James Caan: More thoughts on ‘Thief” — and 3 Chicago Bears
Players who befriended the actor on ‘Brian’s Song’ continued to make an impact on the actor, and his door
By Richard Roeper
Chicago Sun Times
Mar 30, 2021, 5:29am CDT
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Jessie (Tuesday Weld, left) meets Frank (James Caan) at the O’Hare Tollway Oasis in “Thief.” United Artists
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A handful of behind-the-scenes gems from my James Caan interview about the making of the 1981 classic “Thief” — and the story of the three Bears.
-- For the iconic, nearly 10-minute sequence in “Thief” with Frank and Jessie sharing their life stories, director Michael Mann filmed at the O’Hare Tollway Oasis — the same spot where he and his future wife, Summer, had talked through the night years earlier.
-- The late Robert Prosky was a 51-year-old veteran of the theater when he made his feature film debut as crime boss Leo in “Thief.”
-- Prosky went on to appear in films such as “The Natural,” “Broadcast News,” “Hoffa” and “Dead Man Walking,” and played Sgt. Stan Jablonski on “Hill Street Blues.”
-- Also making their film debuts in “Thief”: Jim Belushi as Frank’s partner Barry; William Petersen as a bouncer at Wise Fools Pub who scoots away when Frank puts a scare into him, and Dennis Farina, who was still on the Chicago Police force and was working as a consultant on the film when Mann cast him as one of Leo’s henchmen, who wounds Frank in the climactic scene before Frank guns him down. Real-life jewel thief John Santucci was also cast in the film, as a corrupt police officer.
-- Two years after Tangerine Dream contributed the searing soundtrack for “Thief,” the German electronic group’s music was put to equally effective use in another memorable early 1980s Chicago adventure: “Risky Business.”
-- Of course, “Thief” wasn’t James Caan’s first Chicago-centric film that has stood the test of time. A decade earlier, he played Chicago Bears fullback Brian Piccolo, who succumbed to cancer at age 26, and Billy Dee Williams played Gale Sayers in the classic “Brian’s Song.” Real-life Chicago Bears had bit roles as themselves in the movie, and Caan said when the Bears would come out to play the then-Los Angeles Rams, a few of them would visit his house and knock down his door. Not ON his door, mind you.“
"That was 50 years ago, holy s---,” said Caan. “Oh yeah, my boys, my Chicago boys. [Dick] Butkus, [Doug] Buffone, [Ed] O’Bradovich. They would break down my front door on a Saturday. They thought that was really funny. Seriously, they’d just pound it in. They wouldn’t knock or anything.”
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