Mann's interest in crime drama has not been short-lived. Aside from his widely recognized whistleblower drama The Insider (1999), historical epic The Last of the Mohicans (1992), and the biopic Ali (2001), Mann hasn't made anything that screams "Oscar season." Thus, his Academy Awards record consists of three nominations for The Insider (Adapted Screenplay, Director, and Picture) and one Best Picture nomination for producing Scorsese's The Aviator. In addition, he has largely avoided awards-type cinema. 2014 marks the tenth anniversary of Collateral, the last film Mann made that you could describe as better than okay. Thus when he disappoints, a long time can pass between successes. He doesn't work with the frequency of Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, or the Coen brothers. Mann's name rarely comes up in discussions of the great filmmakers of our time, but he has built an impressive and extremely influential body of work. While disregarding pressure from police officers investigating Leo, Frank discovers it isn't easy to settle down in his line of work. Frank would like to start a family with Jessie, though she can't have kids and adoption agencies frown upon his criminal record. So, he opens up to Jessie (Tuesday Weld), a diner cashier he's begun dating, about his job and his own time spent in prison. Doing what he can to expedite Okla's release, Frank also heeds the man's advice not to lie. His mentor, Okla (Willie Nelson), is finishing up a long jail sentence, but also running out of time, diagnosed with angina and given just months to live. Convinced that his connections and Frank's skills are a match made in heaven, Leo promises top-dollar jobs that will make Frank a millionaire.įrank likes what he hears, but he's already plotting an exit from the business. Frank shows up for a payout and in addition to that, he is extended a partnership offer from an influential crime boss named Leo (Robert Prosky). He has to pull a gun on an executive to line up the money that's been taken from a slain associate.
He and his colleagues are all surnames and shorthand. When Frank does begin speaking, it is a man talking business.
A dynamic marriage of image and sound, this atmospheric opening announces Thief and its maker as distinctive and unusual. The only noises are the ones Frank's tools make and the electronic score by German group Tangerine Dream. We see this master at work: breaking in, getting what he wants, and making a quick, clean getaway. The first ten minutes of the film unfold without dialogue. Living up to its title, the film centers on Frank (James Caan), a Chicago man who owns a car dealership and a bar, but really makes his living as a skilled safe-cracker who steals diamonds. Shortly after that, he picked up his first theatrical credits as writer, director, and executive producer of 1981's Thief. Mann made his feature directing debut on the 1979 prison telemovie The Jericho Mile. He then worked on, without credit, the script to Dustin Hoffman's 1978 film Straight Time.
#THIEF 1981 END HD SERIES#
Mann got his start writing episodes of 1970s TV series like "Starsky and Hutch" and directing a single episode of "Police Woman." From the start of his filmmaking career, Michael Mann has been drawn to crime drama.