The Bank Raiders

A very poor man's 'Asphalt Jungle' in which 'B' movie favourite Peter Reynolds supplies the getaway driver for an unholy three in which Sydney Tafler supplies the brain, Arthur Mullard (no really!) the brawn and Reynolds very little of either.

The women he tangles with include Sandra Dorne playing her usual chain-smoking, high maintenance dragon lady and Rose Hill as Reynolds' cynical and venal landlady. Naturally it all ends in tears.

Very much a B-movie of its era, with Peter Reynolds playing a small-time criminal who joins a bigger gang to take part in a bank raid. It seems to go off successfully, but complications soon arise with romance and rivalry causing fallings out. It's rather short and thus never dull, but it does go through the motions in a rather routine way. Sandra Dorne as a kind of femme fatale and Sydney Tafler as the bad guy stand out in this one.

It's a nicely planned bank robbery that almost goes right; a witness spots driver Peter Reynolds. After he's paid off with instructions to lie low, he takes mercenary Sandra Dorne on a night on the town. Meanwhile, the police are closing in, so planner Sidney Taffler abducts the witness and tells the henchman to take care of Reynolds.

It's a nicely done second feature, even if its short length means everyone's a type instead of a character. Scotland Yard, in the person of Lloyd Lamble has things pretty well figured out by the halfway mark, even if he has to wait for the suspects to show up. A few minutes of bright tension help, but it's one of those movies whose competence makes it unremarkable.

Peter Reynolds was always a welcome presence in these typical small studio B pics; sharp, urbane and witty and far too nice to be a dyed-in-the-wool bad guy. Sandra Dorne plays the femme fatale on a revenge mission as the ex-girlfriend of the main baddie (Sydney Tafler, always great value)

Yes, folks, that really is Arthur Mullard ("Yus my dear"), as the heavy, not over-burdened with brains, who ends up on the wrong end of a tussle with our anti-hero.

The chap playing the bank teller Jack (Tim Ellison) looked familiar, but his acting career seems to have completely evaporated soon after this. Well that's feedback for you. Rose Hill (later of Allo Allo fame) has fun with her role as the grasping landlady.

All in all a very watchable 61 mins filmed around St John's Wood and harks back to the days when producing a £5 note settled weeks of back-dated bar bills!

A typical 'Cops and Robbers' of the era in true British style. A third rate con man lands himself the job of a get-away driver for a bank heist that has complications. He is seen by a bank employee who is able to identify him, though refuses to do so as the gang has kidnapped the employee's girl and threatens revenge should he reveal the criminal's identity.

Things start to unravel as the criminal splashes his share of the robbery on booze and his off-handed lover. The police are soon on the trail but are thwarted by lack of evidence and the refusal of the bank employee to assist them. As in any decent movie of the genre, the thieves fall out and the whole robbery falls apart.

The movie, though short, moves at a good pace and holds the viewer's attention at all times. The acting ranges from good to mediocre, but that doesn't detract from the story in any way. Overall it is well worth catching and won't leave you disappointed with the hour spent watching it.