#its more about dennis' reluctance to be out of control than it is about him being in control. that loss. when the illusion breaks.

[dennisboobs]

god hole is a fundamental dennis scene but not because of the way everyone else uses it

[thevalicemultiverse]

Things You Need To Know About: The Forgotten Vows Verse

Tag: ~V: Forgotten Vows

Premise: Victor thought his adventures after the corpse bride incident were over – but, instead, they were just beginning. Torn from Victoria by the flight of her parents from the village, called insane by his own family and demon-possessed by Pastor Galswells, Victor began despairing of ever having a happy life again. And then he was shipped off to The Houndsditch Home For Wayward Youth – where he met a young lady by the name of Alice Liddell…

This AU is based around the idea “What if Victor’s parents, who missed out on the whole ‘raised the dead’ business, thought Victor had lost his mind when he told them about it -- and sent him to Dr. Bumby to be treated?” You can read the fanfics that make up the verse here: The Forgotten Vows Verse. But for the newbies:

The verse picks up literally seconds after Corpse Bride, with Victor seeing Victoria home after all the excitement. He drops her off at her door and goes back to his house to finally catch up on some much-needed sleep and await the arrival of his parents from wherever they've disappeared to. When they finally do return in the morning, Victor tells them the whole story --

And, to his shock, they don't believe him. Nell in particular thinks he's lost his mind and hallucinated the entire thing. Not even a visit from Pastor Galswells to declare Victor damned for "necromancy" and "consorting with demons" changes their minds. Worse yet, when they go to the Everglots, they find the mansion abandoned -- the viscounts apparently absconded sometime in the night with their daughter. Nell and William start a country-wide search, while at the same time bringing in psychiatrists to sort their son's head out. Victor gets along all right with the first, one Dr. Wilson, but Nell and William reject his diagnosis of Victor being just fine. The other psychiatrists are rather less understanding of Victor's insistence that the dead rose, especially since the villagers won't back him up anymore, and Victor takes to locking himself in his room whenever one comes around after the fourth one attempts electric shock therapy on him.

Eventually, the Everglots are located -- just in time for the Van Dorts to discover Victoria has married another man. Victoria explains to Victor that she'd thought he'd killed himself to follow Emily (based on a misinterpretation of a report on Galswell's rantings) and thus moved on. Victor is understanding but heartbroken. Briefly entertaining the idea of trying to find Emily in the Land of the Dead, he discards it when he realizes she really has moved on and falls into a deep funk -- one that isn't broken until his parents announce that they've finally found a psychiatrist that should be able to cure him.

One Dr. Angus Bumby of the Houndsditch Home in London.

Victor is taken to the Home, where he meets Dr. Bumby's star patient and dogsbody, Alice Liddell. Their initial meeting is a bit rough (with Alice taking brief offense to the existence of the Land of the Dead and the idea of the dead returning), but as the months go on, they become close friends, finding kindred spirits in each other. In fact, by September of 1875, Victor discovers that he's falling in love with her -- though he's deeply reluctant to admit it, given his past record with romance.

And then, on a routine trip to the chemist after her session with Dr. Bumby one day, Alice goes missing. Victor, frantic, starts pounding the pavement in search of her, egged on by an equally anxious Dr. Bumby. Despite receiving all sorts of disturbing reports on her behavior from various Whitechapel residents, he doesn't actually catch up with her until a fortnight later, saving her from her nanny's burning brothel on the Billingsgate docks (after first punching out the local pimp, Jack Splatter). After a brief incident with her family lawyer that leaves her locked up in the Bow Street cells overnight, Alice is finally able to tell him what's going on -- her childhood playland turned psychological fixer-upper, Wonderland, has called her back to deal with a new threat to its safety -- the Ruin. She's been wandering the streets in a hallucinatory daze as she slaughters her way through her imaginary enemies and tries to track down the source of the infestation. Victor is naturally worried over her mental health (as is she), but encourages her in her pursuit of the truth.

The pair get a month of quiet (relatively -- Victor finds himself tangling with Splatter again when the pimp comes seeking revenge) before Alice is decisively yanked back to her imaginary world, leaving an increasingly anxious and frustrated back on the hunt. While he reconnects with Victoria and her husband (in town to visit one of his friends), makes some friends on the police force, and recovers Alice's beloved rabbit toy, he does not find her no matter where he looks. A chance visit to Dr. Bumby's office to protest his parents authorizing "radical treatments" for him leads to him finding out something about the doctor, though --

Namely, that Houndsditch is in fact a front for a child prostitution ring, and that Bumby has plans to make Alice a star whore while using her himself.

