Thieves Like Us (film)
Encyclopedia
Thieves Like Us is a 1974
film directed by Robert Altman
, starring Keith Carradine
and Shelley Duvall
. The film was based on the novel Thieves Like Us
by Edward Anderson. The novel is also the source material for the 1949 film They Live by Night
, directed by Nicholas Ray
.
The film was entered into the 1974 Cannes Film Festival
.
chain gang in the 1930s. They hole up with a gas station attendant and continue robbing banks.
Bowie, who is injured in an auto accident, takes refuge with the daughter of the gas station attendant, Keechie. They become romantically involved but their relationship is strained by Bowie's refusal to turn his back on crime.
Chicamaw is eventually recaptured and T-Dub is killed while waiting in his car for his wife. Bowie poses as a sheriff's deputy to spring Chickamaw from jail. But he quickly becomes disgusted with the violent, raving Chicamaw and abandons him on the side of the road.
The Texas Rangers catch up with Bowie, who is betrayed by a motel keeper. He meets a violent end. Keechie carries on, pregnant with Bowie's baby. (In Anderson's novel, she too is killed by the Texas Rangers.)
. All music in the film is diegetic music or "source music," usually presented as coming from a radio.
The film features a large number of small-town people as extras, including Lloyd Jones, an actual Mississippi State Highway Patrolman.
Lists
1974 in film
The year 1974 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 7 - Blazing Saddles is released in the USA.*August 7 - Peter Wolf, lead singer of The J...
film directed by Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
, starring Keith Carradine
Keith Carradine
Keith Ian Carradine is an American actor who has had success on stage, film and television. In addition, he is a Golden Globe and Oscar winning songwriter. As a member of the Carradine family, he is part of an acting "dynasty" that began with his father, John Carradine.-Early life:Keith...
and Shelley Duvall
Shelley Duvall
Shelley Alexis Duvall is an American film and television actress best known for her roles in The Shining, Popeye, Thieves Like Us and 3 Women....
. The film was based on the novel Thieves Like Us
Thieves Like Us (novel)
Thieves Like Us was the second and last published novel written by Edward Anderson . It was published in 1937 by Frederick A. Stokes. See: Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1930s and 40s by Robert Polito , The Library of America [1997].Anderson later sold the movie rights for $500...
by Edward Anderson. The novel is also the source material for the 1949 film They Live by Night
They Live by Night
They Live by Night is a film noir, based on Edward Anderson's Depression era novel Thieves Like Us. The film was directed by Nicholas Ray and starred Farley Granger as "Bowie" Bowers and Cathy O'Donnell as "Keechie" Mobley...
, directed by Nicholas Ray
Nicholas Ray
Nicholas Ray was an American film director best known for the movie Rebel Without a Cause....
.
The film was entered into the 1974 Cannes Film Festival
1974 Cannes Film Festival
- Jury :*René Clair *Jean-Loup Dabadie *Kenne Fant *Félix Labisse *Irwin Shaw *Michel Soutter *Monica Vitti *Alexander Walker *Rostislav Yurenev -Feature film competition:...
.
Plot summary
Bowie, a youthful convicted murderer, and bank robbers Chicamaw and T-Dub escape from a MississippiMississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
chain gang in the 1930s. They hole up with a gas station attendant and continue robbing banks.
Bowie, who is injured in an auto accident, takes refuge with the daughter of the gas station attendant, Keechie. They become romantically involved but their relationship is strained by Bowie's refusal to turn his back on crime.
Chicamaw is eventually recaptured and T-Dub is killed while waiting in his car for his wife. Bowie poses as a sheriff's deputy to spring Chickamaw from jail. But he quickly becomes disgusted with the violent, raving Chicamaw and abandons him on the side of the road.
The Texas Rangers catch up with Bowie, who is betrayed by a motel keeper. He meets a violent end. Keechie carries on, pregnant with Bowie's baby. (In Anderson's novel, she too is killed by the Texas Rangers.)
Cast
- Keith CarradineKeith CarradineKeith Ian Carradine is an American actor who has had success on stage, film and television. In addition, he is a Golden Globe and Oscar winning songwriter. As a member of the Carradine family, he is part of an acting "dynasty" that began with his father, John Carradine.-Early life:Keith...
as Bowie - Shelley DuvallShelley DuvallShelley Alexis Duvall is an American film and television actress best known for her roles in The Shining, Popeye, Thieves Like Us and 3 Women....
as Keechie - John SchuckJohn SchuckConrad John Schuck Jr. is an American actor, primarily in stage, movies and television. He is best-known for his roles as police commissioner Rock Hudson's mildly slow-witted assistant, Sgt. Charles Enright in the 1970s crime drama McMillan & Wife, and as Lee Meriwether's husband, Herman Munster...
as Chicamaw - Bert RemsenBert RemsenHerbert Birchell "Bert" Remsen was an American actor.-Life and career:Remsen was born in Glen Cove, New York, on Long Island, the son of Helen and Winfred Herbert Remsen. He played character roles in numerous films directed by Robert Altman, including: Brewster McCloud , McCabe & Mrs...
as T-Dub - Louise FletcherLouise FletcherLouise Fletcher is an American actress best known for her role as Nurse Ratched in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and as Kai Winn Adami in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. She also guest starred on the science fiction television series Heroes...
as Mattie - Tom SkerrittTom SkerrittThomas Roy "Tom" Skerritt is an American actor who has appeared in over 40 films and more than 200 television episodes since 1962.-Early life:...
as Dee Mobley
Production notes
This film has no traditional scoreFilm score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
. All music in the film is diegetic music or "source music," usually presented as coming from a radio.
The film features a large number of small-town people as extras, including Lloyd Jones, an actual Mississippi State Highway Patrolman.
Earlier film version
Thieves Like Us differs from They Live By Night by being filmed largely on location in Mississippi, while the earlier movie was filmed primarily in a studio. The Bowie and Keechie characters in Thieves Like Us do not get married, and Bowie's innocence is not asserted as aggressively as in They Live By Night.Awards and Nominations
American Film InstituteAmerican Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
Lists
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions - Nominated
- AFI's 10 Top 10AFI's 10 Top 10AFI's 10 Top 10 honors the ten greatest American films in ten classic film genres. Presented by the American Film Institute , the lists were unveiled on a television special broadcast by CBS on June 17, 2008....
- Nominated Gangster Film