'THE THIEF WHO CAME TO DINNER'.....A PRETTY BOY PLAYS 'TO CATCH A THIEF'.....AND CHESS.

 The Thief Who Came To Dinner (1973)    Pundits like to refer to the 1970's as the "Me" decade.....supposedly (we think) because we'd lost all interest in reforming the ills of the world ( that's so 60's) and preferred to concentrate on ourselves......and our own personal self -gratification. 

             Ah. Well that would explains movies like this......where morality takes a hike and it's all about enjoying  ill-gotten money and sex.......and looking really pretty while you're scoopin' up the cash and boffin' your brains out. 

             Speaking of pretty, that brings me to Ryan O' Neal, then in the prime of his stardom, youth and, let's face it, made-for-Hollywood handsomeness. 

             At least twice in this movie he's actually referred to as 'pretty', the very equal to his co-star Jacqueline Bisset, also at the height of her stardom, youth and gorgeousness. 

              Prior to prettyhood, O' Neal plays Webster, a mundane, divorced computer programmer (those huge gunky ones with the spinning tape reels and spit-out punch cards). Tired of his boring life and boring self (the reason his wife dumped him), Webster ditches his job and transforms himself into a dashing, witty and yes....pretty jewel thief.  And he's pretty good at it.

              Plundering the safe of a shady bigwig, Webster comes across incriminating paperwork and blackmails the bigwig into introducing him into high society.......so he get to hobnob with a whole slew of uppercrusts whose mansions he can break into and rob.

               Along his merry way, (leaving chess pieces and their  moves at his crime scenes) he also acquires Bisset, playing a bankrupt socialite and functioning, as Bisset always did, as the eye candy "girl" of the film. 

               But hot on Webster's trail is the dogged relentless insurance company investigator Dave Reilly (a rare un-showy role for the veteran scene-stealing character actor Warren Oates.)  Dave's sure he's hunting the right guy and Webster, ever the cool cat, proceeds to play cat-and-mouse with the exasperated gumshoe, daring Dave to catch him in the act.  

              In fact, Webster's now such a charismatic, witty rogue, that his ex-wife (Jill Clayburgh, soon to enjoy her own brief stardom)  stops in for a visit, intrigued enough to try making a move on him. 

               A movie like this cried out for a sense of high style and a sharper sense of humor (like Hitchcock's "To Catch A Thief")......but none of that is ever provided by director Bud Yorkin, who mostly labored on TV sitcoms.  The gloss, wit and suspense required here are simply way out of Yorkin's skill set. 

              So ultimately "The Thief Who Came To Dinner" becomes nothing more than an expensive-looking made-for-TV movie populated with then current movie stars. 

              I did like the final scene though, which featured the expected final confrontation between smooth criminal Webster and Dave, as single-minded as 'Les Miserables' Inspector Javert.  Explains Webster, "Jail does not suit my lifestyle".

             Thereby making the pretty, larcenous Webster a true hero of the Me decade. 2  & 1/2 stars. (**!/2).