Unfortunately, Bumby catches him when he tries to escape with the information, turning his worst fears against him and breaking him -- erasing all his memories and turning him into his slave Thirteen. Happily, Victor only spends a week in this state before Alice, having discovered the source of the Ruin is in fact the Wonderland counterpart of her own psychiatrist and thus realized Bumby's dark secrets -- not only is he selling the children as prostitutes, he is in fact the one who raped her sister and burned down her home to cover up the crime -- confronts Bumby at Moorgate Station and kills him by shoving him in front of a train. Victor, though freed from his control, spends the next month struggling to resist his "programming" and regain his memories -- which he finally does in epic fashion via a battle in his mind.

Most people would consider that more than enough adventure for one lifetime, but Victor and Alice aren't done yet. Befriending a local chemist who turns out to be an actual wizard, the pair descend into the Land of the Dead to catch up with Victor's friends and Alice's family (conveniently in the same place, now that Lizzie is dating Bonejangles), and enter Wonderland so Alice can show him around the place. The latter trip reveals that Victor's not quite free of Bumby's influence just yet, and a second trip into his mind results. After a few rough fights, Victor finally manages to push past his worries that he's weak and burdening everyone by not being able to just get over his time as Thirteen, and his fear that he's like Bumby because he's started looking at Alice in a rather less-than-innocent way. With Alice similarly in control of her residual guilt over the children and the fire, the two marry, and find themselves a house in Victoria's new home of Sandford.

Which turns out to be a magical hot spot. Seems like a truly quiet life isn't in the offing for them...but Victor's decided he really doesnt mind that much. After all, he could have lost so much more.

Be advised that this universe deals with some adult themes, including mentions of rape, sexual slavery, and child prostitution. I try to be discreet and not mention anything too horrible on-screen, nor should any actual rape scenes be played out here, but if you’re triggered by that sort of thing, these are not the fanfics or the verse for you!

This verse has four distinct time periods/locations that threads can be set in:

Beginner’s Houndsditch: Early April 1875 to mid October 1875 -- in story terms, “Finding You” and about two-thirds of “Forgetting You.” Victor's still relatively new to Houndsditch and Whitechapel in general, making friends with Alice and learning how to get along in a city so very different from his quiet hometown. Advice on how to survive in this kind of world would be welcome -- attempts to mug or proposition him, not so much.

Forgetting Is An Art: Early November 1875 to early December 1875 -- “Remembering You.” Bumby’s dead and Victor’s been freed from his control -- but his memories remain rather elusive. Could anyone please help him figure out just who he is, beyond Bumby’s “personal assistant?”

Expert’s Houndsditch: December 1875 to July 1876 -- around the time of “Fixing You.” Victor’s got his memory back, but he’s still dealing with some of the aftereffects of being Bumby’s “assistant.” Plus he’s not thrilled about still being in Whitechapel. If you’re looking for an angrier, more cynical Victor, this is your man. Just be careful if your intention is to call him names to rile him up. 

We Are The Village Green Preservation Society: Post-July 1876 and post the main canon arc. Victor and Alice have escaped Houndsditch at last! Now they’re living in the quiet little town of Sandford -- which, as it turns out, is a very high-magic area. Enough so that sometimes, things, animals, and people come through from other places and times altogether. Victor found this out when he went out the nearby woods one day and came back with an alien mini-dragon bonded to him. He’s in a better place these days (comes from marrying the love of your life and getting out of a city you hate), and willing to give anyone a chance to at least talk. But if you have foul intentions, be warned -- he is never letting another Bumby into his life. If a time period is not specified for a thread, it’ll probably be set here, as it’s the easiest for introducing Victor to characters outside his natural time period and was the “era” I was basically playing him in on the old “Forgotten Vows�� blog.

