The Counterfeit Plan

The mood of this subdued little British crime film with American leads Zachary Scott and Peggie Castle is remarkably close to that of Melville's 'Bob le Flambeur'. It's photography (by Phil Grindrod) and sound recording in and around Mervyn Johns' palatial country home presumably deliberately has the feel of a documentary about it; although Melville would not have deigned to employ such an emphatic musical score (let alone the main theme from 'Plan 9 from Outer Space', which we hear as the pressure rises towards the end!). As in Melville, both the police and the crime bosses are similarly laconic as they go about their business.

What a wonderful surprise for me to discover this one. I did not expect so much. I like Monty Tully's films, but not so far. It's ten times better than another picture directed by him that I saw last week : "Strange Awakening". A real sleeper.

I know that the screenwriter for this one is no one else than James Eastwood. It tells the story of a big time operator - Zachary Scott - who escapes in France from a cellular convoy, with dead escort policemen, and then manages a big scale counterfeit money ring from England. All the mechanism, working technique of that "business" is described.

Scott is of course the ideal bad guy, ruthless, fierce, as we expect him to be. Delicious. Peggy Castle plays the daughter of the old man implicated by Scott in his criminal plan. Gorgeous gal...Hmm...Hmm

Good action sequences too in this feature.

Don't miss it. It would be a heresy.

The first point to note is that the £50 note of that era would have a current value of £1200.Furthermore it was quite easy to forge as the Germans found out in World War 2. Zachary Scott is very effective as the chief villain.

Imported American actors star in this British film, The Counterfeit Plan from 1957, directed by Montgomery Tully.

Zachary Scott, looking a little worse for wear, plays Max Brant, an escaped criminal. He and his gang descend upon the estate of Louie Bernhard (Mervyn Johns) who made counterfeit foreign currency for the British government during the war.

There they set up a counterfeit system to make American $20 notes and British 5 pound notes, giving Bernhard no choice but to cooperate. However, Brant isn't satisfied with Bernhard's work as his hand is now unsteady.

When Bernhard's daughter (Peggie Castle) returns from Italy unexpectedly, Brant notices her drawings and puts her to work, holding her hostage.

The authorities catch on when an over abundance of 5 pound notes start showing up.

Pretty good noir with Scott playing a true sociopath who is a rapist and a killer very well. One Life to Live's Lee Patterson, which I noted in another film, was a true '50s hunk.

World snooker champion Horace Lindrum makes a cameo appearance as a cover when for a meeting with the heads of organizations who pass the money.

During this meeting, Bernhard's daughter visits her boyfriend at his hotel. Instead of calling the police from there, she calls the meeting place and asks to speak to her father. Brant takes the phone instead and finds out her plan to expose the group. Why, oh why, didn't she call the police? And why she was running around loose?

Don't know if this one is out on video (I just picked it up in 16mm) but if it shows up, give it a look. Zachary Scott plays a Dimitrios-like master criminal named Max Brant and, after effecting an escape from the gallows, hides out at old buddy Mervyn Johns' mansion. Johns is a former counterfeit engraver and he reluctantly gets roped into a new venture with Brant. Complications ensue when Johns' daughter (very lovely Peggie Castle) arrives home and Brant's lecherous tendencies are aroused. The picture moves well with every step of a counterfeit operation detailed and yet there is still time for some action and brutal shockers. Sharp ears will hear music later used in PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE in one of the early scenes of the picture.