Plot Explained Spoilers guaranteed!
Plot Explained

Browse by genre

Action Comedy Drama Horror Thriller Sci-Fi Romance Mystery Animation Crime
The Burglar (1957) movie poster

Characters & Themes

The Burglar (1957) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

Release, runtime and language
1957 · 90 mins · English
Directed by
Paul Wendkos
Starring
Mickey Shaughnessy, Martha Vickers, Jayne Mansfield, Bob Wilson, John Facenda, Peter Capell

Burglar Nat Harbin and his two partners target spiritualist Sister Sarah, who inherited a fortune and an emerald necklace from a Philadelphia financier. They use Nat’s ward Gladden to pose as an admirer and scout Sarah’s mansion, planning a perfect robbery. Unexpected complications soon jeopardize their scheme as they infiltrate the estate.

Crime Thriller Drama Cast, crew & box office
On this page (7)
  1. 1 Characters explained (7)
  2. 2 Where & when it takes place
  3. 3 Themes & meaning (3)
  4. 4 Character & meaning questions
  5. 5 Movie threads
  6. 6 Movies like The Burglar
  7. 7 Every angle

7 main characters · contains spoilers

The Burglar Characters Explained: Who Is Who

The main characters of The Burglar (1957), heroes and villains: what drives them, how they change over the course of the story and what each of them reveals about the film's bigger ideas.

  • Nat Harbin (Dan Duryea)

    Nat Harbin is the scheming mastermind behind the jewel heist. He is patient, manipulative, and willing to risk everything for profit, coordinating the gang and leveraging Gladden and Della. As events escalate and loyalties fracture, his plans become increasingly precarious, leading to a fatal clash with the police.

    • 🧠 mastermind
    • 💰 greedy
    • 🗺️ planner

  • Gladden (Jayne Mansfield)

    Gladden is the daughter of Harbin's mentor and serves as both participant and pawn. She cases the estate, navigates romance, and ultimately hides the jewels, balancing loyalty with personal risk. Her choices drive key twists and deepen the crime's romantic tension.

    • 🎭 deceitful
    • 🧭 strategic

  • Baylock (Peter Capell)

    Baylock is a steady, calculating member of the crew who shares in the plan's risks and tensions. He counsels on the logistics of the fence and complicates matters as the group’s scheme becomes more dangerous, ultimately meeting a brutal end when the pursuit narrows.

    • 🧭 steady
    • 🔒 partner

  • Dohmer (Mickey Shaughnessy)

    Dohmer is hotheaded and impulsive, often clashing with others as the plan spirals. He lusts after Gladden and contributes to the crew's volatile dynamics, including a fatal misstep during the escape sequence.

    • 🔥 hotheaded
    • 🧭 volatile

  • Della (Martha Vickers)

    Della is a Philadelphia woman drawn into the scheme by wealth and danger. She hosts Harbin at her apartment and becomes entangled with other players, showing a calculating, opportunistic streak as the plot advances.

    • 💋 alluring
    • 🕸️ manipulative

  • Charlie (Stewart Bradley)

    Charlie is a police officer who plays a dual role, probing the robbery while engaging with the case on his terms. He shoots Blaylock, corners Harbin, and anchors the final confrontation, embodying the era’s tough, decisive law enforcement.

    • 👮 lawman
    • 🕵️‍♂️ investigator

  • Sister Sara (Phoebe Mackay)

    Sister Sara is the enigmatic leader of the spiritualist group to whom the bequest is entrusted. Her role in the plot provides motive and cover for the criminals, making the group a focal point for the heist and its consequences.

    • 🕯️ spiritualist leader
    • 🗝️ keeper

Last updated: October 04, 2025 at 16:45

Was this helpful?

Setting

Where and When Does The Burglar Take Place?

The setting of The Burglar (1957): the year and time period, the places and locations, and how they shape the characters, the mood and the tension of the story.

Time period

1950s

The events unfold in a mid-20th-century urban landscape marked by postwar wealth and crime. Period fashion, cars, and policing reflect the era’s style and approach to criminal pursuit. The seaside finale at Atlantic City places the climax within a popular 1950s entertainment milieu.

Location

Philadelphia, Atlantic City

The plot centers on a wealthy Philadelphia mansion where the bequest is sought, and on Atlantic City's coastal streets and boardwalks where the chase unfolds. The Steel Pier sequence marks the climactic rendezvous, anchoring the story in a familiar resort-town setting. These two places highlight the contrast between opulent urban wealth and seaside crime drama.

  • 🏙️ Philadelphia
  • 🎡 Atlantic City

Last updated: October 04, 2025 at 16:45

Was this helpful?