Common NPCs:

Alice Liddell (throughout)

The Houndsditch Orphans (Abigail, Elsie, Reginald/Reggie, Dennis, Charlie) (throughout)

Dr. Wilson (Forgetting Is An Art/Expert’s Houndsditch/We Are The Village Green Preservation Society)

Victoria Everglot White (Forgetting Is An Art/Expert’s Houndsditch/We Are The Village Green Preservation Society)

Christopher White (Forgetting Is An Art/Expert’s Houndsditch/We Are The Village Green Preservation Society)

June Thatcher (Forgetting Is An Art/Expert’s Houndsditch/We Are The Village Green Preservation Society)

Dr. Jeremiah Jack “J.J.” Fixxler (Expert’s Houndsditch/We Are The Village Green Preservation Society)

Bayard the husky (We Are The Village Green Preservation Society)

Splatter the black-and-white cat (We Are The Village Green Preservation Society)

Moonlight the silver Pernese fire lizard (We Are The Village Green Preservation Society)

Dr. Bumby (Beginner’s Houndsditch)

Shipping: Purely Victor/Alice. Pre-Bumby, he’s too anxious about the possibility of being rejected to consider any other advances; post-Bumby, his trauma has made him basically Alice-sexual. Other people making advances will be met with reactions ranging from polite refusal to a fist in the face, depending on time period and how the advances are phrased.

NPC Ships: Victoria Everglot/Christopher White

Important Facts:

Victor does not take being snuck up on or grabbed from behind well. Before Bumby, he’s just easily startled. After Bumby -- well, being grabbed that way brings up traumatic memories (particularly if you happen to touch his rear while doing so). In Forgetting Is An Art, Expert’s Houndsditch, or We Are The Village Green Preservation Society, doing so is basically going to get you elbowed somewhere as he tries to escape -- and he has pointy elbows.

Victor’s greatest fear is total darkness. He will not take well being trapped in a pitch-black room, and will do whatever he can to escape. Threats to blind him will be met with resistance to the point of violence, and I will not actually let anyone succeed in doing so. He’d snap within minutes.

Victor’s not fond of hypnosis, given that before Bumby’s mind-warping, he associated it with the psychiatrist being an ass and giving him headaches, and after -- well, he associates it with how the doctor made him his “personal assistant.” Anyone trying to put him into a trance is going to be met with a hell of a lot of resistance.

Victor has always been pretty protective of his loved ones, and is not afraid to throw down should you threaten them -- especially Alice. (Never mind Alice is perfectly capable of taking care of herself -- he’ll soften you up before letting her destroy you.)

On a slightly nicer note, Victor actually quite enjoys sparring with friends. A friendly fight with refreshments afterwards is fun and keeps him in shape for any real danger that comes along.

Victor has a distinct soft spot for children and will basically go into “father/big brother mode” the moment he sees them. He also doesn’t tolerate anyone trying to hurt kids, for obvious reasons. The same goes with animals, especially dogs.

Victor quite likes to cook and particularly enjoys baking. There’s a good chance a lot of my open starters will involve him making food and wanting to share it.

Victor loves animals and, by the time of We Are The Village Green Preservation Society, has three pets -- Bayard, a friendly and excitable grey and white husky; Splatter, a black and white cat so named because he looks like he was splattered with black paint (it wasn’t until later they remembered Jack); and Moonlight, a lazy but sweet-tempered fire lizard whose egg came through one of those magic portals and was found by Victor just in time for him to hatch and bond with the young man. Moonlight may seem like a rather odd outlier (especially since I also have an AU where fire lizards are just a fact of life due to an earlier surprise teleport from Pern to Earth), but -- well, he was Forgotten Vows’s pet first on the old blog, and I didn’t want to separate them. His noncanon color is actually a result of his being from the DW journal Nest O’Flitts, which makes posts in meme communities randomly giving out fire lizards in both canon and noncanon colors. It’s completely up to roll of the dice, and their roll for Victor landed him a silver. So yeah.

Victor knows magic! Or, at least, he does in Expert’s Houndsditch and We Are The Village Green Preservation Society, thanks to Dr. Fixxler. Victor and Alice become friends with him around the time of “Fixing You” and learn a few spells from him. Victor’s “signature” spell is Glowing Orb, which summons a small ball of light (gee, can’t imagine why he’d like that best). He also knows a healing/rejuvenation spell (Spring’s Breath), a summon-an-object-from-your-imagination spell (Imagination Into Reality), a send-messages-instantly-to-anyone spell (Write Across The Miles), a create-water-in-any-container spell (Nile’s Blessing), a cleaning spell (Scrub & Shine), a shield spell (Protection), and a enter-into-someone-else’s-mind spell (Travel Into Fantasy). NPC Alice’s spells include Imagination Into Reality, Travel Into Fantasy, Protection, and a natural affinity for a personal disguise spell called False Flesh (that’s my explanation for her gaining her Wonderland look in front of Bumby at the end of A:MR). Other spells may be added as time goes on!

