It Takes A Thief is the classic but short-lived 60s spy TV series starring Robert Wagner as Alexander Mundy, the world’s greatest cat burglar who gets caught and sent to prison. Mundy is enlisted into government service by Noah Bain(Malachi Throne), the head of fictional U.S. spy agency SIA, to use his thieving skills for the benefit of his nation. It Takes A Thief premiered on ABC-TV on January 9, 1968, and aired its last first-run episode on March 24, 1970.
IT TAKES A THIEF The Complete Series DVD Set
Studio: Entertainment One
Year: 1968-1970
Rated: Unrated
Film Length: 50 hours
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audio: English Dolby Digital Mono
Release Date: November 15, 2011
The Series
It Takes A Thief was the brainchild of Roland Kibbee, a writer and producer with credits on everything from a Marx Brothers movie(A Night in Casablanca) and The Crimson Pirate to TV series such as The Virginian and Barney Miller. This series and the suave character of Alexander Mundy were said to have been inspired by Cary Grant’s performance as cat burglar John Robie in Alfred Hitchcock’s To Catch A Thief. This title of this series and the Hitchcock film are both derived from the expression "It Takes A Thief To Catch A Thief."
There are few other actors of his generation that were capable of playing a "Cary Grant" part better than Robert Wagner, since Wagner was the living embodiment of suaveness and sophistication at the age of 38, when filming began on the pilot episode "The Magnificent Thief." The pilot episode was designed to be expanded and released theatrically if the series failed to sell to a network. In fact, the extended version of the pilot episode was released theatrically overseas even though the series was actually picked up by the ABC Network.
It Takes A Thief arrived when other spy series like Mission: Impossible and I Spy were still in vogue, and the series has more in common with those genre examples than it does with the Hitchcock film. The first 2 seasons were filmed almost exclusively on the backlot at Universal Studios, with the obvious exception of the pilot episode which was filmed on location at Expo ‘67 in Montreal. The producers began filming on location in Italy during the third season to give the series more of an authentic international flavor, although Universal Studios still filled in periodically to recreate international settings. Mundy’s boss and friend Noah Bain was replaced by other SIA overseers during this season after Malachi Throne balked at being forced to film all of his scenes in the U.S. while most of the cast and crew were on location in Italy. The third season did benefit from the location filming, as well as the introduction of Fred Astaire in a recurring role as Mundy’s father Alistair.
The actors appearing with Wagner on this series included Leslie Nielsen, Ricardo Montalban, Peter Sellers, Ida Lupino, Bette Davis, Joseph Cotten, Fernando Lamas, and many others. Writers for the series included Gene L. Coon(Star Trek), Dean Hargrove(Columbo), Glen A. Larson(Switch), and Elroy Schwartz(Gilligan’s Island). The catchy, original theme music was composed for the series by Dave Grusin.
The principal charm of this series is seeing Robert Wagner do what he does best, playing a sophisticated thief who can pretend to be someone else and get in or out of places in a way that others could not hope to achieve. Wagner’s Alexander Mundy is an extension in many respects of the role he played to great effect in Blake Edwards’ The Pink Panther, and which he perfected in his roles in this series and in Switch(1975-1978).
Video
The series is presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Entertainment One has done a nice job of bringing these episodes to DVD. This set marks the first time that this series has appeared on DVD, and the transfers were apparently created from 16mm prints. The video transfers are good but not great, as expected given the film sources. Some compression artifacts are perceptible periodically, but not excessively, in the form of mosquito noise. Black levels appear less than solid occasionally as shades of gray, and shadow detail is often obscured and lost in black crush. Although the video quality is not what it could be if 35mm prints had been used, the image is not terrible, even if it is not "terrific" either, to borrow one of Mundy’s catchphrases. Colors tend to be fairly muted, but I remember the series having this appearance when I used to see it in syndication. The video quality might have been a little better but it could have been much worse as well. To put the video quality in perspective, I have seen many TV series from the 1970s and 1980s that do not look as good on DVD as does It Takes A Thief.
The episodes appear to be complete and uncut in their original network format. The average runtime per episode is in the 50 to 51 minute range, which is consistent with an hour-length show from that era without commercials. Syndicated episodes have footage trimmed down to a running length closer to 46 minutes. I was not fortunate enough to see these episodes in their original network run but nothing has been cut as far as I can determine. The closing credits of each episode even include the original Universal logo from the late 1960s, and many of the third season episodes include a promo at the beginning that It Takes A Thief is presented "In Color." I believe that the pilot episode "The Magnificent Thief" was transferred from a PAL source since the running time of 65 minutes is slightly shorter than it ought to be even without commercials, and the audio seems to run at a slightly higher pitch than the remaining episodes. It is worth noting that the extended version of the pilot episode seems to run for the correct time and at the correct audio pitch, leading me to believe that this extended version was transferred from NTSC masters.
Audio
The English Dolby Digital mono tracks are fine, given the age of this series. Dynamic range may be lacking compared to a modern TV series, but certainly no worse than any other series of the late 1960s. Dialogue is rarely if ever rendered incomprehensible by music and sound effects and volume level is appropriate and does not require any artificial boosting.
Special Features
The special features include all of the following:
Extended Feature Length Version of pilot episode "The Magnificent Thief"(1:39:23): This extended version includes additional scenes shot on location at Expo 67 with Robert Wagner and Senta Berger. This version was released theatrically to help the producers recoup their expenses in the event that the series had not been picked up by a network.
The King of Thieves: Interview With Robert Wagner(29:48): The star of It Takes A Thief appears in this recent interesting and informative interview done specially for this release.
A Matter of Larceny: Interview With Glen A. Larson(28:27): Series writer Glen Larson later created Switch for Wagner, and discusses his work on It Takes A Thief in this interview done specially for this release.
A nicely designed booklet is included with photographs from the series and an overview of the series by writer Dan Brierly.
A set of 4 different colorful drink coasters is also included as well as a numbered senitype with a 35mm film frame of Robert Wagner in his role as Alexander Mundy.
The packaging of this set may be considered a special feature considering its unique design. The packaging resembles a miniature hat box with a removable lid. The box is very attractively designed but a little on the flimsy side, like some hat boxes. Each of the 3 seasons of the series comes in a separate set of fold-out sleeves with each disc in a separate compartment of its sleeve. A listing of each episode title, synopsis, and original date is included on the face of each compartment corresponding to the disc stored therein. The fold-out sleeves are designed to sit flat, one on top of the other, at the bottom of the "hatbox." Complete series sets that include episode listings and original airdates are more desireable and accessible for fans who want to locate a specific episode. The fold-out sleeves are not the best form of storage for discs, however. Care must be taken in removing and inserting the discs from the sleeves, since the discs may be prone to scratching even with proper precaution.
Conclusion
It Takes A Thief is a fun and entertaining mash-up of the heist and spy genres, like Mission: Impossible, although this series is a little more tongue-in-cheek. The video and audio presentation are adequate but not exceptional. The special features with new interviews from Robert Wagner and Glen Larson are worth watching and the inclusion of the feature-length version of the pilot episode is very welcome. If you enjoy 1960s TV spy series, you could do a lot worse than to watch Robert Wagner in one of his signature roles in It Takes A Thief.
