Seven Thieves (Henry Hathaway, 1960)

Hollywood workhorse Hathaway turned his hand to the heist genre with a strong cast and Joan Collins, and the setting is the perennially enticing French Riviera, although large parts of it are only shown as back projections, which is odd considering the next shot is then in situ again. Edward G. Robinson has spent years planning to rob the casino in Monte Carlo and recruits a truculent Rod Steiger as the seventh member of the team. The film alternates between Collins's cringeworthy cabaret dancing and Steiger barking orders at the rest of the crew, while holes in their master plan big enough to drive a truck through appear, even if making allowances for their not having to deal with Ocean's Eleven-level security systems. Nevertheless, it just about holds together because of the interplay between the veteran leads.

5/10