This verse is open to everyone!

[ausaplenty]

Theirs alone

Kiara Scuro. Alexa Myers. Davis Warwick. Hogwarts AU.

“Bloody hell, he’s here,” Kiara murmured as she hurriedly ducked her head. “He’s early.”

It wasn’t as if she wasn’t looking forward for their third date, but Davis wasn’t supposed to meet her here for another hour, after Lexie had to leave for work. And the brunette had been working strange hours, leaving little time for her and Kiara to hang out.

“Rude of him,” Alexa drawled, her eyebrow arched as she studied her best friend’s date before returning her attention to Kiara. The blonde had found a more formfitting outfit for the occasion, her charcoal grey dress hugging her hips before it ended midthigh and the rest of her legs clad in black tights. “He’s rather boring, isn’t he?”

Kiara couldn’t tell if the older girl was talking about his looks or his personality. “He’s nice, and he was Davising to overlook the whole ‘Scuro is a vampire’ rumor.”

“Or he’s such an idiot that it took him seven years to realize how absurd it was,” Alexa retorted before she finished her butterbeer. “It’s no use hiding, he’s on his way over.”

The blonde groaned quietly before pasting a smile on her face.

“Kiara! I was hoping that I’d run into you here in the village,” Davis Warwick greeted her with a nervous smile. He brushed his mousey brown hair away from his hazel eyes. “I couldn’t get later reservations for Madame Puddifoot’s so we have to be there in half an hour or we’ll lose our spot.”

“Davis, this is my best friend Alexa Myers,” Kiara introduced with a thin smile. “I’m actually hanging with her until she has to apparate back to London.”

“Don’t bother,” the former Slytherin declared as she stood. “I should be leaving early anyways. I have a few errands to take care of.”

The Hufflepuff frowned. “You don’t have to go.”

“I know, Scuro, but it’s rather dull here,” Alexa’s sapphire gaze slid over to Davis cattily.

“I’ll call you later,” the blonde promised as she pulled her best friend into a hug. Years ago, when she’d first started pulling the Slytherin in for reluctant hugs, her head had barely reached the brunette’s chin. Now Kiara had to duck her head slightly to inhale the jasmine scent that Lexie liked to wear.

“It’ll be a late night at the tavern. I’ll call you when I’m done,” the older girl informed her as she quickly squeezed and then pulled away. She smiled icily at Davis “It was nice to see you, Dennis.”

“You as well,” the boy frowned after the brunette as she wove her way through the students filling the Three Broomsticks. “I didn’t know you were with her. I thought you’d be with Mead.”

“Gilly is spending the day perusing new releases at Tomes and Scrolls. If you had asked, I would have been fine with going to someplace other than Madame Puddifoot’s,” Kiara informed him with a slight frown. “It’s been so long since Lexie and I got to spend time together.”

“I’m sorry for chasing her off,” Davis replied as he snaked his arms around her waist. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, smiling when the frown disappeared. “I would have shared, even if it was for a little while.”

Kiara sighed. She wanted Alexa to like Davis, but he wasn’t doing himself any favors.

~*~

The blonde stirred her tea halfheartedly, listening as Davis talked about homework. The bright pink décor hurt her eyes, making her wish for something black to splash across the walls. Her shadows purred, offering to darken the room.

She supposed academic small talk was a peril with Ravenclaws, but Gilly never bored her with something as mindless as homework – he wanted to talk about some new charm he’d invented or a magical creature she might think was interesting.

Alexa would have turned the other patrons at Madame Puddifoot’s into a game – concocting some drama from their conversations and letting Kiara guess how much of it was truth.

“Kiara?” Davis asked, a frown marring his too-high brow.

“What?” she answered, blushing. “Sorry, my mind is elsewhere.”

“I understand.” He reached out to clasp her hand, his foot sliding up the inside of calf. “What do you say we ditch this place and go somewhere a little … quieter?”

The Hufflepuff smiled flirtatiously. “Where did you have in mind?”

Davis didn’t answer as he paid for their drinks and pulled her out of the shop. His arm slid around her waist, pressing her to his side.

