Armored Car Robbery
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| Armored Car Robbery | |
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 Theater poster |
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| Directed by | Richard Fleischer |
| Produced by | Herman Schlom |
| Written by | Screenplay: Gerald Drayson Adams Earl Felton Story: Robert Leeds Robert Angus |
| Starring | Charles McGraw Adele Jergens William Talman |
| Music by | Roy Webb Paul Sawtell |
| Cinematography | Guy Roe |
| Editing by | Desmond Marquette |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 8, 1950 (U.S.A.) |
| Running time | 67 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Armored Car Robbery (1950) is an American film noir shot in a semi-documentary style and directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Charles McGraw. It was shot on location in Los Angeles, California.[1]
Armored Car Robbery is one of the first of the heist movies, a sub-genre of the crime film. Fleisher would later go on to big budget films, but he may be best remembered for this and The Narrow Margin from his time working for RKO Radio Pictures.
The film tells the story of a a well-planned robbery of an armored car when it stops at a sports stadium. Yet, the heist goes awry, and a tough Los Angeles cop named Cordell (Charles McGraw) is in hot pursuit.
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[edit] Plot
Mastermind Dave Purvis (William Talman) is crook who plans a scheme to rob an armored car on its last pickup of the day. He recruits Benny McBride to his gang of thieves.
Benny needs money because Yvonne (Adele Jergens) his striptease wife is stepping out on him. The man she was two-timing Benny with was Purvis himself.
The robbery itself, at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, starts off as planned then goes badly when a passing patrol car interrupts the heist. Purvis shoots and kills one of the cops as they make their getaway. Lt. Jim Cordell (Charles McGraw), the dead cop's partner, takes it upon himself to bring in his partner's killer and throws himself into the case with a new rookie partner.
Meanwhile, Purvis's gang begins to unravel as distrust and paranoia begins to build. Benny, wounded by police, is later killed by Purvis as he demands his share to get medical care. Gang member Al Mapes (Steve Brodie) gets away and looks up Yvonne at the Burly Q where she works at as a means to find Purvis but is trapped. The police ultimately corner Purvis and Yvonne as they plan a getaway at the Los Angeles airport.
[edit] Cast
- Charles McGraw as Lt. Jim Cordell
- Adele Jergens as Yvonne LeDoux aka Mrs. Benny McBride
- William Talman as Dave Purvis aka Martin Bell
- Douglas Fowley as Benny McBride
- Steve Brodie as Al Mapes
- Don McGuire as Detective Danny Ryan
- Don Haggerty as Detective Driving Final Pursuit Car
- James Flavin as Lt. Phillips
- Gene Evans as William 'Ace' Foster
[edit] Reception
The staff at Variety magazine gave the film a mixed review, calling it an okay film, and wrote, "RKO has concocted an okay cops-and-robbers melodrama ...[and] McGraw, Don McGuire and James Flavin, as cops, do very well. Talman and his cohorts put plenty of color into their heavy assignments. Adele Jergens attracts as a stripteaser and Talman's romantic interest."[2]
Time Out Film Guide review lauded the film and called the it "a model of its time." They wrote, "Almost documentary in its account of the heist that goes wrong and the police procedures that are set in motion, making excellent use of LA locations, it relies on superb high contrast lighting to meld reality into the characteristic noir look."[3]
[edit] Noir analysis
According to American studies and film professor, Bob Porfirio, Armored Car Robbery possesses the "film noir visual style" of the many RKO crime and suspense films of the early 1950s, such as: high-contrast photography integrating studio and location shooting, expressionistic lighting, deep focus, and haunting music (by Roy Webb).[4]
Film critic Roger Fristoe, believes director Richard Fleischer pushed the boundaries of the Motion Picture Production Code. One edict was that "Methods of crime shall not be explicitly presented or detailed in a manner calculated to...inspire imitation." Armored Car Robbery, however, had a blunt title, explicit violence and a detailed account of the planning and execution of the crime. As such, even though the criminals are caught, Armored Car Robbery tested the waters and helped set the stage for other film noirs and heist films like: The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and The Killing (1956).[5]
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
- ^ Armored Car Robbery at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ Variety, staff film review, January 1, 1950.
- ^ Time Out film guide, review, 2008. Last accessed: January 26, 2008.
- ^ Silver, Alain, and Elizabeth Ward, eds. Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style, film noir analysis by Bob Porfiero, page 13, 3rd edition, 1992. Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-479-5.
- ^ Armored Car Robbery at the TCM Movie Database.
[edit] External links
- Armored Car Robbery at the Internet Movie Database
- Armored Car Robbery at Allmovie
- Armored Car Robbery at the TCM Movie Database
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