The recent rash of “smash and grab” robberies made me think of a delightfully charming 80-year-old heist flick starring William Powell and Kay Francis. “Jewel Robbery” had breezy dialogue, no violence and the type of escapism the masses in the midst of the Depression needed to make their lives a little less gray.
For good measure, view another 1932 gem, “Trouble in Paradise,” with Kay Francis as a rich businesswoman preyed upon by tandem swindlers Herbert Marshall and Miriam Hopkins.
Here is my list of crime capers to enjoy:
Jewel Robbery
Trouble in Paradise
Topkapi
How to Steal a Million
Charade (the Cary Grant-Audrey Hepburn version)
The Sting
The Lookout
The Asphalt Jungle
They Live by Night
Larceny, Inc.
Double Indemnity
Oceans 11 (all versions)
Raising Arizona
Fargo
