The crime caper was a very popular genre back in the 1950s and 60s and a ton of these films were made. There were some wonderful examples, such as "Rififi", "Bob le Flambeur", "The Killing" and "Grand Slam", and some weaker ones and "Seven Thieves" is, at times, a poor one--and could have been so much better. Sure, it's got all the needed things for a caper film--an exotic location on the French Riviera, a complicated and interesting plan and some decent acting (at least in some cases). However, it fails because of one major problem--the dialog was, at times, simply dreadful and full of clichés. Now this did not occur to a the characters but was a severe handicap with the movie's lone lady, Joan Collins. While I am sure she could act, here she isn't given a lot and her character is stupid. She plays a stripper. Yet, she plays a 'stripper with a heart of gold'--a giant cliché if I've ever seen one. What bothered me much more was during her angry exchange with 'method burglar' (Rod Steiger)--it made no sense and having her being caught in many outright lies and his reaction just made no sense at all--nor did her faux petulance. You see, in this dumb scene, despite agreeing to take part in a HUGE robbery, she insists that she's a nice girl from a nice family! What the heck!? Was the writer on pot?! You really have to see it--it's REALLY bad...so bad that I felt sorry for Collins, because she is more a pretty piece of furniture than a person in much of the film. None of the men were given such silly and weak characters to play. As I also said, Steiger plays a method actor playing a method burglar--and he came off a bit silly just because this scene with Collins completely undid this characterization--when all his believability and consistency as a character went out the window. Too bad...otherwise, it was a pretty decent film.

Professor Edward G. Robinson assembles six cohorts for a heist on a Monte Carlo casino--but when penniless strong-arm Rod Steiger takes command of the robbery, the disparate personalities of the team come to the fore. Sydney Boehm, adapting Max Catto's novel, can't seem to decide whether to slant this derivative tale towards criminal melodrama or play it up as a lightweight diversion; bits and pieces of both emerge. The indifferent tone set by the writing may be one reason why director Henry Hathaway has staged it in a poker-faced, workmanlike manner. Talky, humorless, and oddly indifferent. Robinson coasts through on his built-in good will, Joan Collins provides the eye-candy as a cheesecake dancer (with two gratuitous numbers). *1/2 from ****

A mid-20th century trio of top-notch actors star in "Seven Thieves." This unusual caper mystery is based on a 1959 novel by Max Catto, "The Lions at the Kill." Catto was a prolific English writer who sometimes wrote under the pen name, Simon Kent. Ten of his novels were made into movies. Among them are the 1950 book, "The Killing Frost," which became the 1956 film, "Trapeze;" and the 1969 book, "Murphy's War," which became a 1971 film of the same name.

In "Seven Thieves," Edward G. Robinson, Rod Steiger and Eli Wallach are joined by four others in pulling off a grand heist of the Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco. Joan Collins plays the sole female of the group. The exteriors of Monte Carlo and the French Riviera - at Cannes, are filmed. I visited and vacationed at these places in 1963 and 1964 while serving in the U.S. Army in Germany, and they appeared then just as shown in this film.

The plot for this film is a good drama and caper. It has some good character development - for as much as a 100-minute film will allow with seven main characters. All the performances are very good, including a number of supporting cast. Among them are Berry Kroeger and Sebastian Cabot. This is one of those heist films when one hopes they get away with it. The film has some sentimental underpinnings that lurk under the surface until the end. That revelation and a surprise twist provide for an interesting ending. And one more little twist at the final scene adds a touch of delight.

At times this film may seem slow to modern audiences used to fast action and little substance. But the substance is well worth it for those who appreciate good acting and a nice crime caper.

Here's a favorite line from the movie. Theo Wilkins (E.G. Robinson) sits down with Paul Mason (Rod Steiger) to have a drink at an outdoor lounge overlooking the beach at Cannes, France. Theo says, "Now, an international axiom. A man who says 'whiskey' is an Englishman. A man who says 'double whiskey' is an Irishman. But a man who asks, 'Have you any ice?' is an American."