This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

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.

Edward G. Robinson has planned the perfect crime in "Seven Thieves," a 1960 black and white film also starring Rod Steiger, Joan Collins, Eli Wallach, Alexander Scourby, Michael Dante, Marcel Hillaire, and Sebastian Cabot. The film is set in Monte Carlo where Theo Wilkins (Robinson) has arranged to meet Paul Mason (Rod Steiger) to ask him to join in the plot. Wilkins is a former scientist who lost his credibility after commission of some sort of crime, but we don't know what it is; Mason has just finished three years in jail. The crime concerns the theft of 4 million francs from a casino and will involve a total of 7 people - a dancer (Collins), her friend (Wallach), her married boyfriend (Scourby), and a safe cracker (Dante).Directed by Henry Hathaway, this is an interesting drama that moves somewhat slowly and might have been better. It has a couple of twists at the end that are interesting, and there is quite a bit of tension and suspense for the audience throughout.The performances are excellent. Robinson gives a sympathetic portrayal of an old man looking for his last shot; Steiger gives a subdued (!) performance, his character being quietly threatening instead of screaming his guts out - good choice. Someone commented on this site that Joan Collins looks the same today as she did in this film 45 years ago - actually, it's kind of true. The only difference is that she wore less makeup then. Her figure is amazing, and she gives a wonderful performance as an unhappy, hard woman who has much compassion underneath. Eli Wallach does a great job as a nervous wreck."Seven Thieves" holds your attention. Strangely this is around the time of "Ocean's 11" where the touch is much lighter. This is a very dramatic story. It's not the greatest but worth checking out.

Considering the talent involved, this was an incredibly boring film. I'm not a guy who needs CGI, explosions, and car chases for a film to be exciting...how about some crisp, witty, intelligent dialog? I love a good character study as much as the next film fan, but these characters were too shallow, vague, and "mysterious" to be anything beyond one-dimensional. The attempt at mysterious pasts fell flat because they never went anywhere and had no bearing on the caper or its aftermath. Every chance the gang members had at challenging Rod Steiger's authority fizzled into quiet subservience immediately. The "tension" during the heist was forced and unrealistic, with obstacles overcome much too neatly. This seemed more like a TV episode of "It Takes A Thief" or, as another reviewer suggested, "Mission: Impossible". Even the worst episode of either of those series was more enjoyable than this film.Other reviewers found the plot "complicated". Can't figure that one out, as it is the most straightforward plot imaginable, with a clear avoidance of any meaningful twists and turns. And the "twist" ending fell completely flat because it had no bearing on anything that came before it. All it generates is a shrug of the shoulders and a yawn before the abrupt and pat ending. Lost opportunities to push the envelope, generate legitimate tension, create plot twists, and stir up human drama.The acting held only one surprise: Rod Steiger. This is the only film I've seen him in other than "On The Waterfront" where he is not chewing up the scenery with wild, over-the-top acting. He actually quiets things down and gives a mostly tight and controlled performance...choosing his outbursts selectively, rather than making his entire performance one long outburst as he usually does. Joan Collins was very pretty, but she is given nothing to do and every opportunity to use her character to stir up trouble in the group, or create a surprise twist with the heist is avoided at every possible chance. And they throw in a couple of dance numbers to "spice" up the movie, but the choreography is dreadful and she's not in rhythm to the music, so it is not erotic or sexy in the least...one just wants her to stop. I was willing to sit through one dance number as a way of introducing her character (eventhough we're already quasi-introduced to her in a meaningless café scene), but when they toss in the second dance number, there is no point other than time filler. Her acting was good...it's a shame the script didn't give her something substantial to do. The rest of the cast does a serviceable job, but again, there is nothing much for anyone to do. Top honors must go to Mr. Robinson, of course. There is no question that he radiates genuine star quality, and he is an absolute joy to watch. When he's not on, the movie becomes an endurance test until he is back on the screen again.OVERALL: Missed opportunities left and right, boring script, complete lack of tension, a director & script that undermine the drama at every turn, but gets a hearty three out of ten stars strictly for Mr. Robinson's performance.

Remember "Mission: Impossible"? The TV series, not the movie. It was always fun to watch the team pull off one of their stunts, because they balanced their Rube Goldberg concepts with NASA-quality planning. This movie is cut from the same cloth. It's about a casino robbery engineered during one of the gambling hall's biggest celebrations. The eponymous crooks must work in synchronized unison to fulfill their plan. Unlike the MI series, though, they aren't all quite equally devoted to their mission or, at least not to their particular roles within it. Still, they have a clever series of steps that get more interesting to watch, even as it seems increasingly likely that the plan will succeed.Along the way, there are some interesting mixtures of personality types, some mysterious backgrounds waiting to be uncovered, and a degree of slipperiness that make it hard to be sure just who we should be rooting for. Indeed, part of the charm of this film is that there are _no_ "good guys," yet we want the thieves to get away with their crime.A nifty, thoughtful piece, with little action and no sfx (in the current sense, anyway). An added plus for some of us is a pair of fairly sexy dance numbers a 27-year-old Joan Collins does "nearly naked," as her character puts it. She was at her physical prime in this film, but don't underestimate her acting ability. She carries the sole female role with every bit as much mastery as Wallach, Steiger, and the oddly endearing Edward G. Robinson carry theirs. John Beradino (the original "Dr. Hardy" of TV's "General Hospital") has a small role, and Marcel Hillaire appears as more or less the same character he would play dozens of times in TV guest spots for the next few years.7/10, recommended if you've had your fill of explosions, CGI, or Tom Cruise.