It's interesting to note that Gilbert scored "The Thief" a spy thriller with no dialogue, which was precursor to the style of "Mission: Impossible".. .
The style of THE THIEF is like other 1950s procedural cold war spy noirs except that it's almost exclusively from the villain's POV. It's a real stretch to say there's a stylistic connection, unless Geller wrote that somewhere. Roots for MI obviously originate in 1960s heist/mindgame-type movies (eg TOPKAPI, 36 HOURS).
It's interesting to note that Gilbert scored "The Thief" a spy thriller with no dialogue, which was precursor to the style of "Mission: Impossible". The Thief (1952) - Almost caught
I had to laugh at that cliche suspense scene (yes, it was cliche even then) of him hiding behind a chair while fretting over his camera. I'd love to see a parody where the thief/whatever leaves all sorts of stuff around - steaming food or coffee, smoking cigarettes, jacket on chair, handkerchief on floor, etc. etc, but the person wandering in doesnt notice a thing. Later we find out the person was blind.
