Schifrin's Thief

For his first big American film score, Argentinian-born Lalo Schifrin scored a direct hit with his smoking hot jazz-action score for 1965's Once a Thief, a stylish B&W heist yarn whose colorful cast includes Ann-Margret, Alain Delon, Van Heflin, Jack Palance, and Tony Mustante. The director, Ralph Nelson, got his start in TV but struck it big in '64 with Lilies of the Field; unfortunately, the relative obscurity of this film and other future projects (including the notorious Soldier Blue) kept him off the A-list. For some reason Schifrin's score has been buried for decades apart from an occasional rerecording of the main theme popping up on compilations. Here's the original '65 release version in beautiful stereo; the entire score is a bit short, so it's rounded out with a bonus track from Joy House ("The Cat") and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ("Roulette Rhumba" and "The Man from Thrush"). If you're a regular viewer of Turner Classic Movies, they occasionally show a great vintage 10-minute short about the creation of this score, so keep an eye out for it. Sit back and enjoy, hep-cats!