3 major themes

The Burglar Meaning: Themes & Message Explained

What is The Burglar (1957) really about? The emotional, social and philosophical themes the film keeps returning to, its symbolism and the message beneath the surface.

  • Greed

    Greed drives Nat Harbin to assemble a crew and target the jeweled necklace, revealing how money pressures loyalties and decisions. Each character’s ambition pulls the plan toward risk, betrayal, and eventual consequence. The pursuit of wealth becomes the central engine that propels the crime and its unraveling.

  • Deception

    Disguises, false identities, and romantic subterfuge cloak true motives throughout the heist. Gladden infiltrates the estate by posing as a devotee, while others manipulate appearances to hide their involvement. The web of deception drives the plot and determines who can be trusted.

  • Pursuit & Justice

    Witness sketches and routine police checks propel the investigation, turning the chase into a tense, citywide pursuit. The action moves from Philadelphia to Atlantic City, culminating in a high-stakes confrontation on the Steel Pier. The ending frames law enforcement as decisive in stopping the criminals, albeit with casualties along the way.

Last updated: October 04, 2025 at 16:45

Was this helpful?

Character & theme questions

The Burglar Characters & Meaning: Your Questions Answered

The questions people ask about The Burglar (1957): who the characters really are, their relationships, what the symbols mean, where it takes place and what the movie is really about. Each answer contains spoilers.

Q1

Where is the movie set?

The story unfolds primarily in two locations: an affluent Philadelphia mansion where the target jeweled necklace is kept, and the coastal streets and boardwalks of Atlantic City, where the climactic chase occurs on the Steel Pier. The contrast between urban wealth and the seaside resort town underscores the shift from calculated heist to desperate flight.

  • philadelphia
  • atlantic city
  • setting
  • steel pier
  • mansion
Q2

What time period does the movie take place in?

The film is set in the 1950s, reflecting a postwar America marked by both prosperity and rising crime. The era's fashion, automobiles, and policing methods are evident throughout, with the seaside finale at Atlantic City's Steel Pier anchoring the climax in the popular entertainment culture of the decade.

  • 1950s
  • postwar
  • era
  • time period
  • fifties
Q3

What role does greed play in the story?

Greed serves as the central engine driving the entire plot, motivating Nat Harbin to assemble a crew and orchestrate the jewel heist. The pursuit of wealth creates rifts within the group as personal ambitions clash, ultimately leading to betrayal and fatal consequences as the characters risk everything for profit.

  • greed
  • money
  • wealth
  • heist
  • motivation
Q4

How does deception function in the movie?

Disguises, false identities, and romantic subterfuge permeate the heist, with Gladden infiltrating Sister Sara's spiritualist group by posing as a devout admirer. This web of deception determines who can be trusted, as appearances constantly mask the criminals' true motives and involvement.

  • deception
  • disguise
  • identity
  • subterfuge
  • hidden motives
Q5

How is the pursuit and justice theme handled?

Witness sketches and routine police checks drive the investigation, turning the narrative into a tense citywide chase from Philadelphia to Atlantic City. The film frames law enforcement as ultimately decisive, with a corrupt cop exposed and criminals confronted on the Steel Pier, though not without casualties along the way.

  • police
  • pursuit
  • justice
  • chase
  • law enforcement
Q6

Who is Nat Harbin and what is his role?

Nat Harbin is the mastermind behind the jewel heist, a scheming and manipulative criminal who coordinates the crew and leverages everyone around him, including his ward Gladden. His patient, calculating nature drives the plan, but as loyalties fracture and the police close in, his schemes become increasingly precarious.

  • nat harbin
  • mastermind
  • leader
  • criminal
  • dan duryea
Q7

Who is Gladden and what does she do?

Gladden is the daughter of Harbin's mentor and serves as both participant and pawn in the heist, using her position to case the mansion and navigate romantic entanglements as cover. She ultimately hides the jewels and her choices drive key twists, balancing loyalty to Harbin with personal risk.

  • gladden
  • jayne mansfield
  • ward
  • participant
  • jewels
Q8

Who is Sister Sara in the plot?

Sister Sara is the enigmatic leader of the spiritualist group to whom the fortune and emerald necklace were entrusted as a bequest. Her role provides both motive and cover for the criminals, making the spiritualist circle a focal point for the heist and its consequences.

  • sister sara
  • spiritualist
  • medium
  • bequest
  • fortune
Q9

What kind of criminals make up Harbin's crew?

Harbin's crew includes the calculating Baylock who handles logistics, the hotheaded Dohmer who lusts after Gladden and causes fatal missteps, and Della, a Philadelphia woman drawn in by wealth and danger. The volatile mix of ambitions and personal conflicts ultimately destabilizes the heist as trust erodes.

