''Harry in Your Pocket'' is a 1973 comedy-drama film, about a team of professional pickpockets written by James Buchanan and Ronald Austin and directed by Bruce Geller, starring James Coburn,
Michael Sarrazin
Michael Sarrazin (May 22, 1940 – April 17, 2011)
Trish Van Devere
Trish Van Devere (born Patricia Louise Dressel; March 9, 1941) is a retired American actress. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for the film ''One Is a Lonely Number'' (1972), and won a Genie Award for the film '' The Changeling'' (1980 ...
and
Walter Pidgeon
Walter Davis Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian-American actor. He earned two Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for his roles in '' Mrs. Miniver'' (1942) and ''Madame Curie'' (1943). Pidgeon also starred in ...
. Prior to release, the film was titled "Harry Never Holds."
The movie was filmed in
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. The ...
,
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
and
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...
with the then-mayor of Seattle,
Wes Uhlman
Wesley Carl Uhlman (born March 23, 1935) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 47th mayor of Seattle, Washington.
Early life and education
Uhlman was born in Cashmere, Washington. He attended Aberdeen High School, Seattle Paci ...
, contributing a cameo appearance.
Plot
At an airport, a dapper man, Casey (
Walter Pidgeon
Walter Davis Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian-American actor. He earned two Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for his roles in '' Mrs. Miniver'' (1942) and ''Madame Curie'' (1943). Pidgeon also starred in ...
), picks the pocket of a deaf man, relieving him of his wallet. Casey then meets his old friend Harry ( James Coburn) at his arrival gate.
Ray Houlihan (
Michael Sarrazin
Michael Sarrazin (May 22, 1940 – April 17, 2011)
Union Station
A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...
. Sandy Coletto (
Trish Van Devere
Trish Van Devere (born Patricia Louise Dressel; March 9, 1941) is a retired American actress. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for the film ''One Is a Lonely Number'' (1972), and won a Genie Award for the film '' The Changeling'' (1980 ...
), waiting for a train to Chicago, watches him with amusement, securing her own possessions when Ray sits close by. He does, however, manage to get away with her wristwatch, though she chases him down to get him to confess. While talking with Ray, however, her purse and suitcase, both unwatched, are spirited away by an unseen thief.
Bereft of all her possessions and money, she's stranded in Seattle. Ray promises to help her get back on her way, but his means of raising funds is to sell his inventory of stolen watches– watches so poor that the fence is willing to pay only a fraction of the money Ray promised Sandy. In the meantime, the two have gotten interested in each other and become boyfriend and girlfriend.
As a favor, the fence tips Ray off to the presence of a recruiter for a "wire mob"–a traveling professional pick-pocketing band–in town, who will be hanging out at a restaurant in the Pioneer Square district. Ray decides to try it out; Sandy, who's formed an emotional bond with Ray, decides to tag along. At the restaurant they meet Casey, who introduces them to Harry, Casey's protégé and "cannon"–the term for a known and skilled professional pickpocket.
After discussion and doubts on Harry's part (Sandy proves something of a natural as she was able to lift Casey's cigarette case undetected), Sandy and Ray are given money to buy better clothes and Harry and Casey begin to train them in the parts they're to play – principally that of the "stall," or the members of the team who will provide distraction in order for Harry to get into the mark and make the "dip".
Harry also inculcates them into the group's ''modus operandi'' and operations. The team travels "first-class – everything the best … the best food, the best clothes, the best hotels". In this way they are able to blend into and appear as the classes they are trying to pickpocket. Sandy, being physically attractive, gives the team added advantages in that male marks can presumably mostly have their attention diverted by an attractive young lady in revealing fashions.
The mob travels from
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
, Sandy and Ray becoming progressively more adept in their roles. Along the way, Ray's ambition to become more than a mere "stall" and the tension between Ray and Harry brought on by the presence of Sandy produce stresses on the group but, by the time the team arrives in Salt Lake City the wire mob have merged into a more-or-less cohesive and successful unit. In the meantime, though, Ray's ambition has gotten him, through ingratiation, to convince Casey to take him on as a student. Casey's training turns Ray into a much more accomplished pickpocket and, when in Salt Lake City, Ray and Sandy begin working on their own time and keeping the take. Moreover, Ray keeps the ID and effects of the people he lifts from, wanting to study them, two things that threaten the survival of the group and makes Harry furious with Ray.