“There’s a place by the lake that I stumbled on earlier this year,” he murmured, his breath warm on her neck. “It’s quiet, it’s dark – perfect for us to hide away. Nobody else knows about it.”

There were not many places in Hogwarts or the surrounding area that Kiara did not know about. She’d spent years searching the place with Lexie, seeking solace from the rumors and the judgments of their peers. From the secret passages between the castle and the village to the hidden nooks hidden in the castle and the forest.

He led her carefully toward the lake, their steps crinkling the leaves. When they neared the water, Kiara instantly realized where they were going – there was a weeping willow nestled among the oaks and elms. One that had been a favorite of Lexie’s but Kiara hadn’t been able to bear bringing Gilbert down to.

It was the one part of Hogwarts that remained hers and Alexa’s.

She dug her heels in, turning away from his grasp.

“Kiara?” Davis questioned, startled by her resistance.

“Let’s go somewhere else,” she insisted.

“Why?”

“I – just don’t want to go there, Davis. That’s it.” she retreated entirely from him, her hands shoved into her pockets so he couldn’t hold them or lace their fingers together. “Let’s find something else to do.”

“Then what do you want to do, Kiara? Because you don’t seem to want to do it with me,” her yearmate snapped, throwing his hands in the air. “You were distracted at Three Broomsticks, you barely heard a word I said at the tea parlour. I went through a lot to make this day great. Bloody hell, I even got Madame Puddifoot to change our reservation so we could get here and enjoy the sunset.”

Kiara stilled, anger rising in her core.

“I told you I had plans before our date,” she retorted, struggling to keep her temper under control.

“I’m your boyfriend. You should want to spend time with me, not with some haughty muggleborn.”

She cracked. “Why would I want to do that? You’re a Ravenclaw who’s not even intelligent enough to carry on a decent conversation.”

“Fine!”

For a moment, Kiara watched his retreating figure disappear into the trees, but then she turned away. The swaying willow branches parted around her as she stood beneath its canopy

She sank to the foot of the tree trunk, closing her eyes as she tried to process what just happened.

She’d broken up with someone. Over a tree.

Lexie’s voice filled her head, fondly calling her an idiot.

Alexa wasn’t her only friend at Hogwarts anymore. She had Gilly. She had younger schoolmates like the Ravenclaw Skye Fredendum. But none of them could compare to her favorite Slytherin – They didn’t understand her like Lexie did.

She shared the secrets she and Lexie had discovered with them. She’d told Gilly about the incantation for quieting the Restricted books when you didn’t have Madame Pince’s permission. She showed Skye the passage between the statue of the hump-backed witch and Honey Dukes. The Room of Requirements was frequently filled with their chatter.

But she never brought them to the willow. Because this was theirs.

And Kiara didn’t want to share the memories she had of Lexie here.

[peeringthroughthe4thwall]

Michael Mann's first criminal masterpiece, Thief (1981)

I think its fair to say that Michael Mann is known for a certain type of film. Stylish peeks into the criminal underbelly, focusing on hard, tough men who are sometimes impeded by their own psychological complexities. He makes thrillers which, when they are at their best, are more interested in the characters of the protagonists than they are the central story. He has, in fact, been accused of telling the same story over and over again with different characters.

I don’t think this is entirely fair.

For Mann the attraction is not the story, it’s the character, it’s the man at the heart of it.

The origins of this obsession with flawed masculinity can be traced back to his feature debut as a director – Thief (1981) – a film that many still consider his best work. It tells the story of Frank (James Caan), a professional thief, who is trying to achieve a version of the American Dream in a way that only a career criminal can do. There is little room for niceties, just sheer determination. For example, he wants a wife so he goes out and gets her, ignoring any objections she may have. Initially Jessie (Tuesday Weld) is a bit reluctant after Frank appears two hours late for the first date, so he grabs her, forcibly removing her and pointing a gun at whoever complains about his treatment of her. His approach is not exactly romantic but it is straight to the point.

‘ let's cut the mini-moves and the bullshit, and get on with this big romance.’

He is equally direct at work. When he is threatened or double-crossed, he deals with it himself being both cautious and reckless at the same time. After he loses money when his fence is thrown out of a window, he goes to the man he thinks is responsible and demands the money he lost. He takes a gun and makes sure there is someone in the car waiting for him to make the getaway then barges into an office terrorising the women working there.

