There are many figures of speech regarding thieves, and few if any are flattering, which makes you wonder how It Takes a Thief came to be one of the final entries of the spy serial dramas of the late 1960s. Spies enjoy a more flattering image thanks to the likes of James Bond, portrayed less as serial liars and thieves and more as honorable men living lives of danger and intrigue. Apparently, working indulging in those behaviors while working for the government instead of for your own profit makes all the difference – and therein lies the premise of It Takes a Thief: the world’s finest thief recruited to work for a government agency to steal top secret information, weapons, items, and more from a politicaly bad guy of the week. The series had a strong run for three seasons with Robert Wagner as the titular thief, pulling off one politically motivated heist after another, and now all of the episodes (including the feature-length pilot) are available, remastered and looking quite nice, in a spiffy box set.
Assuming you start with the originally unaired pilot feature, the series jumps right into master thief Alexander Mundy’s induction into the Secret Intelligence Agency (SIA) when the powers that be find their efforts to retrieve the unknown contents of a briefcase foiled again and again. If spies can’t steal the briefcase, they reason, then perhaps a thief can. From that point onward, Mundy lives on the SIA’s (relatively long) leash, reporting to his handler Noah Bain (Malachi Throne) and flirting with the attractive lady spies lounging about the base. As the series progresses, a handful of recognizable faces make cameos, but none are quite as memorable as Fred Astaire playing Alexander’s thieving playboy father.
The series is a fantastic piece of television with some clever banter keeping it from aging to the point of obsolescence. The premise of It Takes a Thief has since been adapted into the series White Collar, so if you find yourself enjoying the contemporary flavor of that, It Takes a Thief will prove an equally entertaining and more spy savvy alternative to consume in between seasons.
DVD Bonus Features
The box set includes some series-themed coasters and a limited edition senitype (frame of 35MM film) from the series. There’s also a nice little booklet with a few interesting pieces on the series for fans to peruse. As for extras on the discs, there’s nothing there but two interviews, one with Wagner and one with Glen A. Larson, a producer of the show.
"It Takes a Thief: The Complete Series" is on sale November 15, 2011 and is not rated. Adventure, Crime. Directed by Don Weis, Jack Arnold. Written by Roland Kibbee. Starring Robert Wagner, Malachi Throne, Edward Binns.