Events come to a head in Salt Lake City when Casey is arrested when a botched handoff from Ray allows the victim to see his wallet in plain sight protruding from Casey's jacket pocket. Casey's case turns complicated when cocaine is found on him and becomes more than just a case of springing him from jail on a pickpocketing charge. Harry decides to raise extra funds quickly by hitting a regional horse show at the Salt Palace arena (admitting that the take could be high – but also the risk), and Ray, who had decided to split from the group, agrees to go in for Casey's sake. Working over the Salt Palace crowd goes rather smoothly, but building security have been alerted that Harry is in town and it's only a matter of time before they catch him – deliberately taking the fall by attempting to drop the wallet in a wastebasket rather than handing off to Ray, but is arrested before he can dispose of the evidence.
Sandy and Ray, above suspicion, watch as Harry is led away by SLC police and building security to an uncertain future.
The ways of the "wire mob"
The movie is notable for giving a presumably-fictionalized but matter-of-fact way of how a wire mob operates and its
jargon
Jargon is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular communicative context and may not be well understood outside that context. The context is usually a partic ...
. In fact, it's said that the actors portraying the "cannon squad" (police anti-pickpocketing squad) in Seattle that tell Harry it's time to leave town, were former pickpockets themselves and served as technical advisors to the movie.
Early on in the movie, when being introduced, Harry bluntly and directly describes the lifestyle and image they want to project. "Everything, the best – the best food, the best clothes, the best hotels." By adopting an air of sophistication and style, the team appears a member of the class they're trying to victimize – thus avoiding suspicion. They also never take wallets at the hotels where they stay, even though that'd probably be lucrative, in order not to bring attention to themselves. Additionally, Sandy's natural attractiveness, accented by fashions designed to highlight sex-appeal, make her a highly attractive distraction.
The movie makes extensive reference to a system of
cant
Cant, CANT, canting, or canted may refer to:
Language
* Cant (language), a secret language
* Beurla Reagaird, a language of the Scottish Highland Travellers
* Scottish Cant, a language of the Scottish Lowland Travellers
* Shelta or the Cant, a la ...
– pickpockets'
jargon
Jargon is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular communicative context and may not be well understood outside that context. The context is usually a partic ...
. Some examples:
* Cannon - The pickpocket, the leader of the group in this case. Also, apparently, the police slang term for same.
* Poke - The wallet, the object of the theft.
* Dip - The act of taking the ''poke''.
* Stall - Members of the team, working under the ''cannon'' who distract or "artfully stumble" into people giving the chance for the ''dip'' to occur.
* Kick - any area on a person where a poke commonly resides. For instance, a ''prat kick'' is the mark's back pocket; the ''patch kick'' is the outside pocket in a suit jacket.
* Mark - The intended victim.
* Steer - The member of the team who selects ''mark''s and telegraphs to the ''stall''s and ''cannon'' where the ''poke'' will be found.
In the case of Harry's wire mob, Casey spots the mark and communicates to Harry where he'll find the poke via gestures; e.g. if the poke is in the mark's back pocket he'll wipe his brow with a handkerchief and put the handkerchief in that pocket. Sandy and Ray then set up an appropriate stall situation, opening the way for Harry, who dips the poke and secrets it in a folded magazine or newspaper. Harry, as immediately as possible, hands the prize off to Ray, who carries it in a similar way, and Ray relays it to Casey, who retrieves money and valuables and disposes of the rest.
In return for working as stalls, Ray and Sandy get 20% of the group's take. Harry also supervises all transportation arrangements, hotel reservations, and provides "fall money" (bail money to get out of jail on pickpocketing charges and lawyers fees as needed).
Harry's Law
Amongst the blunter points Harry makes is what is seen as the most important rule, Harry's Law:
This means that as soon as Harry has hit the mark, someone must be on hand to take the poke off his hands, providing cover for Harry and allowing him to go on and hit more marks.
Home media
''Harry In Your Pocket'' was brought to DVD (or any other home video format), for the first time, on May 3, 2011, as part of the MGM Limited Edition Collection series.
The film was also released on Blu-ray on June 23, 2015 from Kino Lorber.