| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Keith Carradine | ... | ||
| Shelley Duvall | ... | ||
| John Schuck | ... |
Chicamaw
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| Bert Remsen | ... |
T-Dub
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| Louise Fletcher | ... |
Mattie
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Ann Latham | ... |
Lula
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| Tom Skerritt | ... |
Dee Mobley
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Al Scott | ... |
Capt. Stammers
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John Roper | ... |
Jasbo
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Mary Waits | ... |
Noel Joy
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Rodney Lee | ... |
James Mattingly
(as Rodney Lee Jr.)
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William Watters | ... |
Alvin
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Joan Tewkesbury | ... |
Lady in Train Station
(as Joan Maguire)
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Eleanor Matthews | ... |
Mrs. Stammers
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Pam Warner | ... |
Woman in Accident
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Two convicts break out of Mississippi State Penitentiary in 1936 to join a third on a long spree of bank robbing, their special talent and claim to fame. The youngest of the three falls in love along the way with a girl met at their hideout, the older man is a happy professional criminal with a romance of his own, the third is a fast lover and hard drinker fond of his work. The young lovers begin to move out of the sphere in which they have met, a last robbery in Yazoo City goes badly and puts paid to the gang once and for all as a profitable venture, but isn't the end of the story quite yet, as all three are wanted and notorious men with altogether different points of view on the situation they are faced with. Written by Anonymous
This film may have been a box office disappointment when it was first released, but that's no reason why it should be so completely forgotten today.
"Thieves Like Us" was Altman's second major period piece (after "McCabe and Mrs. Miller"), and he gets the details just right. From the cars to the clothing to the ubiquitous Coca-Cola bottles, everything adds to the feeling that these events could have taken place. It, of course, also helps that he has actors who look like they fit the time period. Keith Carradine, Shelley Duvall, John Schuck and Bert Remsen were born to play these roles, and they get able support from Tom Skerritt and Louise Fletcher.
Instead of a typical soundtrack, Altman uses vintage radio programs to underscore the action (crime dramas during robberies, "Romeo and Juliet" during a love scene). It's a brilliant gamble that pays off and takes the film to a whole new level.
In short, this is one of Altman's most fully realized films. For it to remain unseen is a crime.