  • crew
  • gang
  • criminals
  • baylock
  • dohmer
  • della
Q10

Why does the chase move to Atlantic City?

The action shifts to Atlantic City as the criminals flee Philadelphia after the heist goes wrong, with the Steel Pier serving as the climactic rendezvous and confrontation site. This seaside resort setting, popular in 1950s entertainment culture, provides the high-stakes backdrop for the final showdown with police.

  • atlantic city
  • steel pier
  • chase
  • escape
  • confrontation

Movie threads

More Movies Like The Burglar, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes The Burglar tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Heist Gone Wrong thrillers like The Burglar

Carefully planned robberies unravel into dangerous webs of greed and double-crossing. If you enjoyed the unraveling criminal scheme in The Burglar, you'll find more movies like it here. These thrillers focus on heist plans that fall apart due to greed and betrayal, delivering tense, gritty stories similar to The Burglar.

  • tense
  • gritty
  • paranoid
  • cynical
  • suspenseful
  • double-cross
  • Tone: tense, cynical, bleak
  • Pacing: fast, relentless
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative typically follows a group of criminals executing a high-stakes plan. The focus is less on the success of the heist and more on its catastrophic failure, driven by character flaws like paranoia, greed, or a single miscalculation that sparks a chain reaction of violence and betrayal.

Why they belong together: Movies in this thread are united by their core plot structure: a heist that serves as the starting point for a tense thriller about trust eroding under pressure. They share a gritty, cynical tone and a fast-paced descent into chaos as characters turn on each other.

Heist movie poster

Heist

2001
To Steal from a Thief movie poster

To Steal from a Thief

2016
Thick as Thieves movie poster

Thick as Thieves

2009
The Thieves movie poster

The Thieves

2012
Jewel Thief - The Heist Begins movie poster

Jewel Thief - The Heist Begins

2025
Crime Spree movie poster

Crime Spree

2003
The Big Steal movie poster

The Big Steal

1949
The Burglar movie poster

The Burglar

1957

Gritty Paranoid Crime movies similar to The Burglar

Stories where trust is a liability and everyone is a potential threat in a corrupt world. Fans of The Burglar's tense atmosphere of distrust will enjoy these similar movies. This collection features gritty crime stories defined by paranoia and betrayal, capturing the same anxious, claustrophobic vibe as The Burglar.

  • paranoid
  • claustrophobic
  • anxious
  • tense
  • gritty
  • cynical
  • Tone: tense, anxious, bleak
  • Pacing: fast, steady
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative journey is one of increasing isolation and suspicion. Protagonists start with a degree of control and trust, but external pressures and internal doubts seed paranoia. The story unfolds as a tightening noose, where escape becomes impossible and every relationship is questioned, culminating in a bitter resolution.

Why they belong together: These movies are grouped by their dominant mood of anxiety and paranoia within a criminal underworld. They share a tense, gritty tone, high intensity, and a focus on the psychological unraveling of characters trapped in situations where loyalty is fatal.

Paranoia movie poster

Paranoia

2013
Penthouse movie poster

Penthouse

1933
Gasoline Alley movie poster

Gasoline Alley

2022
Terror at Midnight movie poster

Terror at Midnight

1956
Crime Wave movie poster

Crime Wave

1953
The Burglar movie poster

The Burglar

1957
Wanted Man movie poster

Wanted Man

2024
The Vicious Circle movie poster

The Vicious Circle

1957

If you liked this

Movies Like The Burglar

Similar movies to The Burglar: the same genre, themes or kind of story. Each one comes with its own plot summary, timeline and ending explained.

Browse all movie summaries
Heist movie poster

Heist

2001
Stealing Candy movie poster

Stealing Candy

2003
Burglar movie poster

Burglar

1987
Thieves movie poster

Thieves

2007
The Burglar’s Dilemma movie poster

The Burglar’s Dilemma

1912
Thief of Hearts movie poster

Thief of Hearts

1984
The Burglars movie poster

The Burglars

1971
$ movie poster

$

1971
The Thief Who Came to Dinner movie poster

The Thief Who Came to Dinner

1973
Bank Alarm movie poster

Bank Alarm

1937
Bank Robber movie poster

Bank Robber

1993
Burglar and Umbrella movie poster

Burglar and Umbrella

1971

Every angle

The Burglar (1957) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about The Burglar in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

Coming soon on iOS and Android

The Plot Explained Movie Summary App

Plot summaries, endings explained and timelines on your phone. Catch up on any movie in minutes, save your favorites and never miss a twist again.

Be the first to know when we launch. Your email stays private, always.

Learn more about the app