Thief

Thief (1981)

Timing: 2:3 (123 min)

7.151/10
645

7.118/10
2973

7.4/10
37272

All about film

Video 5

Photo 42

Actors and characters

Release date

1981-03-27

Country

United States

Production

United Artists, Mann/Caan Productions

Genre

Crime, Thriller, Action

Budget

$5 500 000

Revenue

$11 492 915

Website

Director

Michael Mann

Actors

James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Robert Prosky, Willie Nelson, Jim Belushi, Tom Signorelli, Dennis Farina, Nick Nickeas, W.R. Brown, Norm Tobin
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Jerry Bruckheimer, Ronnie Caan, Michael Mann

Operator

Donald E. Thorin

Composer

Christopher Franke

Artist

Michael Molly

Audition

Vic Ramos

Editing

Dov Hoenig
All team (78)

• The safe that Frank cracks at the beginning of the film was completely real. It was purchased for $10,000 so that James Caan could crack it with genuine tools from a safecracker’s arsenal, following the instructions of John Santucci (1940-2004).
• The tools used for breaking and entering shown in the film were not props. They were genuine tools, and the actors were specifically trained to use them. The tools were provided by criminals who were brought onto the project as technical consultants, and John Santucci, in particular, appeared on screen as Sergeant Uricci.
• A tanker with a capacity of almost 230,000 liters was rented to keep the streets constantly wet.
• The story about the prisoner that Frank tells is based on the content of a letter from an anonymous inmate that was sent to director Michael Mann.
• The building that was blown up was actually a facade, constructed to conceal a real residential building; the house sustained serious damage during the explosion; during filming, all its residents were housed in a hotel.
• The large-scale robbery depicted in this film is based on a real crime committed by John Santucci.