‘The Singing Thief’ or — An Irresitible Multicoloured Gem?

My expectations weren’t too high going into ‘The Singing Thief’ (1969) last night as I tend to find the majority of these James Bond cash-ins that started popping up in the mid to late Sixties, of which this is most certainly one, somewhat lacking compared to the original franchise they were aping. However, it turns out there’s nothing lacking whatsoever with ‘The Singing Thief’ because not only does this musical/crime/action film deliver the goods in terms of brightly coloured camp fun but I might even prefer it to some of the movies that “influenced” it… and I most certainly wasn’t expecting that!

But first, I’ll briefly outline the plot, although you have to promise me not to giggle when I mention the protagonist’s name.

‘The Singing Thief’ concerns a retired cat-burglar-turned-nightclub-singer called Diamond Poon (I did warn you). After a spate of diamond robberies sweeps the city Diamond Poon is, not surprisingly, the main suspect. And so Diamond Poon sets out to find the real culprit in order to clear his unintentionally hilarious name.

As you can tell, there’s absolutely nothing original about this in the slightest with it being a blatant mash-up of Hitchcock’s ‘To Catch a Thief’ (1955), ‘The Pink Panther’ (1963) and pretty much every other crime caper of the period. Yet what helps distinguish ‘The Singing Thief’ from its ilk is that it was directed by the awesome Chang Cheh, one of the greatest directors Hong Kong action cinema ever produced, and when Cheh pulls out the stops, which he most certainly does here, the results are inevitably wildly entertaining.

‘The Singing Thief’ is not a dull movie IN THE SLIGHTEST with not only every scene but also every shot bursting with energy, colour and dynamic movement, so what starts off threatening to be nothing more than a slice of camp musical fluff (not that there’s anything wrong with camp musical fluff) is soon bristling with Cheh’s irrepressible tendency for complete mayhem.

And it’s clearly undeniable that Cheh is having fun here frolicking in this brightly coloured “modern” sandbox as opposed to the more historical settings he typically worked in, and that infectious sense of play really leaps off the screen as Cheh grabs that Sixties colourful pop aesthetic with both hands and absolutely runs with it.

So yeah, this is a genuinely phenomenally looking movie, and it’s not just those dazzling hues and vibrant visuals that delight but also the costumes, production design and seriously inventive compositions that hook the attention with almost every frame packed with something either ravishing, captivating or striking to look at, and frequently it’s all three at once. Throw in a load of Cheh’s typically thrilling fight scenes and the effect is intoxicating.

If you’re a fan of Sixties pulp adventure films with a groovy score, tonnes of zest and a ravishing comic book vibe such as Mario Bava’s ‘Danger: Diabolik’ (1968) then you’ll adore ‘The Singing Thief’. After all, it’s Chang Cheh doing an action-packed musical version of unhinged Hitchcock, and it’s as fantastic as that sounds.