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An enjoyable story of ex colonel Jack Hawkins who brings together, by means of blackmail, a diverse group of ex officers who are specialists in their chosen fields. They're all in "urgent need of funds". And they all got into some kind of trouble in the British Army during or after the war. He enlists their aid in a complicated bank robbery, something along the lines of earlier Ealing comedies like "The Lavender Hill Mob," but not at all slapstick.
It's an amusing movie. Much of the humor is subdued. You need to listen carefully. The musical score during the mostly silent robbery, for instance, sounds like it's ripped off from the dramatic chords of Miklos Rozsa in "The Asphalt Jungle." But the film is most engaging in its clever dialog, by Bryan Forbes.
When Hawkins first calls the robbers together for a meeting: "Your presence here confirms my disbelief in the goodness of human nature."
And, when Hawkins is climbing the stairs past the portrait of a beautiful woman, one of the conspirators asks if that's his wife. "Yes." "Is she dead?" "No. I regret to say the bitch is still going strong."
It reminded me at times of the TV series, "The Avengers," although without the whimsy and not nearly so stylish. In the opening shot, a manhole cover on a filthy wet street is slowly moved aside and Hawkins emerges from it in an immaculate suit, crosses the street, steps into his Rolls and drives away. Yet, it hangs together better than "The Avengers" because the plot is grounded in reality and the narrative builds on itself. It's all done according to military procedures. First the objective is outlined, then the guns must be stolen, then the vehicles, and so forth. The ending is a downer because, although all these fellows are flawed in some way, and Hawkins himself seems a little nuts at times, we've gotten to know them and want them to succeed. Of course they can't.
Impressive cast too. None of them get to do much except gentlemanly things. There are small parts for Nigel Greene, and Oliver Reed does a brief but hilarious number as a nancy boy.
score 7/10
rmax304823 21 August 2012
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2661989/ |
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2-4-2021 04:52:12