Highly Overrated But Still Good

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

"It Takes A Thief" is a bit dated and probably only of interest to those who recall watching it years ago. The 1968-1970 ABC show was inspired by Cary Grant's debonair jewel thief in the film "To Catch A Thief". Professional thief Alexander Mundy (Robert Wagner) gets an offer to work for the SIA (a covert U.S. government spy agency). Mundy does not simply dismiss the offer out of hand as he is doing time and the government is offering him limited freedom (house arrest confinement in a Washington mansion between missions) in exchange for allowing them to utilize his considerable skills as a thief.While not on the level of classics like "77 Sunset Strip", the show's first two seasons followed the wonderful tradition of 1960's action/adventure/spy shows by casting a different hot "young" starlet in each episode (except episodes 1.12, 2.11, 2.12, 2.14 & 2.15). The show went strangely gay for its third and "final season", replacing this practice with evocative shots of Robert Wagner and in the process losing its original audience.The set includes all 65 regular episodes and two versions of the pilot episode. Despite the complaints the packaging I received was not bad, much better the standard Mill Creek release. Each season has its own folder with individual pockets for each disc. Resolution is decent for the first two seasons, but since most older viewers first saw this as a grainy ABC broadcast, the resolution might cause an even more nostalgic reaction.The resolution is much worse on the Season Three episodes but those episodes were staggeringly moronic and completely lacking in eye candy, so the poor film stock or whatever washed out the print did not ruin anything of any quality. The third season episodes are bad but not bad enough to work as mockfest material. Watch for the steady parade of ancient actresses with mega makeup, perhaps they provided the financing to keep things going for another week in exchange for the opportunity to take a working vacation at some exotic foreign location and a chance to encourage Wagner to unbutton his shirt a bit more. Fortunately the first two seasons provide enough entertainment to justify the price, even if you simply trash the third season.DVD set extras are a booklet, a 4-piece coaster set (why?) and interviews with Robert Wagner (he is not asked if he killed Natalie) and with Glen Larson. Larson was associated with the series for its entire run, mostly as an associate producer but occasionally as a writer, particularly during season three. In fact, when you find a particular episode especially boring it is a fair bet that it is one that Larson wrote. It is believed that he was the Coen Brothers' model for the Digby Sellers character in "The Big Lebowski".Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

I want to know when this is going to come out on DVD. Does anyone have an idea. I enjoyed this series very much and always caught all the reruns. My favorite episodes were the ones with Alexander's father, played by Fred Astair. The episode with the balloons was especially good. Is there anyway to vote on this series being brought out on DVD format for us to purchase. I also have a couple of other Robert Wagner movies that I would like to see come out on DVD. One of them was with Audry Hepburn and I think it was made for television. The name was "Don't just stand there". The other movie was a remake of "Indiscreet", I would also like to have that on DVD.

Cool was a word that was used for many things back in the day when this series aired. 1968 was a very serious year yet here was something that wasn't serious yet I thought it was very cool, this despite the fact I was an antiwar peace love hippie. I was 18 and Alexander Mundy was my fantasy life alter ego. It wasn't about the plots, although the twist of the government turning to a convicted felon for help was novel. Nothing really groundbreaking about this series, nothing that sticks out in my memory all these years later about particular episodes, although I do remember the addition of Fred Astaire to the cast being a great way do show where Mundy got his mojo. It was all about Robert Wagner in his prime being the coolest of cool guys. The looks, the confidence, the overall attitude, Women wanted him; men wanted to be like him. I loved it and I recommend it.

Someone do a DVD boxed set with commentaries on this quickly before Malachi Throne, Susan St. James and R.J. leave us!!!! Much like the Man From UNCLE, Mission: Impossible and other shows "filmed" all over the world, the Universal backlot was Paris, Istanbul, Rome, etc. But the one thing this show did have that none other would was R.J., AKA Robert Wagner. The first season was great and when joined by his Dad (Fred Astaire) the scripts became a little more tortured, but still, you wanted to move and talk like R.J. When Bette Davis was a co-star as an ailing female thief that was going to hold a formal party, R. J. commented on the class she exuded by saying, "White Tie - First Cabin". He is what Austin Powers attempted to be, he is what a less brutal version of Connery's Bond could have been. No matter where he went, he could be the playboy who knew the best Bistro in Cannes, the grooviest bar in Picadilly, the best casino in Monaco. He had the women: Susan St. James before Rock Hudson, an early interracial fling with one of the Fifth Dimension-ettes. Studios are making a fortune on DVD releases. I am stunned with slack-jawed amazement that they can come up with the first season of the Brady Bunch but not a unique cultural event like "It Takes a Thief". Trust me, we'll buy it.