Tonight's Movie: I Was a Shoplifter (1950) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

I WAS A SHOPLIFTER (1950) is a delightfully enjoyable little movie which is part of the Dark Side of Cinema XI collection from Kino Lorber.

I first saw this film in 2017 at the Noir City Film Festival. I saw all 20 films shown at that year's festival and named I WAS A SHOPLIFTER as my favorite.

I WAS A SHOPLIFTER may not be a classic, but it's a highly entertaining 74 minutes with a great Universal Pictures cast, including Scott Brady, Mona Freeman, Andrea King, Tony Curtis, Charles Drake, Rock Hudson, and Peggie Castle. The latter two actors are in small but noticeable roles.

Freeman plays Faye, a wealthy but unhappy girl who lives with her nasty aunt (Nana Bryant). Her emotional woes lead her to the excitement of department store shoplifting; she's caught and in return for not being prosecuted she signs a confession which will result in a stiffer sentence if she ever shoplifts again.

Faye's woes aren't over, as she's blackmailed by a shoplifting ring run by Ina Perdue (King in a deliciously scene-stealing performance).

Jeff Andrews (Brady), a detective with the sheriff's department, has been keeping tabs on Faye and comes to her rescue when Ina's righthand man Pepe (a creepy Curtis) attempts to assault her.

Jeff and Faye fall in love -- with Jeff blithely assuring Faye her attraction toward shoplifting can be easily cured with psychological help. Before they can have a future together, though, there's an exciting chase south of the border to Tijuana and another great chase in a department store -- the use of a package chute in the latter sequence is hilarious.

The movie may not always make sense, especially in the way it minimizes Faye's issues, but every second of it is entertaining.

Brady is a stalwart hero, Freeman is lovely and sympathetic as the troubled heroine, and as mentioned, King seems to be having an absolute blast trading quips with Brady and others. The cast is marvelous top to bottom.

Anyone who enjoys minor crime movies of this nature should give this film a try, as it's fun, plain and simple.

I WAS A SHOPLIFTER was written by Irwin Gielgud based on his own story. It was directed by Charles Lamont and filmed by Irving Glassberg.

Supporting players include Larry Keating, Nestor Paiva, Ann Robinson, Gregg Martell, Robert Gist, Donna Martell, and James Best.

Kino Lorber's Blu-ray print is from a new 2K master; it looks very good and has excellent sound. What a pleasure to have this movie available for home viewing in such a good print!

The lone extras on this disc are three trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber.

The other two films in this set are the previously reviewed A WOMAN'S VENGEANCE (1948) and BEHIND THE HIGH WALL (1956), which will be reviewed at a future date.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray collection.

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