Le casse de Berkeley Square

A NIGHTINGALE SANG IN BERKELEY SQUARE is one of those little-seen films that everybody seems to have forgotten about these days, which is a pity because it turns out to be a decent, semi-serious comic crime film. It was a late feather in the cap for director Ralph Thomas, who directed those early CARRY ONs all those years before, and it stands head and shoulders above similar fare as one of the most unique films of the era.

Semi-comic films are notoriously difficult to pull off but this one gets the balance just right, I think. The movie is set in and around a bank where a gang of robbers are desperate to get inside the vault and plunder the priceless contents wherein. An on-form David Niven plays the leader of the gang and plays it just like he's in a comedy, whereas American lead Richard Jordan (LOGAN'S RUN) is the straight man believably driven to the edge by the turn of events.

Despite a quite lengthy running time, A NIGHTINGALE SANG IN BERKELEY SQUARE never runs out of steam and keeps you guessing right until the end. For a comedy there's a surprising amount of suspense involved in the narrative and the robbery scene itself is exemplary. The subsequent fall-out is also very well staged and the film finishes on a real high. A supporting cast of familiar faces and former greats (hello, Gloria Grahame!) add to what is a very pleasurable viewing experience.

Just ingenious enough to be plausible and still a lot of fun, this is a pure slice of the 1970s (Even the cops need haircuts badly!). Shot in and around London, the plot of the American ex-con who tries going straight but finds himself sent as an electrician to a bank in Mayfair, and then has the screws put on by crime lord David Niven, and finds himself plotting the crime of the century is well-handled.

I liked its simplicity and even innocence, it harks back to a time when caper films where just that, a caper, and violence wasn't a part of the deal.

All in all you could do a lot worse than watch this: it has enough twists and turns to give it some oomph and a cast that obviously had fun making it.

Nicely made and watchable.

I recently bought this movie on DVD at a discount store for $5. Although it is a no-frills DVD on the Geneon label (just the movie that starts playing immediately - no menu, no special features) the picture and sound quality were EXCELLENT. The movie is based on the true story of one of the biggest bank robberies in history.

Richard Jordan, who I must admit to not having heard of, plays the lead - Pinky Green. A charming young man who had spent too much of his few years in prison and now wanted to go straight but is not allowed to do so! He portrays an American in England. David Niven plays the lead bad guy, also with the great charm for which he is famous. Bad, but with scruples as when he refuses to deny Pinky his "whack" for the job. Whack, in England, apparently is the fair share of the take and not a bullet in the head as in American gangster films! All the supporting cast do an excellent job producing a very believable movie.

What is perhaps best, to me, is that the whole movie is quite enjoyable and understandable (I frequently find myself lost in plot confusions and various characters) without ANY special effects. NO blood. No violence. Not even a single car chase! Just a well written story, well acted, well directed and well photographed! If I had any complaints about the movie, I would question the music. WHAT is bluegrass music doing in a bank heist story that takes place in England?

One of those lovely little films that would be more or less lost to the 21st-century viewer, were it not for the interest of certain Freeview TV channels, such as Talking Pictures, in broadcasting such gems.

Not a great film, it has to be said, but an opportunity to see the talented David Niven in what was sadly to be one of his last roles. Also catch the much-missed American actor Richard Jordan (whose portrayal of a terrifying killer in 1985's 'The Mean Season' has ever stayed in my memory) as the lead character. A charming - if not stretched - role for one of the leads of the film classic 'Logan's Run'.

There are a few crashing disappointments. The American actress of sultry 1940s/'50s film noir roles, Gloria Grahame, is criminally underused in the role of Richard Jordan's mother. And Elke Sommer's character ends up as nothing more than the role in which, unfortunately, she was always typecast: the token sexpot female. A waste of skills in both cases.

Re the musical score: there are a few inexplicable - & inappropriate to the scene - motifs in the incidental music that are redolent of a Benny Hill theme. Being a 'caper' movie does not also make it a farce! This badly judged feature might in fact have been more to with the film's director - Ralph Thomas - having had a film career that included directing a string of lightweight sex comedies such as two 'Carry On...' movies & the 'Doctor...' films. But in most scenes the score - by Stanley Myers, the composer of the entrancing 'Cavatina' theme tune from 'The Deer Hunter' - has moments of great perceptive interpretation of the storyline.

The film must also be noted for a few novitiate roles by now well-known actors: spot Alfred Molina in his second ever film role as a ferry port official; uncredited, too! And Duncan Preston (he of superb comedic roles in 'Dinnerladies' & 'Surgical Spirit') as a blink-and-you'll-miss-him policeman driver. Even John Rhys-Davies shows his future capacity to play a role with gravitas, in a small part as a solicitor.

Oliver Tobias takes a sizeable role, a charismatic man if ever there was one. And Joss Ackland has a cameo. The fact that Auckland's role as the prison warden is uncredited on the film's cast list surely must mean that he took the role for fun. What with David Niven's stature as an actor, especially as the 1st part of his superb & witty autobiography - "The Moon's a Balloon" - had recently hit the bestseller list, I should think several people got involved in the film just for a chance to act with the great man. In fact it would be nice to dream that lots of old film career friendships were consolidated in the making of this London-set film! The director Ralph Thomas had not made a film in five years when he made this 1979 movie; & it turned out to be the last film he made before retiring.

It is frankly preferable to gloss over the sad fact that this was to be the last film for too many of the actors. David Niven's quietly threatening & manipulative crime lord was one of his last film roles (and the last role he voiced himself after disease affected his voice). Plus this was the last film of Hugh Griffith. And Gloria Grahame only made a few more movies before passing away.

If you know London then the locations will be of interest to you. West London features heavily, as do central parts of the city. And I would even be so bold as to swear that I recognised the micro-house of Gloria Grahame's character, as the same split-level London house that was lived in by the character of Bodie (or was it Doyle?!) in TV's 'The Professionals'! I remember so well the trendy 1970s' house layout from watching the series reruns, because as a teenager I always used to daydream that my first flat would look like it! So, more fond memories...

A little 'find' on the Freeview TV schedule, well worth a perusal.

A gem of a British caper-comedy. Poor American schlub Pinky Green (Richard Jordan, playing another bad guy but this time an adorable one) gets out of a British jail and tries to go straight, but his maintenance man job in a bank is too attractive for his never-reformed criminal friends, headed up by a really nasty Ivan (David Niven in one of his last roles). Pinky resists, but the lure of all that money is just too much for him. Things unravel and reravel and it's all joyous to watch. Jordan must have played 20 bad guys in his career, but he never played the same one twice - this one is just too lovable to hate. Niven never played a slicker bad guy, oil all over. Two fine actors we've lost that I wish we had back.