When he is double-crossed by the local mob boss, Leo (Robert Prosky) Frank holds back no punches – he tells him his position, making demands without thought of consequences.

It is this duality that makes Frank is an interesting and complex character. He may seem to be in control at all times but is in fact being controlled by his emotions. He can’t see this but it is obvious to others who, realising this weakness, wish to control him. In Mann’s 1995 film, Heat, Robert De Niro’s character Neil McCauley repeatedly says ‘Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner.’ Frank has a similar philosophy which he developed whilst in prison and as a child being brought up in the system – don’t get tied down to anything. But he also wants to settle, to live an ordinary life. He doesn’t see the conflict between these two perspectives but we can.

This is a flaw that is open to manipulation and that is exactly what Leo does. For example, after Frank rebukes Leo for suggesting this pay should be invested into the ‘company’ (which would increase the mob’s grip on Frank), Leo changes tack and offers to help Frank and Jessie get a child (they can’t adopt because of Frank’s criminal past). Frank jumps at the chance, ignoring the entire preceding conversation and the threat of Leo’s control. This, off course, is going to be used against Frank later. We can see it, Leo can see it but Frank can’t as he is too emotionally involved. He can only see what he wants to see – his dream of family life.

What makes Thief so interesting is that, although it has all the ingredients of a thriller – The Mob, guns, a heist – it is really a character study. It is all about Frank and the pay-off, the explosive finale that one expects with thrillers, is dictated not by plot but by character. How Frank reacts to this manipulation and control dictates the outcome, not a twist or storyline. This is the strength of the film – whatever happens feels psychologically true.

My favourite scene is a simple one, in a diner, sitting across from one another, Frank tries to convince Jessie to be with him, to buy into his dream for the future. He shows her a collage of images cut out from magazines he had made in prison which summed up what he wants out of life. On the surface it resembles the legendary meeting of De Niro and Pacino for the first time on camera in Heat. There the cop and the robber discuss their respect for each other and their willingness to take their pursuits all the way, wherever that may lead. They are articulate and focused.

Frank is not an articulate person, especially when trying to discuss themes and aspirations that he has little experience of. His monologue is rambling, he repeatedly hesitates and mumbles. But this only seems to add to his determination and reveals so much more about the man he really is. Jessie’s response is similar – they are the same person and want the same thing. It is a beautifully acted scene by both Weld and Caan, who consider the scene the best of his career.

The film is beautifully made with some stunning photography, especially the city at night (a Mann speciality – see his film Collateral) and the scenes of the sparks flying towards the camera during the set-piece safe cutting are gorgeous. Who needs 3D!

But despite the stylish photography there is also a sense of work involved. This is not an easy job, it is manual labour and each stage of the operation, although almost wordless, is punctuated with grunts and murmurs. You get a real sense that this work is real, that Frank and his partner Barry (an almost monotone James Belushi, in his first role) have done it countless times before. When the job is complete, Frank sits back and smokes a cigarette, a look of exhausted satisfaction on his face. As I watched I couldn’t help compare it, not with other heist films, but with the industrialisation in the opening scenes of Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter.

The performances are excellent throughout but a special mention as to be made of Robert Prosky as Leo. Before watching Thief I only knew him from playing the drunken letch in Mrs Doubtfire, the kindly cinema usher in The Last Action Hero and the slightly crazy vampire/Late night TV host in Gremlins 2: The New Batch, none of which prepared me for this manipulating mob boss with a truly vicious streak.

Ya kids mine because I bought 'it. You got 'im on loan, he is leased, you are renting him. I'll whack out ya whole family. People'll be eatin' 'em in their lunch tomorrow in their Wimpyburgers and not know it. You get paid what I say. You do what I say, I run you, there is no discussion.

Blues fans like myself will see a brief scene of The Might Joe Young Band playing in a bar and a scene missing from the final cut but well worth looking up on YouTube, of the great Willie Dixon.

Rounding out the cast is Willie Nelson as Frank’s mentor and an early appearance of Dennis Farina as one of Leo’s men. John Santucci,, who had a brief role as a corrupt cop, also acted as a technical adviser on the film and was himself only recently paroled for doing the same job as Frank! The film was also co-written by Frank Hohimer (whose real name was actually John Seybold) a career criminal who wrote the book The Home Invaders: Confessions of a Cat Burglar on which the film was based.

Thief is well worth going back to. It is a solid film with great complexity, brilliant performances and spot on direction.