mikeolliffe

The 'West German' title for this film is 'Der Dicke von Scotland Yard' which sounds vaguely uncomplimentary. It's also inaccurate as the 'Dicke' (or detective) actually works for Interpol. Granted, he does seem to spend a lot of time at the Yard when he's not flying all over the world trying to track down the bad guys.

The English title itself is misleading. If it is 'The Great Van Robbery' shouldn't we see a bit of planning, a bit of recruiting of the gang that is to carry out the great robbery? Maybe even a dry run?

Even if it included those elements, the title is still not a grabber.

All these are mere quibbles. Writer Brian Clemens succeeds in holding our interest by exploring how one might launder a large amount of stolen currency.

This low-budget epic is fast-moving with an unlikely looking hero who despite carrying a fair bit of weight (I should talk!), performs impressively in the fight scenes and even clambering up (and jumping off) loading docks.

The shoot-out at the end leaves something to be desired. You've heard of 'phoning it in' ? Director Max Varnel must have sent his instructions in by delayed telegram. Perversely, this is watchable to see how it shouldn't be done.