|
''The Thief'' is a 1952 American black-and-white Cold War film noir spy film, directed by Russell Rouse and starring Ray Milland. It's the third in a series of six classic film noir productions scripted by Rouse and his writing partner Clarence Greene. The film is unusual because there is no principal actor dialogue spoken.〔.〕 The principal characters are not "fleshed-out", as they might be in a more conventional film, as this film is more about "trade-craft", not as much about the principal characters and their respective personalities. Not withstanding that observation, the film certainly depends upon the exceptionally strong dramatic performance by Ray Milland, and the equally strong music performance by composer/conductor Herschel Burke Gilbert. The film is nearly fully orchestrated by Gilbert. ==Plot== Ray Milland plays Dr. Allan Fields, a nuclear physicist who works for the Atomic Energy Commission in Washington, D.C.. But Fields is also a spy working for an unnamed foreign power. Through an elaborate series of plans and devices, "tradecraft", Fields, as ordered by his "case officer",〔(case officer ), thefreedictionary.com, retrieved 27 April 2014〕 takes sets of photos of top-secret documents, using a Minox camera, and passes these through a vast network of foreign-power "couriers"〔(courier ), thefreedictionary.com, retrieved 27 April 2014〕 to New York City, and thereafter overseas to an enemy country (implied by the final courier's plane's destination of "Cairo",〔Istanbul, being in a NATO country, still within "the West", but arguably being on the border of "the East", probably would have been a more appropriate literary choice.〕 certainly a thinly-veiled reference to "the East", without actually naming the Soviet Union). The latest canister of microfilm which Fields sends out is intercepted by authorities after a courier is killed in a freak traffic accident in Manhattan, with the undeveloped microfilm canister in his hand. The FBI develops the microfilm, analyzes its contents and constructs a list of probable suspects within the AEC, one of whom is the "custodian"〔(custodian ), thefreedictionary.com, retrieved 29 April 2014〕 of the subject document, and who is initially interrogated. The custodian having apparently been cleared of espionage charges, the custodian's subordinates, including Fields and his immediate AEC colleagues, have all come under suspicion by the FBI, and agents are assigned to "tail" each one, but it quickly becomes apparent that Fields is the "prime suspect". Fields' case officer becomes aware of this and sends him a "flash message", in a Western Union telegram, to destroy all his "spy-craft" apparatus and to leave immediately for a "safe house"〔(safe house ), thefreedictionary.com, retrieved 3 May 2014〕 in New York City. Now scared and paranoid, Fields stays overnight in the safe house, a cheap hotel, waiting for a "signal" (as usual, throughout this film, three rings on the phone, a hang-up, followed immediately by three rings, followed by another hang-up)〔This signal worked both ways, 1) from his case officer to Fields for a request for specific secret information, or a request for specific action, and 2) from Fields to his case officer, to indicate that the information was available for pick-up, or that the action had been completed.〕 from his case officer on the hotel's hall phone. After Fields has been so signaled by his case officer, his trail eventually leads to the Empire State Building. While at the 86th-floor observation deck, Fields meets his contact, Miss Philips. The alert FBI agent spots Fields and pursues Fields who climbs even higher, reaching the 102nd-floor observation deck, and, finally, the spire—where, perhaps as an ''homage'', King Kong had famously met his doom several decades before—Fields fights off the agent, causing the agent to plummet to his death. Fields exits the building with money and false identity documents, his "escape",〔(escape ), thefreedictionary.com, retrieved 31 April 2014〕 which will get him out of the country, incredibly enough, also to "Cairo", but he has been shaken by the sight of the dead agent, and feels remorse. Fields finally breaks down after realizing what he has done, destroys his escape, and surrenders to the FBI the next day. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Thief (1952 film)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|