to abort mission. That doesn't happen, of course, so the question is only whether Calhoun and Costa can survive these psychos to ride off into the sunset together. All indications are no, but unliklier things have happened. For a b-movie The Big Caper is pretty good, providing enough tension to keep your interest, and enough visual style to please your eyes. It premiered today in 1957.
The Big CaperRory CalhounMary CostaJames GregoryLionel WhiteRoxanne Arlenposter artcinemamovie review
| Vintage Pulp | Nov 21 2018 |
Rural heist goes way south.
The Big Caper by Lionel White is a bank robbery thriller written in multi-p.o.v. style, with more than a dozen characters ranging from compassionate to psychopathic all getting to describe the action. It's a good book. The crux of it is that a career bank robber sends his girlfriend and an associate to act as the advance team for the robbery. They go to the Florida town where the bank is located, set up as husband and wife, and spend six months gathering intelligence for the operation—from pacing out bank dimensions and vault location, to befriending local cops, uncovering data on important people and town operations, to renting a big house and hosting other members of the crew as they trickle into town. The boss has told his vanguard that their husband and wife act is just that—an act. Do they pay attention? No. And it's from there that complications begin to arise. The plot is carefully structured and the writing is a cut above the usual genre fare, but the ending is a bit pat. Still, it's basically a winner. Gold Medal published this edition in 1955 with cover art by Barye Phillips, and the book became a 1957 film of the same name starring Rory Calhoun and Mary Costa. We may check that out later.
FloridaGold Medal BooksThe Big CaperLionel WhiteBarye PhillipsRory CalhounMary Costacover artliteraturefilm noir
